Official Languages committee  Mr. Chairman, committee members, thank you for your reception. I have come here today to talk to you about the vitality of francophone communities in the Northwest Territories. I am speaking to you on behalf of the President of our federation, Fernand Denault, who apologizes for

Official Languages committee  There's a well known saying that if it isn't broken, don't fix it. If it's not broken, don't change it. In our area, over the past 20 years, the Court Challenges Program has been essential in establishing our community infrastructures. Without that program, we probably wouldn'

Official Languages committee  We have two schools at the moment. There has been one in Yellowknife since 1989, but enrollments have not increased in the last few years because of an inadequate infrastructure—there is no gymnasium and no specialized facilities. This problem should be corrected in 2007 because

Official Languages committee  Your question is both relevant and important. I would reply that 75% of the budget comes from the federal government. Now we can say that the federal government has definitely invested in education at the primary and secondary levels in recent years. The problem is that it did so

Official Languages committee  I'll be quick. I think that the federal government has an extremely important role to play in terms of supporting a territorial government, but i would say that it is monitoring or having responsibility, in an almost paternalistic role. “Paternity” may not be the best word. What'

Official Languages committee  Parenting. The federal government has to be a good parent to a government that is making small steps forward in health. We have, nonetheless, invested in various services, and the community is happy to have more services in French.

Official Languages committee  That's a question that requires a very detailed answer. Would you allow me a comment on the first part of what you've just said?

Official Languages committee  We started to bark, to use your expression, two years before we decided to go before the courts. We filed over 100 complaints with the language commissioner of the Northwest Territories before we started legal proceedings. At the time the community decided that it was essential t

Official Languages committee  That's correct. We have had several opportunities to make comments, at the interdepartmental level, on the evolution of the Action Plan for Official Languages. We think that a great deal of work has been done to implement the action plan, but we face enormous challenges related

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  The budget commitment was confirmed in December.

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 o

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.

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 governmen