It's a good question. When I say we help to advance policy objectives and to make sure the granting councils' programs are aligned with government policy objectives, the first thing to say is that when it comes to decisions around granting awards, the government plays no role in that. That's done through a peer-reviewed process to ensure that the best research gets funded, and there's an arm's-length relationship with respect to funding decisions.
The second thing is that part of what the government looks to do with respect to funding to the granting councils is just what you'd mentioned, which is to make sure there is an appropriate level of funding for that investigator-led, curiosity-based research, which is the foundation of the science ecosystem.
Beyond that, there are a number of other objectives that the government may seek to advance through the programs, such as equity, diversity and inclusion objectives, but also there are some programs that are more focused with respect to their objectives, such as large-scale programs like the Canada first research excellence fund. That fund tries to support large-scale investment in world-class research at institutions around a set of priority areas.
Again, in all these areas—