Thank you, Madam Chairman.
I'd like to start with Mr. Balsillie.
Sir, I represent the riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, so I can't let the opportunity pass without saying thank you for the “Make It Seven” campaign back in the 2000s. I was a member of council at that point in time, and I know you put a lot of your own personal time, energy and resources into that. A heartfelt thank you for everything you tried to do for Hamilton.
Seinfeld has Newman as his foil and Hamilton has Bettman. There's no need to comment on that, but thank you for everything you did, sir.
I went to the Council of Canadian Innovators website. It's very clear on the front page there that you talk about access to capital. I heard the constructive criticism that you provided to a couple of the other questions that were asked of you, specifically, investments may be...into institutions and what that has yielded in terms of innovation, and what's come of it. I know that successive provincial governments, of different political stripes, have made big investments into your area, where you came from, in Kitchener—Waterloo. Certainly in Hamilton, McMaster Innovation Park is doing tremendous work, currently, on the vaccine as well as on autonomous vehicles, amongst a couple of projects.
It sounded like your comments—and I just want to be clear—were that we're making investments in innovation but maybe not in the right areas.
Can you clarify that in terms of the comments you made earlier? On the website it says, “We believe that Government investments into innovation should be directed towards high-growth firms”. I'm just trying to rationalize that statement with your other statements, and looking for some guidance in terms of where weighted investments should go with institutions and/or other organizations that are into innovation.