Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to meeting number seven of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.
Today, we have witnesses from Statistics Canada, Wayne Smith, chief statistician of Canada; and from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Mario Pinto, president; Alfred Leblanc, vice-president, communications, corporate and international affairs; Pierre Charest, vice-president, research grants and scholarships directorate; and Patricia Sauvé-McCaun, vice-president, common administrative services directorate.
We're going to allow StatsCan to do its 10-minute presentation, and then, if it's okay with the committee, we'll proceed to the presentation by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. This way you can direct your questions to either party.
Without further ado, Mr. Smith, the floor is yours.