Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm also pleased to be here today. When my colleague, Mr. Cannings, asked for a replacement because he had other commitments, I gladly volunteered. I believe in the fundamental importance of research for the advancement of human knowledge, for economic development and for the opportunity to adopt public policies based on facts, science and research too. This also helps us with our work.
Ms. Wagner, I'll continue along the same lines as my Bloc Québécois colleague. You talked about equity in Canada's research ecosystem and about how our approach should focus on the democratization of access to funding. You spoke in particular about the possibility that a perhaps smaller institution, which has never done research in a given field or on a given topic, could also access research funding, even if it were for the first time.
It reminds me a bit of young people who want to enter the job market, but who need to already have experience, just when they're trying to enter the job market. Even without experience, they can be extremely competent and able to contribute to the company.
How should this approach work? Should funding be earmarked for these new initiatives, projects and fields of research? Should more general criteria be applied? You talked about approaching this issue creatively rather than systematically denying access to funding. I would like you to elaborate on that. How could this be done?