Mr. Chair, I am standing in for Mr. Lemire, so I will be speaking today.
It's a pleasure to be here. Good afternoon to my fellow members. Good afternoon, as well, to the witnesses, and thank you for being here today.
My first questions are for Mr. McCauley.
I share your sense of pride, Mr. McCauley. You talked about how the University of Calgary was a major hub for research. The Université du Québec à Rimouski, a university in Quebec, has also made a name for itself as one of Canada's top research institutions among similar-sized universities.
I'd like you to help clear some things up for me about the state of science and research in Canada. I am looking at the brief submitted by the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities, which includes the University of Calgary.
I'm trying to paint a picture of Canada's investments in research and development, especially through research chairs and universities.
It's clear from the brief that Canada is lagging behind. To put it bluntly, Canada is the only G7 country that has reduced its R and D spending over the past two decades. It is also the only country where the number of researchers has declined over the last six years. On top of that, Canada's ranking on the Global Innovation Index has dropped considerably. From 2001 to 2019, Canada went from eighth to 17th place on the Global Innovation Index. It is important to note that Canada's expenditures are not what they should be, making the country less attractive to researchers who want to use their talent to advance innovation and science.
As the vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary, how does that state of affairs affect you on a day-to-day basis?