That's true.
I would also say that applied research can be integrated into the real economy. Research and development is fine, but from an academic or scientific perspective, it's not a goal in itself. The state must develop it and get involved with the intention of making it an important link in the industrial strategy. That is what the Germans are doing with Fraunhofer and the Max Planck Institute. It is what the Netherlands, a country half the size of New Brunswick, is doing in the field of agriculture, where it is the world's second largest exporter. It's also what the Americans are doing in aerospace and defence, with DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
In Canada, we have not created such institutions. We have a national research centre that dates back to the 1950s that has not been renewed. I think the government is looking at options, but there is an urgency to make progress on this given the new geopolitical configuration. This is where we are going to create economic growth in science and technology. We need to look at ways to integrate that into the economy, and I think this committee has a very important role to play in that regard.