Official Languages committee  This was a matter for the federal government to decide. The building belonged to the federal government.

Official Languages committee  Yes, when the Programme de développement culturel et communautaire was in place. Approximately $1.6 million was paid out over a ten-year period through this program. The federation and its services received $145,000 per annum in funding. This was shared between 10 to 12 organizations.

Official Languages committee  You’d be right in saying that we did not send back a cent of the $145,000. However the NWT court case that went before the Supreme Court revealed that out of the $1.6 million, $5 million that wasn’t spent—and I’m referring here to the territorial government—was returned to the federal government over the lifespan of the program.

Official Languages committee  We spoke on several occasions to a number of analysts. We submitted all the information required to back up our complaint, but there has been no comprehensive review or findings. We were only contacted a few times over the course of the process.

Official Languages committee  Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question because I was absent for 10 months. I have only been back for a short time.

Official Languages committee  I am less familiar with Nunavut. Perhaps you should ask that question of someone else.

Official Languages committee  A wonderful research paper was done on the issue. We believe that, in a minority community, the rules are not the same as they are in a majority community. We need to put together many development factors. Uniting the family, the community and the school is a winning strategy. There is abundant research to show that this is the case and it is a good approach.

Official Languages committee  We have a delegation that will take part, and the Franco-People of the North youth committee obtained sufficient financial support to make a significant contribution to the Games being held in March in the Yukon. So, a delegation from our region will attend and people from the Yukon will go to Hay River.

Official Languages committee  It is difficult to quantify the spinoffs of various events for youth. I think that investing in young people so they can see things, forge ties, open their minds to new realities and host people is good for the future. It is a good investment, even if it is not easy to measure the benefits.

Official Languages committee  There is a definitely a danger, and it has been around for a long time. We have demonstrated that the level of services and communications in French was very much inadequate in the community. It is true that the role played by the federal government with the territorial government was too understated.

Official Languages committee  The budget commitment was confirmed in December.

Official Languages committee  No, not at all.

Official Languages committee  The first thing we got was primary and secondary schools in Yellowknife and Hay River. The second was the expansion of Alain-St-Cyr school, which will take place in 2007 and 2008.

Official Languages committee  I think they will have an opportunity to make up for this in the very near future, because there are many things that need to be done to improve the offer of services in the Northwest Territories. There are other steps to be taken with respect to education. We are demonstrating openness in the discussions we are having at the moment on increasing the offer of services, in particular by combining community matters and education matters.

Official Languages committee  If there were nothing to replace it, some procedure ordinary people could use to defend their rights on issues that are important for the community, then definitely, we will have miss the boat.