Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My first question is for Mr. Dinsdale.
I had an aboriginal reserve in my riding, the Maria reserve, in the Gaspé. At the time, the chief came to see me to discuss a problem I will describe to you. Afterwards, I met with other groups, who worked in the Official Languages area among others, and who dealt with Heritage Canada. Two weeks before the beginning of the school year, these people still had not received from the federal government confirmation of the amount they would be able to allocate to hiring teachers for young aboriginals. Each year, the lack of the information needed to hire teachers, the delay in transmitting the information concerning the necessary amount, posed a serious problem. To keep these teachers they had to be able to confirm to them that they would have a salary. I used to sit on the Official Languages Committee. Concerning groups which fell under Heritage Canada and were involved with official languages, we were told this: if the fiscal year ends March 31st, you will only receive the cheque for the previous year in January. So groups had to finance themselves for seven or eight months while waiting for the cheque. This was a problem. Imagine that the amount you are to receive is $100,000. You then have to borrow from the bank and pay interest. So in reality the amount you will have is not really $100,000.
Do you have the same problem with Heritage Canada at this time?