Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee members, I had the privilege of chairing the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues on that committee and to say that although my remarks are informed by that report, my testimony today is offered as an individual.

We submitted our report in early 2023, and several of our recommendations were included in various measures in the 2024 federal budget.

I would like to highlight and recognize the higher value of scholarships for research students, the larger budgets given to granting councils, and the creation of a capstone organization, which is the subject of your study.

Research and innovation are not luxury hobbies in advanced societies. In fact, they are the necessary prerequisites if we are to collectively flourish. These budget measures are therefore crucial to guarantee the welfare, prosperity and safety of our communities.

This is now one of the many reasons why it is urgent to breathe new life into the federal research support system. In 2026, Canada, the United States and Mexico will be re‑examining their free trade agreement: CUSMA, the Canada—United States—Mexico Agreement. It is essential that Canada be able to explain how it is a strategic partner in various economic sectors. Scientific research is a fundamental pillar of the United States' growth strategy.

The U.S. recently adopted the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, with approximately $280 billion U.S., and the Inflation Reduction Act, with approximately $800 billion U.S. in authorized spending. These policies aim to anchor advanced manufacturing operations and scientific pre-eminence back in the U.S. More broadly, this renewed ambition supports the whole knowledge pipeline, from basic science to applied science, innovation, commercialization, and national security. More broadly, substantial investments strengthen their National Science Foundation, their National Institutes of Health, NASA and so on. There is also increasing public and private support for humanities and social sciences research in various agencies to make sure that the U.S. will have access to the best human capital available. Put simply, like other ambitious countries, the U.S. is anchoring its future well-being, prosperity, and security on talent, research and innovation.

How important is Canadian science to American science? According to scientific co-authoring data, Canada is the number three international partner for U.S. scientists, all fields combined. Given Canada’s size, third place is nothing to sneeze at, but we used to be number one until about 1995 or so.

As the Naylor and Bouchard reports have shown, there are many reasons to pick up the pace in the race for talent and ideas. I am emphasizing one of those reasons here: Canada must invest in research and innovation to ensure that we remain a priority partner and avoid becoming a vassal economy that would succumb to brain drain.

To respond to emerging challenges and profit from unprecedented opportunities, we recommended the creation of a capstone organization that would support interdisciplinary, mission-driven research and international collaborations. That would also enable granting councils to intensify their efforts to support non-oriented research, research that is essential to discovery and to training talent.

How would this work? Well, for example, capstone could launch mission-driven funding calls for advanced materials research with U.S.-supported partners. Such funding calls could demand an interdisciplinary component to make sure that ethical and policy insights propel technological developments, and they could support novel university-industry partnerships in Canada. Other possible funding calls could focus, for instance, on disinformation, cybersecurity and democracy projects with NGOs, Europe, the U.S., other key allies and so on.

However, I have a word of caution. In doing this work, we must ensure that it is never at the expense of the excellence of investigator-driven research. Investigator-driven research is the foundation of talent training, research excellence, innovation, and science diplomacy with the U.S. and other allies. This is true from a graduate student in history to a Nobel Prize in physics.

Let us never forget that societies that are ambitious for their research enterprises thrive, while those that are not falter.

We very much hope that your work will help Canada set its sights higher in the search for knowledge.

Thank you.