Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question, Ms. Ashton. We're concerned about it. We're extremely disappointed that it's happening. We have a labour shortage. The life and future of our community depend on immigration. It's important to maintain services for people who are here in order to stop assimilation.

Official Languages committee  In order to leave some time for Mr. Taillon, I would very briefly say that it's time to act. We're asking MPs to act, to pass a bill. It's imperfect, like everything in life. We will keep on working. We will improve it. The decline has to be stopped right now.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question, Ms. Kayabaga. I completely agree with you. At some point, you have to realize that the decline continues while we delay passage of the bill and that the impact of that decline could well be greater than the gains that passage of the bill would secure.

Official Languages committee  I think Mr. Taillon did a good job of explaining that. This bill is different in that it acknowledges that the decline of French must be stopped. That's a change of approach. We'll have a different approach in the act. We realized we had two national committees, but the modernized objective is to acknowledge that there's a difference of status.

Official Languages committee  I would just add that the official languages in education program is a mechanism whereby the federal government can support the education continuum in Alberta, particularly as regards Campus Saint-Jean. Thank you for your questions.

Official Languages committee  I think we want to adopt a more restorative act. That way, the government can do what we ask, or what is necessary regarding francophone immigration targets. A restorative approach should enable us to serve minority francophones in provinces such as Alberta whose governments are downright difficult.

Official Languages committee  I'd opt for the second approach. We can amend the bill when we start implementing it. We don't have time to wait for the bill to be perfect. We've been studying it for seven years, and we could continue doing so for a very long time. I don't want the next generation to be testifying here in 10 years.

Official Languages committee  Every act is imperfect at some point. We have to focus on the objective, which is to halt assimilation. Time is of the essence.

Official Languages committee  It's urgent. Let me give you an example. We just lost our parliamentary secretary for the francophonie, who took up the position in 2019 and whose mandate was to establish a French-language services policy. Our association prepared an action plan to guide the provincial government in implementing that policy, but there's an urgent need to invest in those services now.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much. This is a population that has increased 50% in the past 20 years. It's remarkable. We're concerned about the entire spectrum. Early childhood services feed the nucleus of our communities, the schools. The problem in Alberta is that the government has a very strict stance on jurisdictions.

Official Languages committee  I'm repeating myself, but it's impossible for me to say just how important language clauses are. They are important in all fields, whether it be mental health services, child care services or early childhood services. These are all services that we need. We have the necessary population, but the problem is that we need services.

Official Languages committee  It absolutely should. That's stated in what our federation, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, submitted to you.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Iacono. Further to my presentation and to express our point of view, I'd say that it depends on the inclusion of language clauses, which are incredibly important. We all know the history of the governments of Alberta. If restorative targets can be adopted for francophone immigration, the bill will substantively change matters on the ground.

Official Languages committee  No. The condition is really the language clauses issue—

Official Languages committee  Absolutely.