Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I would like to say hello to our colleagues who are joining us. I find it interesting that the government wants to add new members to this important committee. We've been waiting for six months for the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to come. All the members of the committee agreed to invite him to come and testify and explain the decisions on his budget. Instead of having the minister here, we now have former ministers here. We are making progress, it should be noted.
I want to get back to concrete things and our study today.
Ms. McCuaig-Johnston, congratulations and thank you for your commitment over the past 37 years. That's something. You have expertise in this area, and we are pleased that you are with us today.
At the last committee meeting, last Wednesday, I quoted you when I talked about the approaches to take in cases of scientific collaboration. You said that a different set of rules should apply in assessing scientific collaborations with researchers from authoritarian regimes, such as Russia or China. Various witnesses have given us their mixed opinions on this proposal. Gordon Houlden talked about the need to focus on research as well, and Cherie Wong, another witness, talked about a country-blind approach.
Can you elaborate on your approach? Also, what do you think of the positions of the other witnesses?