Finance committee  The investment in geoscientists has dropped dramatically over the last several years. I saw a certification last year by somebody who got it from Surveys Canada, at that time they had one crew in the field. That is unacceptable. We've had a geological survey for the last fifty ye

Finance committee  The number we're looking for the cooperative geological mapping strategies is $25 million, but reinvestment in geoscience is required for all kinds of industries, not just ours.

Finance committee  Well, I think Canadians—[Technical difficulty--Editor]—and as you well know, a lot of northern Canada depends on the mining industry—[Technical difficulty--Editor]— These resources are depleting really quickly. We need to beef up our discoveries if we want to have an industry her

Finance committee  On a personal note only--I can't speak for the others--no.

Finance committee  It's the Canadian cooperative geological mapping strategy, the Canadian CGMS. The proposed cost for the federal government is $25 million a year over 10 years. It would be matched by the respective territorial or provincial governments, for a total of $0.5 billion over 10 years.

Finance committee  We have a big country.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, committee members, ladies and gentlemen. Our province's mines will create $2.6 billion of new wealth for Canada this year. Of course, a lot of that will end up in various government coffers through taxation. We have the potential to increase this contrib