Science and Research Committee on Nov. 26th, 2025

[Mona Nemer]

Yes, absolutely I am, in both general and specific areas.

I believe your colleague wanted to ask about IP and didn't get a chance. Rest assured that my office actually, as we speak, is looking into the management of intellectual property in Canada, inside and outside of government. We have many programs, and they often have overlapping objectives, but they leave gaps as well. What we need is a review of the entire pipeline.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

The time is up for MP Baldinelli.

We will now proceed to MP Chatel for five minutes.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you for inviting me to this committee. I’m new, it’s my first day as a substitute for a colleague.

Welcome, Ms. Nemer.

Our farmers have an extraordinary reputation and produce the best food in the world. They’re facing increasingly frequent extreme weather events and new pests, so they know better than anyone the importance of innovation, science and technology to increase their production and tackle these challenges.

Your mandate is to ensure that government decisions take into account the best scientific data. How does your office ensure that the great research in agriculture and agri‑food is not conducted in silos and is integrated into environmental policies to address the challenges of climate change? Can you reassure our farmers that innovation and science inform the government’s decisions?

[Mona Nemer]

Agriculture is something that’s close to my heart. I believe I was the first person in a significant research position within the government to engage with the deans of the faculties of agriculture and the innovation cluster in agriculture and agri‑food in Saskatchewan.

Indeed, we currently have a golden opportunity to show that climate and agricultural concerns can go hand in hand. Agriculture is often seen as inimical to the environment. However, many beautiful things are happening in agriculture, as you said.

There should be better coordination to study all this. Every time I create a road map for science, I have to bring together departments. For example, for the H5N1 virus, I had to bring together 10 departments. Everyone has their role, so we need someone to bring everyone to the table to ensure that we’re all on the same page and that we don’t leave any gaps, as that’s the flaw of working in isolation. My office is therefore a unifying element to ensure that there’s no such duplication within the government.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC]

That’s extraordinary. I’m sure that entrepreneurs and farmers will be happy to hear that.

I often hear comments about silos within the government and in the research world. If I understand correctly, your office is able to bring together universities, researchers and innovators in our sectors and across different departments. Is that correct?

[Mona Nemer]

My independent role is to bring people together. I’m not trying to favour one department over another. I work to achieve what’s best for the country.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC]

That’s excellent.

Given everything that’s happening in the United States and how the American administration treats its scientists, it’s clear that many of them want to come to Canada, a country where the government supports science in all its decisions. Indeed, we believe that the best decisions are those based on science.

Do you see that enthusiasm? Can your office do something to accommodate these scientists?

[Mona Nemer]

Scientists are welcomed in universities, colleges and industries. I’m a scientist myself. Last fall, I started receiving calls not only from Canadians in the United States, but also from my colleagues in other countries, telling me that their nationals in major positions in the United States would like to come to Canada. If they can’t bring them home, they tell me to welcome them.

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi, QC]

Do you have a specific initiative to attract or seek out more of this talent?

[Mona Nemer]

What’s happening—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, but the time is up, MP Chatel.

We will have to proceed to our next round with MP Holman for five minutes.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Dr. Nemer, for coming in today as a witness.

First of all, I am the member of Parliament for London—Fanshawe, home of Fanshawe College, a great post-secondary educational institution. That leads to my first question.

In London, Fanshawe College leads impactful industry-driven research, the kind that directly benefits local employers and workers, yet college institutions constantly say federal programs are geared toward universities. What advice have you given to the government about redirecting or balancing funding to strengthen applied research capacity in college institutions, and why was that advice not translated into a more equitable national research strategy?

[Mona Nemer]

That is an excellent question.

Let me assure you that I'm extremely sensitive to technology, to technologist graduates. If we want to reinvigorate our manufacturing sector, our industrial sector, we're going to need a lot of technologists.

I visited over the summer—I do this, I visit institutions—some colleges. They have amazing applied research which they're training their students on, and I think it's the right thing. As we update, if you want, our ways of doing things and to meet our objectives, I think that the colleges have a very important role to play. We should consequently have more attention on the skills training that they provide and the programs that they have. Most of the time, they are more agile than universities.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Doctor.

I have a question about potential systemic disadvantages within federal funding systems. I want to refer to the role of DEI requirements in research applications.

Current federal DEI requirements are intended to promote equity and inclusion, but smaller regional institutions may face challenges in fully meeting these criteria. Has your office assessed whether these requirements could unintentionally exclude high-quality research proposals, and what steps have you recommended to ensure that merit and innovation remain central in funding decisions?

[Mona Nemer]

That is a complex question.

It's complex because I think that the principle of inclusion and diversity is one that we all cherish and uphold and it's a richness for the country. I think that the objectives of the programs need to be clear. It's context dependent. Once the objectives are clearly stated and actually accepted, I think it's how you go about the criteria and what you apply and when.

It's not that I don't want to answer your question, but I fear I don't have the specifics. I guess it's not a one-size-fits-all. We have to make sure that in colleges and small institutions we want to have people, students and professors from diverse horizons. If an institution determines that they need to diversify, then so be it, and they need to have the proper criteria and approaches, but you can't do something that is wall to wall.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

May I ask, Doctor, about a what-if scenario? If your office has identified a risk that DEI criteria could inadvertently disadvantage certain institutions, have you formally advised government to adjust these requirements?

[Mona Nemer]

Maybe I'll just say that I don't know who you mean by government, but, for example, the granting councils are the ones who determine these things. I don't believe that it comes from higher up other than perhaps the principle of it. We have these conversations about ensuring that there is diversity but that we're respectful also of everyone who wants to contribute. Probably your question would be better directed to them, I'm sorry to say. Again, it's not a one-size-fits-all.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Okay.

Again, thank you for answering the questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

The time is up. Thank you.

We will now proceed to MP McKinnon for five minutes.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Doctor, for being here today. I appreciate your testimony.

In prehistoric times, I was a computer programmer. In even more prehistoric times, I studied physics and math. I'm very interested in quantum computing, although I can't say I understand it.

I wonder if you could advise us on or give us a snapshot of the state of the art in quantum computing. If the government is participating in that space, how are they doing it?

[Mona Nemer]

I appreciate that you're not asking me to give you a lecture on quantum physics right now, because I'm a chemist and a biologist. However, I do appreciate quantum.

I'll just say that Canada is one of the top five countries when it comes to quantum. It's a real strength. Different parts of the world recognize this. We have industries as well that are in quantum. I think it's really important that we continue to enable research and innovation but also scale up our quantum industry so that we don't have to import the technology a few years down the line. The quantum revolution is now and the technology is here. It is going to revolutionize many things, from drug discovery to space observation.

I don't know if I answered your question, but I feel very strongly about quantum in Canada.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I'm also interested in what the government is doing in terms of advancing the research and development—

[Mona Nemer]

The government has a quantum strategy, and invested in it last year. It covers many facets, from research to talent development to innovation. It even has an international piece for collaboration.

I don't like to give my advice to government publicly, but given that I have already given this advice, I can say that my advice is that we need to double down on quantum. Just because it's a strength, it's not the time to withdraw, but rather to double down.

[Ron McKinnon, Liberal, Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Do we as government participate directly in this kind of R and D, or do we mainly fund other kinds of...?

[Mona Nemer]

We fund academic researchers, with some support for industry, but there is also some work being done within government departments, for example, at National Research Council Canada and the Department of National Defence, among others.