Good day, sirs. It is a pleasure to meet you. We feel somewhat pressured, like we're in a submarine, with the lights flickering on. It's a little worrisome.
My remarks are directed to the various groups. I read your briefs and I would like to discuss financing with you. I see that 3% of Canada's science budget goes to “Big Science” projects such as yours. In your submissions, you all mention that when it comes to financing, the decision-making process is not always effective in terms of investing in Canada.
You note that in the field of astronomy, per capita investment in Canada is eight times below the level in the United States, and five times below the level of European countries with comparable GDPs. If we look at what's being done overall, we see that some of the financing is international in scope and that there is a significant level of collaboration.
I would like to hear more from you about financing.
Those working in the field of astronomy maintain that they have found a new way of funding big science projects. The Coalition has set up a task force.
How would you propose that these big science projects be funded? There appears to be a problem. I'd like to hear your views on the subject.
Would you care to go first, Mr. Sinervo?