Science and Research committee  If I were on that council, it would be because they heard us today. One of the recommendations we made in the brief we will be submitting is that a committee of this kind should take into account the diversity of Canada's research ecosystem. That way, institutions located in various regions or with a different approach could be represented within those committees and have their voices heard.

Science and Research committee  I think these are things that other stakeholders have pointed out. In choosing the organizations that will advise Canada, we will have to pay attention to the various universities and profiles of people who will be part of the strategies used in order to get diverse viewpoints, which will allow for research projects that are as varied as possible.

Science and Research committee  My opinion is very much in line with what Mr. Larivière was saying, that these are things that should absolutely be looked at. We will have to go further and rethink the criteria used to determine what constitutes a high quality project. Sometimes, a project description must contain a lot of details or conceptual evidence on the environment in which the researcher operates.

Science and Research committee  Yes, absolutely. In our university network, concentration has a direct impact on our institutions' developmental capacity, on their ability to attract graduate students and, as a result, on funding for their operations budgets. Indeed, a large part of the funding used for university operations is contingent on student numbers.

Science and Research committee  For the past year and a half, I believe, we have had a major initiative for all institutions in the Université du Québec network. It's called the post-secondary student mental health initiative. By pooling our expertise, we created this initiative, which received funding from Quebec's ministries of health and social services and advanced education to promote student mental health.

Science and Research committee  Each institution has a whole support ecosystem for innovation, knowledge transfer and knowledge mobilization. There's obviously the whole issue of the patents and start-ups that come out of this research. Then there are social innovations, which often get less attention but are just as important.

Science and Research committee  Could you repeat the question, Mr. Soroka? I didn't get the translation.

Science and Research committee  Indeed, within the Université du Québec network, more and more research is being done in partnership with all kinds of stakeholders. For example, more than 40% of the total amount of research funding comes from private partners or organizations. More and more, our institutions are positioning themselves in their community.

Science and Research committee  My answer is along the same lines as Mr. Larivière's. We often look at the model used by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, or NSERC. There is also the fact that it helps a pretty good chunk of the research community achieve a certain success rate, which encourages innovation.

Science and Research committee  Actually, the Université du Québec has long been concerned about the decline of French in Canada, particularly in science, where the decline is especially pronounced. You have likely seen a lot of data published about the fact that, since the 1960s, barely 8% of scholarly journals created in Canada have been in French.

Science and Research committee  In no way are we questioning the integrity of the people involved in the evaluation process. We are confident that the administrative staff and evaluators all act ethically, in compliance with the code of ethics and values of the granting agencies. What we are questioning is the public policy choices that have led to a funding system that tends toward a concentration of funds.

Science and Research committee  When they are not funded through grants, they are forced to find jobs on or off campus. We know that when students work a certain number of hours outside their studies, it has a negative impact on their ability to stay in school and graduate.

Science and Research committee  Thank you. Going back to the recent increase in the number and value of scholarships—which we are absolutely delighted about—we will need to pay careful attention to the way these new funds are distributed. If they are used only to further concentrate funding, it will not improve the system.

Science and Research committee  Yes, it is not a matter of excluding anyone at the outset, but of ensuring that the processes make it possible for the various realities to be taken into account so that people actually have a fair chance of accessing funds and upholding the merit that characterizes them.

Science and Research committee  I do think that, today, the rules never require anyone to be excluded. There are situations where you have to go further in certain criteria to make sure you make room. When you have a system that is very focused on certain profiles and you want to make room for new profiles, a balance inevitably has to be reworked.