Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's observations. I certainly appreciate his indication that in general his party supports the legislation.
The hon. member is quite correct that if there are specific concerns he or others may have, when the bill goes to committee they will certainly be able to discuss them.
I would indicate that the CIHR was enthusiastically supported after much consultation by a wide coalition of Canadian health research partners across the country in terms of the structure.
The hon. member pointed out some very specific concerns with regard to the Prime Minister, and if I understood the member correctly, the independence of this body. This is what has been suggested after much consultation. It would seem that many of the proposals and the structure itself originated in those consultations with the research community.
No doubt there will be witnesses before the committee. If there are those in the health community who have those particular concerns, as has been suggested by my hon. colleague, they will have the opportunity to present them to the committee. I presume that if the will of the committee is such, it will make amendments in its recommendations.
It is important to note that the interim governing council to the minister worked extremely closely with the health research community. I want to stress that in terms of what we have before us today.