Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome the minister to the House and also recognize the 10th anniversary of Nunavut, which is an exciting occasion for Canadians to acknowledge.
My question for the minister is about a very serious issue. I am sure she was concerned today when she saw the article in the Globe and Mail that says that a key science agency in Canada has been left out of the budget. Genome Canada, which is responsible for some of the most significant and ongoing medical research, the most extensive and largest medical research projects in Canada, was completely ignored in the budget. In past years it received funding, and in fact last year, it received $140 million in research funding.
This is very important research to many Canadians. It is very important for health research, for instance. It allows Canada to participate in international work that is being done in genetic research and yet this funding has not come through in the current budget. There is concern for the ongoing work of the agency and the jobs of scientists and researchers who are associated with Genome Canada.
I wonder if the minister could tell us if this was just an oversight. Is there money flowing to Genome Canada? Why was Genome Canada not mentioned in the budget?