One of the objectives of the roadmap and the action plan that preceded it, which is well known to some members around the table, was to create a space for coordination and collaboration. Responsibilities under the Official Languages Act are diffuse. They apply to all 200 departments. That space makes it possible to speak with partners about horizontal themes. Those may include immigration, economic development, health, justice and, obviously, the language in which federal services are delivered or the language of work in federal institutions. All that represents a quite disparate whole, but one that must have common objectives. It is important to create that space so that we can coordinate our objectives and focus our efforts so that we are in a better position to achieve them. It produces results such as these ones, that is to say partnerships.
Ms. Meredith referred to an initiative designed to focus the departments' attention on official languages. They were previously asked to submit a report on part VII of the act and another report on parts IV, V and VI. That caused some confusion in the departments.
To create conditions more conducive to an examination of the official languages program—an examination conducted by the deputy ministers, the departments—we are cooperating with Canadian Heritage so that there is a single joint request for information. That would enable the departments to get their deputy ministers to focus just once on all the issues and to see all the links created between effective implementation of parts IV, V and VI and effective implementation of their responsibilities under part VII.