Thanks very much for the question. Thanks also for your tireless work on this file.
I hope the minister will come to the committee. We were pleased to have an opportunity to meet with him.
Our expectations and our requests were very clear with the minister. We know he's super busy with a whole range of other files, but we need his attention on this file now. People have said now for the third year in a row, “Maybe next year.” Every month that we wait, we're losing talent.
We're looking at the fall fiscal statement. That's our deadline for the minister. People will say, “Oh yes, but there's the fiscal framework and it's going to take more time.” Universities are sending a signal to every member of Parliament on all sides of the House. This is not a partisan issue. We had issues with the previous government.
We know the government is preoccupied with a whole bunch of other priorities right now, and we're encouraged by a number of its developments, but it's time to pay attention to Canada's future. It's time to reinvest in research for the long term. Every month we wait is a month too long.
Concretely, it's about the increase to the granting councils, the increase to the number and value of graduate students and a mechanism to keep those moving forward as the economy grows.