You have given me a perfect opening, Mr. Murphy. You are invited to come here, to Ottawa, on the 10th of November for a Laurier Awards celebration for small- and medium-sized businesses in francophone and Acadian communities. This has been done in some provinces, in New Brunswick and in Ontario, with the Chambre économique de l'Ontario, but not at a national level. We think it's important to highlight the presence of these businesses in the world of business and economic performance.
I will turn quickly now to your first two questions, Mr. Murphy. The coordinating group on economic development and employability is an organization that is off the radar. It's huge. You referred to the annual budget. Roger mentioned earlier that 120 individuals now work full time as economic development professionals in francophone and Acadian communities. This is a first. They represent a small army of very efficient people working throughout these communities, in nine provinces and three territories, and getting tangible results.
I won't bore you by reading all of this, but their work is similar to the work that is done in your communities, elsewhere in Canada by the Community Futures Development Corporations or the SADCs in Quebec, that are taking a new approach. In terms of linguistic or cultural equality, the federal government took a truly active approach to economic development. I'm not talking about the development of educational rights, cultural rights, or access to bilingual services, but rather the economic development of these communities.
You referred to the board. There were others. This is interesting because the Board of the Coordinating Group on Economic Development and Employability, by definition must be made up of business people or people from the francophone business sector in Canada.