On the issue of financing basic research versus applied research, I don't think there is an easy answer. What I'm about to say is a very politically unpalatable thing to say, which is that yes, we need to do both. You can't stop funding basic research and expect to have an innovative culture. Having said that, too often I think we think that, well, we funded that basic research through universities and research institutes and hospitals, and that's it, that's all we need to do.
On the issue of clusters, for example, we know that one successful company in a biotech environment can create a whole industrial cluster. The importance of seeding that one company, wherever, just can't be overstated.
With respect to the human resources question, there is in biotech huge diversity across the country. In one region there may be tremendous genuine shortages. In another there may be tremendous imbalances, in fact. It's not unusual in the Toronto tech community, for instance, to advertise a basic entry- level position and have 400 applicants, while in other parts of the country that is not the case. This is something we need to address.