Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for his frankness and openness, which I think has characterized his ministership right from the outset. That is to the credit of the minister.
I want to ask the minister very briefly about the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It is a body that was established to replace the Medical Research Council, which is a research granting authority. Its budget has increased substantively over recent years and some very important research is being funded.
However one of the reasons that the CIHR was created to replace the Medical Research Council was that it was felt that the Medical Research Council had become too involved in some of its own pet projects and that new and emerging research was not receiving the funding that it required.
The minister may want to comment on the fact that the CIHR is not subject to a parliamentary review unlike other agencies. I wonder if the minister would consider, given his openmindedness, making the CIHR subject to possibly a three year parliamentary review.