Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am very proud to be on this history-making committee.
Look, we've waited since 1867 to have this committee, so it's okay. I don't mind waiting a few more minutes for my turn.
I'm excited to be here. I'm very much looking forward to having constructive, collaborative discussions in this committee. I really do think we need to shine the light on our strong research sector. We need to help tell the story in our communities, in our own backyards and in our own provinces, and to the media and everybody, about the hard-working scientists and about the research going on across the country, which most people have no idea about.
I'll tell you that I was involved in provincial politics before coming to this table. I was a cabinet minister for eight years in Nova Scotia. Part of the stint was advanced education and labour, just before coming here, as well as immigration and so on.
I'll give you one example. I brought the Brain Repair Centre at Dalhousie University to meet my deputy minister and some of my higher education staff. The research that is going on at that facility is recognized internationally. The unfortunate part is that most people don't know what's happening in the country. The centre has no time and no skills to even promote it and communicate it and let people know what's happening. My heart was just.... I couldn't believe it, but it's true.
Two of my four children have a Ph.D. One is a neuropharmacologist. He is a scientist. My daughter is a chemical engineer. Through their lens, I have seen the enormous work that goes on in these sectors. Obviously, there are so many sectors, but there is enormous talent out there among the youth. It's not something I experienced when I was their age. This is also a story that most people have no idea about.
I hope this committee can shine a light on the good things that are happening across our regions in this country. That would be my motivation for being here in this committee. I'm very much open. Mount Saint Vincent University, a university in my own riding, is doing extremely important things in early childhood education, and in aging. It's just enormous stuff.
So that would be what I think we could collaborate on, and we could come up with how to build on that.