(V.O.): Station, this is Houston, are you ready for the event?

David Saint Jacques (DSJ): Houston this is Station, I am ready.

GG Julie Payette (GG) : David, here at Rideau Hall, in Ottawa. We see you, and we hear you loud and clear. How do you hear us?

DSJ: Hello Julie, loud and clear from the space station.

GG : We are all very impressed by the work you do and the generosity with which you share this experience. Thank you for being here. Let me tell you that we’re here with friends, colleagues and students, but also have someone really special right next to me who is going to say hi.

Premier Ministre Justin Trudeau (PM) : Hi David ! What a pleasure to see you in space. As you know, science is extraordinarily important to Canadians, it’s important to this government, and our capacity to continue to be world-class in our contributions to science and to space is really important to me, to you, and I think all Canadians. So I’m going to turn it over right now.

Student 1: Hi, my name is Emilia, and I wanted to ask you, is it possible to see the pollution in space? For example, plastics in the oceans?

DSJ: Generally yes, you can subtly see the effects of pollution. Around big cities you can see a kind of smog. And then of course you can take photographs of icebergs, glaciers, polar zones, and compare them with old photographs and see that the melting ice is spreading.

Student 2: Hi, my name is Simon, and my question is what kind of experiments or research are you doing in space?

DSJ: We can do molecular biology research, pharmacology research, materials science research, astrophysics research that is done here, a lot of human psychology research, more technological research on how to survive in space, how to improve our life support systems here. That's what's fantastic about space research that it always ends up being of use to all of us.

Student 3: Hello, my name is Maria and my question is why is Canada’s space program so important and what are the benefits?

DSJ: I’m glad you asked this. There’re many aspects. First, I talked a lot about all the health research we do. All the research we do on health in space has benefits for everybody in Canada. And that’s because basically being in space is kind of bad for your body. The way in which it is bad for your body resembles real disease on earth. So, whenever we fix a problem for astronauts, we fix a problem that’s a real disease on earth. I want to quote Madame Payette, here, a nice quote I heard from her, “If you can go alone, maybe you can go fast, but if you go as a group, you can go further.”

Student 4: My name is Serena, and I’m 16 years old. I thought it was really amazing to have the opportunity to speak with the International Space Station, and I really loved his answers about the application of medicine in space and on earth. I never thought of it that way and I can see space as a really valuable thing going forward for Canada.

Student 5: Hello, my name is (inaudible) I'm 13 years old and today I had the opportunity to speak with David St. Jacques, an astronaut who is on the International Space Station. It's really an experience that not many people have the opportunity to have. So I am very pleased that I was able to speak with the Prime Minister and the Governor General of Canada, it is very important.

GG: Thank you David. We can’t do anything alone, and I know there is an enormous support structure out there for you. We are very impressed, very proud of you.

PM: Bravo David, thanks a lot!

DSJ: Thanks Julie, thank you Prime Minister, thanks everyone.

(V.O.) Thank you Canadian Space Agency and participants.