Pauline Rochefort

C-218 Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Nipissing—Timiskaming residents who wish to draw the attention of the House to Bill. The petitioners express concern regarding proposed amendments that may affect eligibility criteria and existing safeguards as they relate to the protection of vulnerable persons, particularly those suffering from mental illnesses. Accordingly, the [more]

I'll direct it to Mr. Steinley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Those were all very informative testimonies. My first question is for Ms. Velestuk. I would like to better understand in simple terms the lay of the land when it comes to research in Saskatchewan. I understand that Saskatoon is the major research centre. Would that be correct?

I just read online that the provincial network has sites in Indian Head and Scott as well. Would you know if that's correct?

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Ms. Velestuk, I would like to try to understand all the various research organizations that are present in Saskatchewan, maybe starting with Saskatoon, which I understand to be the main research centre. If you could expand on that, that would be greatly appreciated.

Is it from the top?

If we come now to the provincial research centres, are they in similar locations?

Saskatoon is the main research centre, and then there are satellite locations in Scott, Indian Head, Melfort and Swift Current. Are there any other sites?

To take a different angle, I'm always interested in the rural lens and if it's been applied to some of the expenditures, as we've examined here. It's the librarians who brought up a very good point. They said if agriculture, forestry, fishing and the hunting industry were all combined, they would probably contribute a very large proportion to the gross domestic product in Saskatchewan. Given [more]

Basically, no one looked at the cuts from a rural perspective. If you had had to look at it simply from that view, do you think the government might have taken a different decision in terms of the cuts that were being recommended?

Thank you.

I have a final question. It was mentioned here that there had been no consultation. I think letters that have come forward to the government indicated that there should have been some consultation. In general, if you had to make cuts, which areas would you have identified for cuts?