Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Finance.
In his budget, the minister announced the creation of the Canada Foundation for Innovation to invest in R & D infrastructures. However, as in the case of most of the measures announced in this budget, on the eve of an election the minister is putting money back into an area where he previously made massive cuts, as in the case of the Tokamak reactor in Varennes.
How can the minister create a federal foundation when he has already cut more than $3.3 billion in transfer payments to the provinces for health and post-secondary education and more than $100 million in funding for research councils? These are radical cuts that have already seriously undermined research in universities and hospitals.