Finance committee  Again, I talk partnerships and coalitions. If you think of this as a continuum from fundamental long-term research through mid-term research--which would be D, the development side--and then you speak about very short-term research, what I would be recommending as a new paradigm is to have funding mechanisms that require the partners to work together.

Finance committee  The beneficiary is an enhanced economy. The beneficiary is job creation. If you're looking at an end point, I think we'd all say it was job creation, not licensing income. We want the companies to stay in Canada. Universities have tremendous resources to bring to the table, and faculties in engineering are applied; by definition, they're in development.

Finance committee  I think right now the gap is reflected by the way we fund and the role we ascribe to universities, as fundamental research only. It's just really not accurate with regard to the wonderfully applied disciplines we have in our professions.

Finance committee  One of the strongest points I'd like to leave with you is my concern that universities have been too much left out of the process. If we speak about a gap between fundamental research--the council funding and so forth--and then we speak about industry being the ones doing commercialization, we're losing out with tremendous resources at universities and engineering schools and so forth.

Finance committee  It's communication, again. Of course, I can't speak for how the province would respond, but certainly universities can be very strong advocates for accountability for the expansion of the post-secondary sector, increased access—all of those things that could come from a direct transfer.

Finance committee  I think communication is at the heart of it, as are common expectations and a recognition of the needs that would be fulfilled by such a direct transfer. The issue is that we're going to be needing many more people educated to the level of post-secondary. That's pivotal with regard to the post-secondary sector in all of the provinces.

Finance committee  Very much so.

Finance committee  The reason we're calling for a national strategy is that when you begin to look at issues of public health, be it pandemics or bioterrorism, they are really national issues. They cross provincial lines, but they certainly also cross borders and become international issues as well.

Finance committee  It is very much so. The issue of skills development, of workforce training--all of this--in the post-secondary environment is absolutely critical as we go forward. Access becomes, therefore, the underpinning of that, so that we have a diverse, wonderfully vibrant student body. So yes, indeed, access is at the heart of our issues.

Finance committee  Yes, those figures would get us to a point of importance for that country.

Finance committee  Actually, to give a little plug, Queen's has more millennium scholarships than I think any other university, so I certainly support the program. It's one that allows us also--for highly qualified students, I grant you--to continue to provide access, which is extremely important to us.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon, everyone. I'm delighted to have this opportunity to participate in these pre-budget consultations. In a recent speech at Queen's University, the Minister of Finance pointed to post-secondary education as being “one of the cornerstones of our success as a nation” and noted that there are real pressures to do more.