Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his response but the government is being anything but transparent here. This, as we all know, is not about saving money.
The majority of Canadians know that the best option is, of course, to keep the ELA in government hands doing the work it does best by real scientists. There is no reason that Environment Canada could not run the facility, for example, because the work that the ELA does is central to the Environment Canada mandate. The second best option would be for a consortium of universities to take over.
Regardless, any transfer will take time. The March 31 closure is coming up fast and we need some certainty. Will the government at least commit to bridge financing to keep the ELA open for three to five years until a good partner can take over?