Science and Research committee  I don't know, but I would say that most publications in biology, as in most scientific fields, are in English. It is the lingua franca of science. If I had to make an estimate, I would say it's between 1% and 5%.

Science and Research committee  I would argue that, in any case, there are several barriers to mobilizing scientific knowledge. You know that most of these papers are behind what's called a paywall. People have to pay to get through that wall. Universities and researchers pay to access this knowledge in scientific journals.

Science and Research committee  Yes, will do.

Science and Research committee  Yes, indeed. It's an incredibly important problem. I have two levels of an answer. What we're finding, first, is that rural communities and landowners working far from the city often have an extremely deep appreciation and understanding of their biological diversity. Because of the types of technologies that Jeremy and I have spoken about today, they have never been more connected or better engaged in this sharing process—the sharing of observations and information.

Science and Research committee  I would be very pleased to do that.

Science and Research committee  Feel free to start, Jeremy. Go for it.

Science and Research committee  I'm happy to add a bit on a situation I'm currently concerned about. Canada is blessed with an extraordinary level of expertise and engagement among the research community, the citizen community and indigenous peoples. We have invested heavily in our programs for sampling certain elements of our biological diversity.

Science and Research committee  That is a very good question. We are effectively talking about a collective effort around this biodiversity crisis. In my view, it is about creating networks. The QCBS network is unique because it links citizen science to policy makers, and NGOs to business. We can then be a catalyst for that collaboration, since the network has built trust.

Science and Research committee  Yes, that seems insurmountable, but I am convinced that we can do it. The Quebec Biodiversity Science Centre is designed to do just that. It is a network of 15 universities and colleges. Most of these universities are part of the Université du Québec chain. We have a network of bilingual researchers.

Science and Research committee  What we're talking about is a capacity within Canada to systematically assess the state of its ecosystems in a way that supports policy and conservation action in light of that policy, from coast to coast and south to north. The current situation is that, although we do have many observations of nature—in the order of millions of observations—they tend to be located in a particular part of the country, essentially toward the southern border where many people, obviously, live in Canada.

Science and Research committee  That depends. My courses at McGill University are given in English, but as a codirector of the QCBS, I often have the opportunity to use French, especially when communicating with departments and ministries, such as the Department of Environment and Climate Change, and the Quebec ministry of wildlife and parks, or conservation NGOs.

Science and Research committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for this invitation to speak to the committee today. I'm joining you from Montreal, which is situated on the traditional territory of the Kanienkehaka, also known as the Mohawk nation. I'm a professor and researcher at McGill University and founding director of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science.