Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good evening everyone. Thank you to our two witnesses for being here.
I'm going to start with Professor McDonald.
Society places a lot of value on applied research, which results in direct applications that can quickly be turned into consumer products that generate profits. I feel, though, that basic research tends to be the prerequisite for the development of major industries. Genome sequencing comes to mind, as does all the basic research that the University of California, Berkeley does, research that led to the creation of Silicon Valley.
I believe that basic research is a public asset first and should be largely funded by the government. What do you think? On the whole, does Canada recognize that basic research is a public asset that must be publicly funded?