Industry committee  I would have to see what form that took, at that point. There would be some internal documents, so I will go back and see what we did, in terms of the box-ticking exercise.

Industry committee  Absolutely. Very closely. No. They operate on a slightly different basis. They report through industry, through Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, ISED, that's true. But in fact, as agencies we were established by the Parliament of Canada. We are formally agencies reporting through the minister to Parliament.

Industry committee  On pressing issues like infrastructure with respect to policy and infrastructure placement, for example, with respect to placement of pipelines and pipeline construction or other projects that would affect communities.... If you're asking me for specific examples, I'd be more than happy to provide them.

Industry committee  It has not been approved by council. It will be on March 14th, which is next Monday. Thank you, sir.

Industry committee  I think we see this quite a bit in extractive industries, but not exclusively. The ones I know best are the ones where I've had the most discussions, and they include FPAC, the Forestry Products Association of Canada; and on the other side of the equation, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

Industry committee  I don't necessarily want to dwell on the pipeline issue. If you're looking to extract resources in an area, for example, and it makes sense for the community and it makes sense for the company, and it's for the benefit of Canada, not everybody always agrees all the time with respect to how that should occur.

Industry committee  This is an extremely important question, and I want to be absolutely clear. I can't tell you that everybody likes everything we fund. That's a fact. I can say that—and I think the other presidents can probably say the same thing.... One thing I have to say and be absolutely clear about is that in our calls, with the funding we receive from the Parliament of Canada, we are completely open, in terms of who can apply, with what partners, and to research what question.

Industry committee  We are going to talk about that again, though.

Industry committee  Yes. Thank you for your question. The good thing about working in a shop where there a lot of policy people is that this becomes a routine exercise. That came up, specifically. Our council chair is Jack Mintz. Some of you may know he is a very well-regarded Canadian economist. That was the first thing he said: “Do you know where you've gone, before we get going?”

Industry committee  We will share.

Industry committee  Yes. I'll start and everyone will help me.

Industry committee  To be clear, the program is now in place. It's part of a broader endeavour that SSHRC undertook through a broad consultation process starting about two years ago. It was called “Imagining Canada's Future”. The sole objective of this program was to help identify, with the help of Canadians and researchers, the public, and people in government and elsewhere, what would be the real research challenges in the coming 10, 20, 30, or 40 years.

Industry committee  Yes, I'm good, but I'm not that good. I think I got a few of the questions, so if you wouldn't mind, as we go along...?

Industry committee  I'll have to answer by saying yes and no—in a way. The first part of the answer is that we are an agency that supports all Canadian researchers in the post-secondary sector. We have competitions that are open to all researchers and students. The applications will come from anywhere and everywhere in Canada.

Industry committee  I would go on the record as saying that we share your concern. Our mandate is to fund research and training in social sciences and humanities in Canada and to provide advice to government. Our view is that this is best applied to research that's further upstream in terms of the development of novel ideas and approaches.