An important point needs to be emphasized here.
Since 2011, the government has wanted to encourage companies to invest in research and development. We were just talking about how Canadian companies are underperforming in R and D. We have to admit that the results are not yet up to snuff. According to Statistics Canada, R and D investments by companies went from $16.5 billion in 2006 to $15.5 billion in 2014. When a government invests in applied research because its private sector is not doing so enough, it seems that two options arise. It either stimulates R and D or the private sector decides to spend as little as possible on it and to take advantage of government subsidies so that its own innovation costs are as low as possible.
In the light of those figures, therefore, would this not be the time to question the strategy once more? Would it let Canada be competitive enough internationally and also with the United States, our closest neighbour?