I certainly agree that it's very important that there be a balance.
What Canada needs is strong support for basic research. I think the funding councils require strong support. Another topic on the table is adequate research funding for individuals at the faculty, post-doctoral and student levels, right now. I was on the committee chaired by David Naylor. We certainly, at that time, found that levels of funding were lower than required. They have increased, but they are still in difficulty within the basic sciences.
I think that needs to be balanced with a recognition that there is also a need for Canada to be technologically and commercially related to that and actively involved in the latest technology. In a number of instances, this comes from basic science. In fact, the type of people I was describing, who go into industry even though their degree may have been in basic science, are of value to industry because they are able to look across the horizon, beyond Canada, at that new idea that came up in Germany or wherever. They know what it means. It is basic science that creates the understanding of when the technological breakthrough is going to be.
Canadian industry needs people trained in applied science and basic science, in order for them to be able to access the latest in what's happening internationally when it comes to innovation. Balance, from my point of view, is what's important.