Mr. Speaker, thanks to my colleague for his work as a teacher and for his speech. Being at the forefront of knowledge and technology innovation is crucial for economic growth. Countries that aspire to stay at the forefront must ensure knowledge expands steadily.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, our country ranks 13th out of 16 on innovation among its peers, under the current government, and performs poorly on most of 21 indicators, scoring 13 Ds. In 2012, Canada slipped by two to 14th place on the World Economic Forum's ranking of global economic competitiveness, a drop of five places since 2009.
Should the government develop a national innovation strategy, increase spending on science and technology and help emerging sectors achieve their potential?