Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Your comments are clearly illustrated and easy to understand.
Since we are talking about gas, you consulted hundreds if not thousands of people when you chaired the advisory panel that produced the report. You have given a pretty exhaustive picture of the situation. You said we had lost ground on the commercial side in relation to our main ally, the United States, and we were losing ground now on the science side. The figures speak for themselves.
I don't want to be a prophet of doom, but in the last 20 years, Canada has in fact fallen considerably behind at the international level. It is actually the only G7 country that has reduced its investments in research as a proportion of GDP, its gross domestic product, in the last 20 years. We did get some good news recently, but you don't just need gas once every three years. That is what I would like to hear your thoughts on today.
We have also witnessed a brain drain. We are the only G7 country where the number of researchers per 100,000 population has gone backwards. It hurts to hear that.
I would like to hear what you have to say about a more comprehensive and exhaustive picture. It's fine to have more gas, by which we mean more funding, and the best car, that being the best capstone, but it also takes a short, medium and long-term vision to be able to stand against our competitors. The whole world is in competition in the field of scientific research.