Finance committee  Some science centres are currently going ahead with renovation work. They want to expand their facilities, like those in Calgary and Winnipeg. The Canadian Association of Science Centres is seeking a pan-Canadian program and a strategy to take advantage of everything there already is.

Finance committee  No, that's for the pan-Canadian strategy being proposed.

Finance committee  The federal contribution is already included in our request, but the pan-Canadian strategy is a vision we're proposing.

Finance committee  The process has started for each of the commitments. Some are more advanced than others.

Finance committee  For the moment, we're trying to secure $500,000 from Economic Development Canada, which would be allocated to the staff of a project office.

Finance committee  Science centres have an impact on interest. The present challenge is that seven out of 10 youths decide from the age of 14 not to take any more science in their lives. They close the doors by not choosing science courses in high school. That's a little young to make that decision, first of all.

Finance committee  In 2001, we were the only ones who had this dream, and we shared it in order to build it. We wanted it to mirror the needs of the community. It's a community project that we're proposing, which brings change. At the moment, virtually all the school commissions, nine of them, support us, as well as four or five cegeps, universities, more than 60 private businesses and four chambers of commerce.

Finance committee  We know of no one who is opposed to it. There are people who have different views on certain questions, on the location, for example. We can have discussions about things like that, but there is a very broad consensus on the nature of the project, on the need, on issues, on the way it should be done, on the things that should be talked about.

Finance committee  Science centres are, by definition, investments in youth, in the role youth will play later, in the family and the influence it has on the role that young people play later on in life. They're also an investment for teachers, so they feel comfortable doing science at the primary and secondary levels throughout their lives, because they have trouble doing it.

Finance committee  In the next few weeks, we'll have to make sure we have the project office, that is obtain the funding required for a dedicated project staff. We have a business plan and an interpretation plan, but, to go further, we need resources. For the moment, we can't go much further. We can talk about it, but we can't act.

Finance committee  We need $500,000 out of a $1 million budget for the project office. I would recall that the project itself is a $30 million project, plus carrying costs. That amounts to $18 million for the federal government, that's 50%, plus $2 million a year over 10 years. So today we're making an overall request for $38 million.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Pallister. The mission of the Boîte à science is to stimulate young people's interest in science and technology, and it has been doing that for 25 years. Since 2005, we've been developing the idea of creating a science centre in Quebec City. For people from outside Quebec, these are obvious things because they have one in their city.