Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to make one last statement. I agree with what my colleagues have said so far. We have to continue along the path we have created with the EDI and other initiatives. The only thing I would add is that we should think about the potential o

Official Languages committee  Do you mean...? I'm sorry, Mr. Chair—

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, it's very difficult for me as a federal public servant to comment on the actions of another level of government; however, I can say—

Official Languages committee  There are a number of efforts being made in New Brunswick to develop that sector of the economy. ACOA has done a number of studies to look at the economic impact. It's difficult for me to compare how active it is or how different it is from—

Official Languages committee  Based on the studies we have seen, there are indications of potential economic impact.

Official Languages committee  Yes, I mean positive impact.

Official Languages committee  The unemployment levels in the larger cities of New Brunswick are generally lower than in other parts of the province. In fact, this morning in L'Acadie Nouvelle, I think on page 4, there was a full-page article that said that bilingualism in the southeast of New Brunswick is a v

Official Languages committee  There has been quite a bit of intraprovincial migration within the province of New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  Of course. We're aware of the unemployment challenges across Atlantic Canada, and we're doing, as I mentioned, what we can to address those challenges.

Official Languages committee  As I mentioned in my answer earlier, there are some very strong trends affecting rural areas not just in Atlantic Canada but across the country and affecting both anglophone and francophone communities in our region, and we're doing all we can to counter this trend.

Official Languages committee  ACOA has a strong focus on business skills development. Within that we have a pretty strong component that's targeted at promoting youth entrepreneurship, so when we talk about skills development for youth, we, at ACOA anyway, tend to focus on promoting entrepreneurship among you

Official Languages committee  In response to the member's question, I don't have specific information on where these two companies have directed their exports. We've gotten positive reports that they are now exporting, but I think it's still a bit too early to tell exactly how the agreement in principle with

Official Languages committee  I will try to answer your question. You may know that I come from another province, not New Brunswick. I live in New Brunswick right now, but I come from the Acadian region of Chéticamp, on Cape Breton Island. I am familiar with what can happen in a minority francophone communi

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Godin. The remarks I made in my speech are accurate, but New Brunswick is the exception to this trend when comparing the rate of unemployment between anglophones and francophones. Indeed, the unemployment rate among francophones in New Brunswick is slightly higher

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. First, like all my colleagues before me, I would like to begin by thanking the committee for inviting ACOA to appear before you today to talk about what the agency is doing to support official language minority communities in Atlantic Canada. I w