I spoke of a research network around school food that could include a chair position, like a Canada research chair or something similar to that. The reason we need a network is so that there's a formal system for researchers to communicate across teams.
The way that funding for research exists in this country.... Our tri-council agencies are excellent. They are the envy of many researchers in many parts of the world. However, they do not require collaboration, communication or sharing of resources to ensure there is no duplication and to ensure there are no gaps. That is the system that I believe needs to be created. It doesn't necessarily need enormous resources, but it does need some resources, and it needs a structure behind it. National collaborating centres exist across the country, on different topics related to public health. We could do something very similar.
In my vision, there would be a network that would have nodes at different universities, both English-speaking and French-speaking universities. I've already been bringing about 60 researchers together to do some of this communication and to figure out where those nodes could be. Some nodes could be focused on equity. A node could be focused on local food systems, incorporating as much Canadian product as possible into school food programs and looking at the economic impacts. There could be nodes working on different aspects of school food programs. That's the vision I have, and that could include a Canada research chair.