Thank you.
Mr. Généreux' suggestion or strategy of fundraising in the private sector isn't a bad one in principle. However, he doesn't really seem to understand the reality of a minority society that, unlike the majority, has to raise funding for every one of its 100,000 projects, which is very complicated.
I'd like to explain an important point that some committee members referred to. It isn't impossible to obtain multi-year funding. You have to ask the federal government to pay for the first four years, then ask the province to pay for the next four years. It's feasible. For the past 10 years or so, Canadian Heritage has offered a multi-year funding formula, under which, about seven or eight years ago, I asked the federal government to provide 100% funding for the first year of a pre-kindergarten program for children four years of age, whereas the Nova Scotia government paid for the following year. We proceeded in that manner for seven or eight years. In the case of the university, the federal and provincial governments could definitely share funding for two, three or four years each.
I just wanted to tell you about that example so it appears in the record of this meeting. Thank you.