Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all I have to say it's wonderful to have you here. I've really been looking forward to today's conversation and the work that you've done on behalf of Canadians for several years. Great presentation. There is no “but” in that.
It's very important when we're looking at tri-council funding. I represent the riding of Guelph, which of course has a university that relies heavily on tri-council funding, and the role that this plays in developing the landscape for research in economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
You showed matching of 80¢ on the dollar in terms of funding. I wonder if you could comment on maybe the range of gaps that we have. That's the gap. That 20¢ is the gap between a researcher being able to carry out a project, keeping the lights on.... That 20¢ has to pay for things not included in funding applications, like overhead costs, lighting, and just having a university in place to do the work. Sometimes, in some universities, that becomes a barrier to actually implementing the research that is done.
Could you comment on maybe the direction that this gap is heading, or whether there's something that Canada First Research Excellence funding could do to help us with that gap?