Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Agbobli, earlier you talked about an imbalance in the distribution of research funds. Specifically, you said that 80% of research funding is concentrated in Canada's 15 largest universities. They are mainly anglophone, and that affects the creation and dissemination of knowledge in French.
Since you represent the largest francophone university network in Canada, you are in a good position to talk about this subject.
I would like us to shine a light on the words of the federal government and the facts.
I refer you to the official press release the federal government issued about the formation of the new advisory panel on the creation and dissemination of scientific information in French.
The first sentence of the press release reads, “Canadians value French and scientific research”.
The second sentence reads, “We also value our post-secondary education system and research in French in Canada”.
Over the past 20 years, Quebec's university network has shown that Franco-Quebec universities are underfunded and that there has been a decline in funding for the educational institutions you represent in terms of the weight of their faculty.
Given these data and facts, do you think the federal government is really prioritizing the post-secondary education system and research in French in Canada?