Madam Speaker, while listening to the hon. minister of state give his speech, my impression was that he had totally missed the point of this motion.
We are not debating whether we value science. Many people on both sides of this House value science. We are not debating whether we should try to encourage businesses to invest more in research and development or whether we should encourage industry-academic partnerships.
What we are debating is whether, when government scientists give the government advice that it does not want to hear because it embarrasses the government, it should, nevertheless, pay attention to those scientists and give those scientists the resources they need to do their job.
Why is the government afraid of what its own scientists are telling it? This is not about industrial policy or making Canadian businesses competitive. It is about whether the government will listen to its own scientists and take their advice in formulating the best possible policies for the people of Canada?