Mr. Bélanger, I believe that, in fact, the federal government does not have power over everything. The provincial governments have power over some things. Minorities need, above all, social services, education and health care services.
The federal government can be the best government in the world, and yet have a provincial government that fails to respect the francophones in its province, as in our case.
As a result, we are waiting for the federal government to help us, first, because it is responsible for minorities, particularly the Senate, through the Court Challenges Program. We also expect the government to try mediation or correspondence of some kind through an exchange of letters with people in the province in question.
I think that the current federal government under Mr. Harper takes it for granted that everyone will act like it and will always be careful not to wrong the minority. However, we are seeing the opposite happen. In fact, there are not enough French schools in Prince Edward Island and Alberta. We do not even have benches, there is nothing. The situation was discussed the other day on a Radio Canada broadcast. What is happening there makes no sense. The Government of Alberta is responsible for the situation. The federal government has the responsibility to point to the situation and to help it. If the provincial government does not respond, at the very least, those who oppose this government must be helped.
I do not want to hear that it is their money; it is really our money. And the money they spend is also our money. It is illogical to say that, because, when you fight the central government, its representatives arrive with a whole bunch of lawyers.
They don't have only one lawyer; they come with three or four or five lawyers when they come to court, and they have lots of money. We had 12 lawyers who really work together, and we chose Mr. Caza here to defend our cause. We didn't have all of the money to pay him, but this program helped us.
We cannot think of another cause. We are in the capital of Canada. In Ontario we have the greatest majority of francophones outside Quebec; we have half of this group in the region of Ottawa, and we were lucky to get some money out of those people--but it's not everyone: there's one in Penetanguishene right now, and they don't have any money. They have won in court, but still the government--this is the Government of Canada, by the way, the Department of Industry--doesn't give them the money they need. They never had a project for the francophones over there.
These injustices are created sometimes by the federal government, but most of the time by the provincial governments. We need to have help. This is your responsibility. This is your role.