Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to welcome the witnesses joining us for the study tonight.
Dr. Gaffield, we're pleased to meet you in person tonight for the first time. We met your predecessor, Mr. Patry, when he appeared before our committee.
I believe you made it clear in your opening remarks that funding is flatlining and we can't develop our own capacity due to lack of resources.
You were also quite clear as a representative of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities. Your group does about 80% of its research in Canada. So it's very important that we take into account what you're telling us tonight.
My first questions are going to be about funding, since that topic has caught my eye.
The leading funding organization in the United States will double its investments in the next five years. On the other hand, we know the Canada is the only G7 country to have lost researchers in the past six years. I'm trying to figure out with you how it will ever be possible to come up with ambitious projects if we're unable to retain talent or even develop it to its full potential due to a lack of funding.