Time is needed for the effect of any legislative change to be felt. The Official Languages Act was first introduced in 1969 and was amended in 1988. We are essentially asking institutions to change their mindset, and that takes time. Some people believe that we should begin by introducing regulations, but I am not convinced that is the best strategy. The primary goal of part VII is to encourage government institutions to find new ways of working with official language minority communities.
Some institutions have made considerable progress, partly at the grassroots level, as some directors have reached out to the communities in an effort to establish a new dialogue with them. I hope that the progress reports filed by the institutions on how they are meeting their new part VII obligations will show that they have done more than simply hold meetings and train employees. We want to see that they have taken concrete measures.