April 9, 2003
Funding for Research and Development
Question to Minister of Advanced Education Shirley Bond
R. Lee: My question is to the Minister of Advanced Education. Many of my constituents have come to me for clarification on this government's commitment to research and development. Many of them have been hearing that the government has cut back funding in this area. To the Minister of Advanced Education: is this true? How much has the government committed to R and D this year?
Hon. S. Bond: Probably there's no more compelling reason to talk about research than the stories shared by my colleague from Surrey–Green Timbers today. Also, the information that we've received is that as of today, the B.C. genome centre has received a viral sample from Toronto and is working very hard, as we speak, to look at cracking the challenging situation that's faced with SARS in the country.
This government recognizes the importance of research and development. In fact, we have invested almost $700 million across a number of ministries in this government to ensure that research and development not only continues, but that we're able to attract the best and brightest researchers to the province.
