The funding decisions by Council were discussed, and the process leading up to that decision was reviewed. Council took the view that there had not been compensation in the past for disciplines disproportionately affected by program cancellations. It was not prepared to set such a precedent now, especially in the context of the major budget reduction imposed by the government. In view of this there is no possibility of adjusting the GSC budget of Mathematics to compensate for these recent losses. Mathematicians expressed their bitter disappointment at the outcome of the Council decision.
Proposals are already in preparation for mini-networks from scientists in other disciplines.
Mathematicians reaffirmed that their strong preference, and the preference of the community was to increase funding by augmenting the GSC budget. The community was united in rejecting the comparative evaluation of the discipline by the Allocation Committee. Mathematicians view this evaluation as utterly mistaken. Thus other avenues would have to be explored. This would be a means of implementing a new vision for the development of mathematics across Canada.