Absolutely.
The budget this year focused on a promise that the government made during the election; that was to return to a balanced budget as quickly as possible. I think this budget finds that niche very well and at the same time supports science and technology yet again, as I mentioned, to the tune of $1.1 billion—not to mention $400 million for venture capital.
Obviously, having a good financial book is great for a country. It keeps our interest rates in position. We could have moved a little faster, but we see other countries that did that and then saw a ripple in their economic stability. We see countries that didn't do it fast enough and see them still struggling.
Canada, being in the strong position that it is, can support science and technology initiatives, while at the same time finding efficiencies in government spending, without reducing the effectiveness of the programs for the intended stakeholders. This is really the sweet spot that we're attempting to find.
The Youth STEM program was designed to help increase the fun and the awareness about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the kindergarten-to-grade-12 range, which as we all know is not federal jurisdiction. While we work with our provincial counterparts to encourage them to improve the teaching of our children in terms of innovation, risk mitigation, entrepreneurialism, and so on, we felt that it was absolutely necessary to develop a program that would go into that age group and encourage them to at least consider the opportunities those fields represent, and not just in finance. Obviously, there are a lot of Bill Gateses around the world and counterparts like them, but this is a very rewarding field in terms of the improvement of quality of life—literally the saving of lives around the world—and of course of creating jobs and prosperity at home.
For your daughter, Mr. Lake, I will suggest that there is a promo-science program for your province. It's not Youth STEM. It can be accessed through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Youth STEM, as you're aware, is a FedDev southern Ontario program only.