Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Bilodeau, I appreciate your earlier answers to the many questions you've received on the definition of “arrangement”. The committee is in receipt of a letter from Canada's research universities. I just want to quote something from their letter:
Greater clarity is needed on how an arrangement will be defined under the Act and whether it would capture research partnerships, funding agreements or other international research activities conducted with publicly funded universities, research institutions or foreign research funding agencies which may be considered foreign principals under the Act. The risk of a chilling effect on international research partnerships as an unintended consequence of the registry’s reporting requirements could significantly harm relationships with international peers and mean that Canada misses out on the opportunity to cooperate on cutting-edge research and access world-leading expertise with peer nations.
I was wondering, sir, if you could comment on that concern raised with the committee.