Minister, it's great to see you. You can always tell somebody who is excited about their job and enjoys it. You are just overflowing with that today, so I salute that. It's great to see.
I have a question regarding the 2012-13 report from the Commissioner of Official Languages. In that report he commented on a weakening of the application of the law on official languages and linguistic duality, but made no mention of the evidence he relied on to reach this conclusion. In his report he implied there is or has been an erosion of bilingualism in the public service because of some of the consequences of our move to balance the federal budget. I'll cite the paragraph from the report so you're aware of it:
Although the federal public service is going through major changes, budget cuts and subsequent massive job cuts do not justify ignoring Part V of the Act. In these difficult times when federal employees are feeling particularly vulnerable, it is important for senior executives in all institutions to lead by example and make it clear that employees who have the right to work in the official language of their choice can continue to feel free to exercise that right.
Those are his words. I think he overstates the changes that have happened in Ottawa. Could you speak to this and perhaps reflect on the evidence, if he has any, that he was basing this on?