I'll give you a concrete example. A woman, a world authority at Yale University, was offered a position as the director of an institute in Germany with a budget of $100 million. When we invited her to come here, she said that here was where she wanted to be. I asked her why and she said that it would cost her $100 million to build what we already have at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital. She also told me that the members of our community were very collaborative. She is therefore coming because she was attracted by our infrastructures and the people who would be her colleagues.
Last week I also met a man of considerable renown from New York. He too wanted to come here. When I asked him why, he said that it was a place where people can work together, rather than the competitive environment typical of the United States. He added that we could provide him with all the equipment and colleagues needed to do exploratory work of the best kind in science.
When you have critical mass and quality, you can attract superstars.