It's new for me too. I wasn't aware, and that concerns us very much. We already had trouble working with Service Canada on the proposed projects. It isn't easy.
At the time of the cuts in the 1990s, we were told that, under sections 41 and 42 of the Official Languages Act, which concern the joint effort between the departments, there would be specific things for us and that the departments would have an obligation to propose concrete things to the organizations representing Francophone society.
However, that never materialized in northern Ontario. We were working with what is now Service Canada and, often, when we proposed projects — we didn't have a choice to operate by projects, because we didn't have the money — obstacles were put in our path. The only recourse we had was to ask our MP to intervene. Interdepartmental cooperation never really materialized.
That's why I like the first part of your comment. For multi-year funding and everything that's complementary, that's fine because we can make do with what will be proposed. However, one thing is certain: for us to be players in this area, we need adequate base funding. This deficiency has to be corrected from the outset. Subsequently, if we get funding, we'll be able to act with the economic stakeholders and political interests; we'll be at one end of the spectrum. If we aren't, we won't be able to do anything.