Official Languages committee  Mr. Fraser, you said that five years was too long a time period. Personally, I find that 5 out of 400 years is not all that long. Let us say that our problem has been resolved within five years. I have been here for 10 years, and we have never stopped talking about it. I believe that the Department of National Defence has contravened the Official Languages Act more than any other department.

Official Languages committee  All right. So it is not too long a time period with respect to the attainment of results; in your opinion, it's even too long with respect to the implementation of the program.

Official Languages committee  I understand.

Official Languages committee  I understand that this is too long a time.

Official Languages committee  Okay. I will get back to this issue later on, Mr. Fraser.

Official Languages committee  I would like the commissioner to look into this issue and come back and tell us whether or not 10 out of the 12 recommendations have really been implemented. I would also like to know what two recommendations are not part of the plan.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I want to thank the commissioner for coming. The first time you appeared, I was not here, but I am pleased to meet you today, you and the members of your team. You are servants of Parliament and the guardians of the Official Languages Act. I liked the way you talked about the official languages.

Official Languages committee  You talk about results, but does the plan for these people include the 10 recommendations made by the office? That's what they are saying, right? Moreover, they claim that they consulted, as if the two parties sat down together and came to an agreement. That remains to be determined.

Official Languages committee  But we have been told that 10 out of the 12 recommendations in this plan have been implemented.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, I would like you to verify this information, because I think that the commissioner is as important as ministers are. He is a representative of Parliament. I'm convinced that, under the rules we adopted, when an officer of Parliament appears before a committee, he should have priority and we should get a room.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, given the importance of this meeting, the appearance by the commissioner and the fact that this follows upon a meeting with the ministers, I feel this situation should have been presented to the committee. We could have then decided to hold this meeting another week, in order to be certain of getting a room in which our meeting could have been televised.

Official Languages committee  Thank you.

Official Languages committee  I find it terrible, insulting and unacceptable that we're still talking about plans and building a school or gymnasium, when we have an Official Languages Act and it applies to both peoples.

Official Languages committee  That's what you're saying.

Official Languages committee  Since we're talking about political will, I just want to make a comment. It's taken 25 years for the committee to travel within Canada and to go and see what's going on in the field. That means that the political will wasn't there, even to show that there was a problem. But there is a problem, and it's serious.