Official Languages committee  I don't have any answers. I don't know if my colleagues have an opinion about the table you're referring to, with the 15 and the 7.

Official Languages committee  No.

Official Languages committee  ...and also training.

Official Languages committee  I don't know about that, because we would have to know the details of the assignment. This is something that we will look at during our follow-up, meaning exactly how the plan translates into day-to-day reality. I am not in a position to tell you whether this is the case or not.

Official Languages committee  Well, the figures more or less speak for themselves in relation to the proportion of non-bilingual people holding positions that are designated bilingual. Only 47% of people holding positions designated bilingual are in fact bilingual. That's a failure in my book. I don't know any assessment system where 47% could be considered a success.

Official Languages committee  Like Mr. Lemieux, I will come back to it.

Official Languages committee  Not necessarily. In actual fact, this is how things are done in the public service. There are unilingual francophone regions; in other regions, anglophones and francophones have the right to work in their own language. Then, there are regions where anglophones are not required to speak and understand French.

Official Languages committee  Yes. I read the transcript.

Official Languages committee  There are two things. I think that, faced with the current failure to respect linguistic requirements, the Canadian Forces decided to take a different approach. I'm not prepared to say whether the risk has increased because of this change. They have recognized that there is a problem.

Official Languages committee  I consulted with our lawyers on the scope of part VII, that part of the act that requires consultation with minority communities, and I was told that, in fact, sections 41 and 42 of the act do not apply in this case.

Official Languages committee  Let's be clear. I talked about the contribution of the Saint-Jean Royal Military College to the Canadian Forces and the role that the institution played in reinforcing the presence of the corps of francophone officers. In my statement, I talked about it as one of the best immersion experiences in North America.

Official Languages committee  In fact, of the many things I want to do, this is one: get a grassroots understanding, within the regiments, of the exact situation. Renald, do you have any comments?

Official Languages committee  Let me just respond by saying I will take those concerns into account.

Official Languages committee  I would like them to explore ways of reinforcing training, so as to take into consideration all the factors that make up a francophone environment and the best way of learning to work in either official language. After having said that I wouldn't comment on the details of a plan to reach this target within the Canadian Forces, I will also avoid imposing another way to improve training, certainly not at this point in my mandate.

Official Languages committee  Quite.