Mr. Speaker, indeed, we are suffering a very serious brain drain in Canada. It is not just in the areas of engineering and new energy technologies. It is not just the fact that graduate students are going to have to go south to continue their studies or, if they are already doing post-doctoral work, the United States or other countries around the world stand to benefit. We are putting ourselves directly at risk by not putting the money in for the advancement of science and health, particularly in the health area.
In my own family, I have a cousin for whom we have spent tax dollars on training as a child heart surgeon. However, he had to move to the United States and eventually became a U.S. citizen, all because we were not providing the jobs and funding to support his research and the research in that field. I am sure the federal government gave money to the great new heart research centre at the University of Alberta and yet it has not opened because we are not putting the money into the researchers and staff.
I absolutely agree with the hon. member. We are putting our future and certainly the future of science at risk.