Finance committee  We don't normally sell scientific information. We publish it.

Finance committee  Remember, it's a collaboration in which we presently have a 25% share. I think the overall cost of operation of the telescope over a 20-year period is approximately $1 billion. That's shared by the partners.

Finance committee  Why can't it be installed in Canada? Because Canada does not have the kind of observing conditions to be a world leader. It's necessary that the atmosphere be very clear and not very turbulent and this is found on the tops of high mountains located at southerly latitudes close to the equator.

Finance committee  Canada operates a number of smaller observatories. We have a share in the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope, which is also on Mauna Kea simply because that is one of the best places in the world to do these observations from. We also have a small share in the Gemini Observatory. These are relatively small telescopes compared to the TMT, which is really enormous and much more powerful.

Finance committee  This is the leading astronomical project in the world. Canada has a leading share in it now. That won't happen unless we come up with our money. One thing that's not in our submission is the fact that not just the telescope structure and the dome--all the steel, the design, and the structure for that--but also the key technology that makes these very large telescopes work and gives them resolution and power beyond even those in space, adaptive optics, is being developed in Canada.