Mr. Speaker, going into this year's budget I would have said that one priority we had for investing in science and technology which, as the question indicates, is crucial to building a knowledge based economy in the 21st century is the renewal of the networks of centres of excellence, a unique Canadian program that has benefited universities in every province and region of Canada. That program was not only renewed but it was made a permanent program at over $47 million a year.
Another thing we had to address was the deteriorating conditions in research infrastructure in our universities, a responsibility primarily of the provincial governments. We have created the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the largest such foundation in Canada and one of the 10 largest in the world, with $800 million of federal government money to invest in a partnership basis in the building and restoration of R and D infrastructure which will ensure that Canada not only holds and attracts the best researchers but builds the kind of economic growth that will create jobs in the 21st century.