Thanks for that. I anticipated that I might get that question.
There are some forms of social science that require larger amounts of money. Polling research and so on sometimes do. But you're right, of course, that the cost of maintaining a medical lab or a basic science lab can be higher than that of many forms of social science research.
I think we're talking not necessarily about an exact balance but rather about a rebalancing with a view to increasing and making access more equitable across the board. About 60% of researchers in Canada are in a SSHRC discipline, so the fact that only one-fifth of the granting council money is dedicated to SSHRC does seem to be something of an inequity. Of course, there is also the question of interdisciplinary research and that new frontiers fund that I mentioned, for which the success rates are quite low. That indicates a lot of potential for research across a variety of disciplines and focuses.
Again, I think the big question is this: What can we do to increase and enhance the health of the system as a whole?
CAUT has suggested a number of measures that we think would help. This committee is doing really important work. As I mentioned, I think it's also time to have that national conversation. Universities and colleges have been struggling for quite some time. The proportion of public funding available has decreased significantly since the early 2000s, and that has an effect on the ability of researchers to best purpose the money that is available at present.
Thanks.