Thank you, Madam Chair and Mr. Blanchette‑Joncas.
Acfas responded to the consultation hastily launched last June by the three federal research funding agencies. We consulted our community and submitted a brief that addresses the issues raised during the consultation. Our submission today is slightly different from the dozen or so detailed recommendations contained in last summer's brief.
On October 17, we read the consultation report entitled “What we heard”. Despite the tight deadlines, the scientific community rose to the occasion with a number of briefs, presentations and testimonies. The report clearly explains that the scientific community agrees with the creation of the capstone organization. In addition to this agreement, the community pointed out specific elements to watch out for during the creation of the capstone organization and the move to merge the three councils. A number of areas for vigilance concerning the entity that will set up the capstone organization have been discussed today, as they surely were during the preliminary hearings.