Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thank you for your statements.
Mr. McDougall, as you know, the aerospace sector is incredibly important to the Montreal area, providing 70,000 jobs and bringing in billions in revenue. Montreal is one of the top five industrial clusters in the aerospace field.
The NRC Institute for Aerospace Research makes public labs available to the private sector for research and collaborative initiatives, in both Montreal and Ottawa. However, in its 2012 budget, the government announced major changes to the NRC.
Can you give us any reassurance in that regard? Will the Institute for Aerospace Research continue to support research and development to ensure the aerospace industry remains competitive?