Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank the witnesses who are with us today.
My first question is for Mr. Normand.
Since Bill C‑13 was passed, the federal government now has a legal obligation, not just a moral one, to ensure the substantive equality of French and English. I would remind you that Bill C‑13 sought to modernize the Official Languages Act. However, researchers who submit an application in French see their chances of success reduced. In addition, the members of the evaluation committees aren't always truly bilingual. Peer review committees do their own language assessment.
Are you prepared to explicitly include this obligation in the funding rules and to establish real parity committees and correction mechanisms so that the scientific merit of francophone researchers is judged fairly, without linguistic prejudice?