Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the presentations.
Certainly Canada, and you referenced this in your comments, has been leading in research and innovation. We have developed some world-class researchers and we've performed, and it's been cutting edge.
We've talked in earlier discussions and other committee meetings about the commercialization and trying to bring Canada to the forefront, but certainly that initial researching effort is critical.
We, as a government, recognize that in order to cement that leadership in research and in science, we need to support the ecosystem. We need to modernize. We need to keep up the pace, and we need to face those challenges that are before us.
I appreciated your comments today regarding having commissioned a report in order to get third party review to ensure we cover the bases necessary to move forward on these initiatives and that we make informed decisions going forward. We have yet to make some of those decisions.
Mr. Vats, maybe I can start with you regarding how the federal funding for research has evolved over the years. Where are we now, where do you anticipate we're going to be and how has it evolved?