Science and Research committee  Are you talking about the university or the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences?

Science and Research committee  I'm a professor at Université Laval. Of course, the university values research in French immensely. It's the oldest francophone university, and it attaches a great deal of importance to that research commitment. Like at all other universities, there's a lot of pressure to publish in English at Université Laval, and our institution recognizes the importance of impact factors in evaluating scientific careers and faculty promotions.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for the question. Is there enough time for me to answer, Madam Chair?

Science and Research committee  I'm going to expand upon Mr. Sévigny's proposal. The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment suggests many potential avenues for dealing with this issue. Canada's research culture needs to be changed. That's not just applicable to research in French, but changes would definitely contribute if we could broaden the criteria for assessing the quality of research work and assign more weight to all the different benefits of research.

Science and Research committee  Funding is very important, beginning with university graduate work. Researchers need help to publish the findings of their research. That's because if the existing funding programs do not allow researchers to report on their research work, there will be nothing to communicate.

Science and Research committee  Our proposal aims specifically at distancing ourselves from this scholarly publication business to further encourage open publication. We are convinced that in future, research in French and the dissemination of knowledge in French will have to be accomplished by means of open science.

Science and Research committee  I don't have all the answers on what form the open access publication process might take for research work. What we do know is that we need to look into solutions that become available to make research findings available. However, you are altogether right when you say that it's not simply a matter of translation; hence the importance of being able to promote contacts between these intellectual areas which, all too often, remain in silos.

Science and Research committee  I am not aware of what Professor Sylvie Lamoureux said in her testimony to your committee, but language is certainly what is used to convey ideas. That's why people talk about equity. Some francophone researchers have to work under conditions that require them to think, write and produce in an intellectual space that is not their own.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for the question. It's clearly a strong trend, and we won't be able to counter it completely. On the other hand, the comparison with France is flawed. France is a country where French is of course used by the majority. All its researchers are subject to the same imperatives.

Science and Research committee  Good evening. I'd like to begin by thanking the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, the committee chair, and all members of the committee for having given us the opportunity to discuss and formulate recommendations on research and publication in French in Canada. This subject is central to our research community and our work at the Federation for the Humanities, which I have the pleasure of representing today as vice-chair of its board of directors.