Environment committee  That's a good question. I'm not sure we can establish with certainty, from a scientific point of view, what type of watershed is most important. However, I can tell you a bit about our research. As I mentioned last time, we have launched a project, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, a federal agency, to collect samples from 650 lakes across Canada.

Environment committee  Okay. I would just say that, at that scale, we were in a much better position to explain what was happening for those communities of organisms. So I think those large watersheds are very helpful in terms of forecasting.

Environment committee  Usage conflicts are enormous and also affect drinking water, for example. I'm thinking in particular of Lac Saint-Charles in Quebec City. There is a lot of fighting over the use of that water. That is why we need to bring together stakeholders from a watershed, which may affect a waterway of interest like this one, to talk about their expectations, especially in the context of the coming climate change.

Environment committee  I agree that we must not forget the far north, especially in the context of climate change. A lot of the water that's already on the territory is frozen. It's going to melt and it's going to create new ecosystems. We have to think from that perspective. The migration of species to the north is also an issue.

Environment committee  I think I partly answered that question last time. Again, I have to say that my expertise is less on the political side and more on the ecosystem and ecology side. Mr. Hudon can probably answer more easily than I can with regard to the involvement of citizen groups. Personally, I believe that this is essential in the management of the St.

Environment committee  Can you just repeat the list again?

Environment committee  Since you said my name first, I'll go first. I'm not an expert on the political aspects of these things, but my feeling would be that there is some sense in having it correspond somewhat to jurisdictional boundaries, because that's where the money and the decision-making comes from.

Environment committee  I’m not sure I understood your question. When you talk about local management, do you mean management by the people who live near the watershed?

Environment committee  Yes, that would be optimal. However, we still need to take a national view, given that borders are often crossed.

Environment committee  Yes, absolutely. We recently received funding from the Quebec government to do more projects for the general public. For example, we created a podcast called “Balad’eau.” We also organized webinars. This is something we wanted to do in person, but COVID‑19 meant we had to do it virtually.

Environment committee  No.

Environment committee  When there was a call for briefs, we submitted one too.

Environment committee  The message we’re trying to convey is that activities around a lake or stream have consequences. As I mentioned in my speech, even when activities are carried out far from the waterway of interest, they are often the cause of the problems. So we need to work with all the stakeholders in a watershed to manage specific, localized problems.

Environment committee  Conflicts are most common in southern Canada, which is densely populated. I don’t know what the best way to safeguard aquatic environments is, but one way would be to protect what hasn’t yet been too impacted. We need to ensure that there are north-south corridors, and also at altitude, so that certain organisms can find themselves in suitable aquatic environments, even in the wake of climate change.

Environment committee  I think this could help, but, as I said, this kind of policy is not part of my expertise.