Thank you, Mr. Chair and colleagues. I won't be on this committee going forward, but I do want to express my thanks to all of you for our discussions and debates.
I do want to thank the witnesses for being here today and coming forward.
I have two questions. I'll start, if I may, with Professor Houlden.
As you've mentioned, Professor, this is a rather complex issue. It is important that the research ecosystem be as open as possible and as secure as necessary. Our government, certainly, has been working towards improving research security in Canada for some time. In 2021, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada released its “National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships”. This took aim at supporting researchers “to integrate national security considerations into the development, evaluation, and funding of research partnerships.”
Can you reaffirm some of your concerns, then, with how we proceed to limit the extent of collaboration with certain countries, to be agnostic yet at the same time provide for research that is open and allows us to benefit from the degree of expertise that exists in other parts of the world?