Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize 36 pre-eminent Canadian scientists, engineers, and industrial partners from across Canada who are in Ottawa today. Tonight they will be awarded top honours for their achievements.
They have been selected by their peers to receive prestigious prizes from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for keeping Canada at the forefront of discovery and innovation.
The highest honour, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, Canada's version of the Nobel Prize, is awarded to Dr. W. Ford Doolittle of Dalhousie University, who is one of the world's top molecular geneticists. Dr. Doolittle will receive $1 million in research funding over the next five years.
I invite all members to join me in congratulating these award recipients.