Thank you very much, Chairperson, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
I have to confess I feel as though I've fallen into a bit of a maze. It's a maze that you're very familiar with. In trying to get the big picture of what's going on here, I feel as though I'm in very unfamiliar territory. What you try to tell us in 10 minutes that you live and work every day we're trying to assimilate very quickly. I'm going to try to take a stab at some questions here.
I'm having trouble zeroing in on what the problems are. Is the problem more the lack of infrastructure? Our research notes tell us some of the federal foundations, departments and so on, that are there, so it gives you the idea that the infrastructure is there. Is it that there are gaps in that infrastructure, or does it really just come down to a question of money, in terms of the commercialization that you spoke about, and how difficult it is to get public-private investment, especially where it's considered high risk?
You all sound like you're doing well within your sphere. Two of you are operating in the Ontario scene. Is it really more that we're just not doing it nationally and that we're doing okay in bits and pieces? Somehow I'm not getting that.
The second question I have is on the issue of local procurement.
Mr. Lewis, you said that most of the discoveries and so on are actually going abroad, that they're being developed abroad. Are you suggesting that we should look at a policy of Canadian procurement for these companies and the use of these technologies in our health care system?
One's a very broad, general question; the other is a little more specific, if you'd like to give me your answers.