Thank you, Chair.
Thank you very much to our witnesses for being with us here today as we begin day one of six days, 12 hours, of a study of the federal government funding among Canada's post-secondary institutions.
I think this is an important study. The perspective of our post-secondary institutions and our students is paramount. On Tuesday, I joined a press conference to add my voice to calling for more support for the graduate students and post-doctoral scholars. Today, of course, we're here to study how we can better support the small, medium and large institutions. All institutions are equally valued and equally important in our Canadian ecosystem.
Mr. Gaffield, let me start with you, simply because you represent one of the 15 universities in the Atlantic provinces, east of Montreal: Dalhousie. That is one of the institutions I'm an alumna of. Dalhousie, of course, has world-leading battery researchers. Just last week, it received a $5-million federal grant to support the creation of a first-in-Canada university-based battery prototyping and production facility, which should open next year.
The federal government made an investment a number of years ago, and I was part of this a couple of years ago when I was in provincial.... Last year, there was a historic investment from the Canada first research excellence fund to embark on the most intensive investigation ever into the ocean's role in climate change. Of course, Nova Scotia is very much situated to be able to do that.
This is just a snapshot. There are many things happening in my backyard and in my province. I just want you to speak for a moment on how the funding Dalhousie receives shapes the institution's research output and input. How does it collaborate with other partners in the ecosystem, whether it's in Nova Scotia or anywhere else in the country, for that matter, or internationally?