Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today.
I want to start by talking about CANARIE, the high-speed Internet backbone that is very important for researchers across the country. There's a line on page 91 of the supplementary estimates for CANARIE. As you know, Minister, the funding for CANARIE has gone down a bit this year compared to previous years.
I want to read a press release from CANARIE from August 8, 2012. They say, and this will be no surprise to you: “In confirming the $22 million in funding for the third year of the mandate, the Government also reaffirmed a requirement for CANARIE to explore and implement cost-sharing strategies with its user community.”
I want to note that further on in the press release they talk about CANARIE's user community. Among those in the user community, we have universities, colleges, and hospitals.
My question for you, Minister, is whether you will tap CANARIE on the shoulder and say, “Please don't download my government's budget cuts onto universities, colleges, and hospitals.”