Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank you on behalf of the Conseil de la coopération de la Saskatchewan, or CCS, for inviting me to appear before you as you begin your study on the economic situation of Canada's minority linguistic communities. CCS, which was founded in 1

Official Languages committee  In Saskatchewan, when you work with francophone communities, that is to say where there is a francophone majority or at least a francophone presence, you sometimes forget that this benefits the entire community, both francophones and anglophones. I can give you some examples. In

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  There are associations in the francophone communities offering a variety of services, cultural, educational and other types of services. For example, Fransaskois schools are established in the regions. People can live their everyday lives in French in the rural communities where

Official Languages committee  I have a comment on that subject. Although I very much appreciate the fact that funding has been renewed for years, I emphasize that it has plateaued. It has not been indexed to the cost of living. Consequently, since 1997, we have had to cut staff by some 20%, despite our stabl

Official Languages committee  Yes, we have to file separate applications for different and complementary services. Several members of my staff and I spend a great deal of time performing administrative and managerial duties. We have to prepare reports to measure results and to ensure we achieve desired result

Official Languages committee  I would like to add something. This is indeed complicated and it becomes even more so when you need to deal with four or five different departments. We need to do that because one department cannot fund a service that we offer when another one is doing it. It is for those kinds o

Official Languages committee  There definitely are francophone businesses in our case. Earlier I cited the example of Bourgault Industries in the community of St. Brieux, Saskatchewan. It is a manufacturer that does business internationally. There are others in the community. However, they are not players tha

Official Languages committee  In terms of skills levels, certainly we work with the province. The province does a lot of research. We don't have the capacity financially or otherwise to do that kind of research. In terms of trying to identify skills gaps and stuff like that, certainly in Saskatchewan right no

Official Languages committee  In our case, cooperative development is not just a matter of projects. The cancellation has definitely had a major impact on rural communities. It has deprived them of a resource that was used of course for cooperative development. Consequently, nothing related to the development

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  In the case of Saskatchewan, which these days is often nicknamed "the new Alberta", the industries are similar to those in Alberta. There is a lot of work in construction. The mining sector is also very big in the province. A lot of mining development projects are under way or s

Official Languages committee  Thank you.

Official Languages committee  I can begin. I made some recommendations in my presentation. I suggested that the provinces join forces in a way. A great deal of funding comes from the federal government, but not as much support comes from the provinces. For example, Saskatchewan is much more open today than i

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair.