Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
We've had a lot of discussion at this committee, because it is the industry committee, about our economy, competitiveness, and globalization. Certainly there are some who believe that in order to position ourselves best for the future it's a matter of perpetual tax cuts and lowering labour costs. It seems to me that the importance of science is often overlooked, not only in positioning our economy but in positioning our country in the world and in the 21st century economy.
You said in your remarks that your office was underfunded, that you had no permanent staff initially. After spending a lifetime in science and research, what do you think would be the best approach a government could take to really take advantage of the investment that it has made in training skilled people in various fields of science, in order to take best advantage of that knowledge to position our country for the future?