Finance committee  I think one of them is—I don't disagree with what you said—that research in colleges has really just in the last probably half a dozen year come into its own. That is one factor. It's new to the agenda. It's more closely linked to the business innovation agenda--very closely linked--than what you think of as basic research, the bench research of a university.

Finance committee  Certainly from our perspective the demand is higher, and again, given the part we play in the system as a community college, those in the more marginal or lower socio-economic areas and the new immigrants are sometimes the first ones to experience that downturn, and they're not often in the financial position to pursue education without government intervention.

Finance committee  First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity to present to you this afternoon. We provided a written submission to the committee. I'll highlight some of the key points and look forward to answering some questions. For those who may not be totally familiar with NorQuest, we're a community college serving the Edmonton region, and the largest community college in the Alberta post-secondary system.