Official Languages committee  I prefer to speak in English, but I also speak in French. We had this idea to discuss one or two items in French only at every meeting.

Official Languages committee  Pardon me?

Official Languages committee  I believe it does. All deputy ministers are given strategic objectives and requirements from the clerk each year, particularly around public service renewal and on official languages.

Official Languages committee  It is across the public service, and we have in turn taken those requirements and those directions and obligations and embedded them in each executive's performance agreement. There's an obligation for all executives to be honouring their official languages obligations and promot

Official Languages committee  We're not given specific mandate letters right now, but we are given directions on the key objectives that the clerk would like all deputy heads to carry each year, and those include official languages.

Official Languages committee  Yes, we do.

Official Languages committee  I believe so.

Official Languages committee  We have approximately 2,000 employees in Canada, and we have probably 600 or 800 overseas, made up of both Canadian and locally engaged staff.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the results of the Canadian International Development Agency's first review on official languages. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to discuss the results of the C

Foreign Affairs committee  Oh, you want me to—

Foreign Affairs committee  I won't comment on that, exactly. I'll just indicate that I did recommend it to the minister in writing. I think if I had changed the recommendation on the memo I would have initialed it.

Foreign Affairs committee  I wouldn't necessarily assume that. My discussions with the minister were quite clear. She did, as she indicated, deliberate on it. She knew what my advice was. I don't know where that “not” came from, but she wasn't misled in any way. She knew what the recommendation was.

Foreign Affairs committee  Can I disagree with...? Can I just comment on that?

Foreign Affairs committee  I just wouldn't want to let it stand that way. I think, as the minister indicated, the agency did its due diligence, but the minister and her office also do due diligence. They are the minister, that is the government, and that is the decision that was taken. I just—

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. With respect to untying, the government did untie all its food aid, and we're also on track to untie all of our assistance by 2012-13. We're at 93% now. As to the significance of untying food aid, it means that the World Food Programme or the organization with whom