Do you have an idea of what has to be done? Mr. Stewart, you told us that only 50% of research is funded by the private sector and confirmed that the percentage is much higher elsewhere.
Do we have a way of getting the private sector interested? Is it just a fact of life in the marketplace that, if we really invest in high tech—because if we are to be competitive these days and really do business, it has to be in the knowledge industry—the returns do not come naturally?
As for the best researchers, I had a brief discussion with the people at Genome Canada, among others, and I was amazed to find out how much you have to pay these top researchers, up to a million dollars a year and more. If we do not have people like this, all our research suffers because it is they who put us in the spotlight and allow us to position ourselves better.
I wonder whether Canada has enough of what it takes or whether we should form some kind of bigger association with the United States. Is it conceivable to do a bit like the European Union is doing, where several countries get together to try to get international level researchers? I wonder whether we are in the race.