Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to first address Mr. Coderre's concerns about jurisdiction.
We give nearly $1 million a year to the Province of Ontario so they can use that money to promote French language instruction in private schools, specifically in private schools. Private schools in Ontario are defined as non-public, which is the secular system, and non-Catholic. Ontario funds two school systems completely. It funds a public system that is secular in nature, and it funds a Catholic system that is run by the Roman Catholic Church. All other schools, whether they be religious or secular, are considered private. This money is supposed to be for French instruction in private schools, that is to say, non-Catholic/non-public schools in Ontario.
The money is governed by a four-year agreement between the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. What exactly the terms of those agreements are I don't know. They very well could be in violation of the agreements—they might not be, they might be—so that would be one of the questions we could ask. What are the terms of the agreement? Can the province do this?
Secondly, it's an example of the federal government in the past using its spending power to effect priorities in provincial areas of jurisdiction. Certainly that's the case. However, it still is federal money, so I think it's worth our looking at it.
I'll add a final answer to your question. This money has been given in a consistent manner since 1970 to private schools in Ontario. Suddenly, after 38 years of this program running, the province announces that it's cutting funding to a majority of those schools that have received that money for the last 30 to 40 years. This is causing a lot of concern, not only in terms of delivering French language instruction in those schools, but in terms of fairness. Where is the equity here? Where's the fairness here? Since this is federal money, and since I've always thought the federal government was the primary institution of state that protects citizens' rights through the charter and through other mechanisms, I think we have a responsibility to take a look at this.
In terms of what Monsieur Nadeau brought up about accountability, I think he raises a very good point. Apparently one of the concerns of the province was that they didn't have a mechanism to prove where the money was going in these private schools. I think that's a legitimate concern, but the solution is not to cut funding, the solution is to put accountability in place. That's the solution.
These are the kinds of questions I think we can ask.