Mr. Speaker, to reach their figure of $9 billion, they have shown a great deal of creativity.
It is nonsense, and the government is taking Canadians for fools. The Conservative government may well brag about having invested more money in science than any other government, but the facts say otherwise.
The most recent report from Statistics Canada confirms that last year, the Conservative government applied a 6% cut to funding for science and technology, and laid off 1,500 employees involved in scientific and technological activity.
Returning to the question of fundamental research, I will remind the Conservatives that the Jenkins report recommended that NRCC institutes doing fundamental research become affiliated with one or more universities.
However, with persistent cuts in fundamental research capacity everywhere in Canada, it is difficult to find concrete evidence that the government is making provision for fundamental research.
Our government should be investing for the long term, but unfortunately it lacks vision.