Thank you.
In the field of research, basic or applied, the crux of the matter is money. Here at the Standing Committee on Science and Research, we have heard from a number of witnesses. I have spoken many times with representatives, including people from Synchronex and the network of college centres for technology transfer, the CCTTs, who always talked about the difficulty in obtaining funding from the federal government.
The unique features of CCTTs are not necessarily recognized. Actually, there are currently 59 of them in Quebec. I am proud to be able to tell everyone that the first ever CCTT is located in my region, the Lower St. Lawrence. As we know, Quebeckers have a creative and innovative side, but money is needed to carry out projects.
One of the requests made several times by CCTT and Synchronex representatives was that the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada provide CCTTs with funding in excess of $100,000. In the rest of Canada, it provides $350,000 to technology access centres, which you mentioned in your presentation.
It's as if because of the amount of innovation coming from CCTTs in Quebec, the council feels justified in limiting funding to $100,000. Have you ever been the target of this injustice that the CCTTs in Quebec are currently experiencing?