I will answer by asking the following question: What would happen if the same thing occurred to the people of Quebec?
We have indeed done a lot of work.
For example, there was a letter campaign. As I mentioned, 67 communities received funding last year. They sent more than 20 letters to the new Minister of Canadian Heritage. Among the organizations that sent letters were the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick, which carries a lot of weight, as well as other municipalities. So the letters weren't just from community organizations. They are very important; I'm not saying that one organization is more important than another. It's just to illustrate the range of organizations that received funding last year and answered the call with over 20 letters.
There's also an online petition. I didn't check the number this morning, but I know that it has more than 400 signatures.
This clearly shows the community's desire, the Acadian people's desire to get this funding and see it continue.
I think one of the challenges with the pilot project is that it was under the celebration and commemoration program, not under the celebrate Canada program. That's always been kept separate. That's why we're asking not only that the funding be renewed, but also that it be incorporated into the celebrate Canada program, in order to make it permanent.
As for the reason, the officials tell us that they have no idea. All they know is that the funding has stopped. Several MPs we spoke to have told us that it was simply a program review after a pilot project. In any event, the result is that this funding is not in next year's budget. Personally, when I don't have the money to go to the movies, I don't go and I don't plan to go. The Congrès mondial acadien will be held next year. During the year when this congress is held, artists are in high demand and much more is happening. Not having access to funding will make the process even more difficult, and there will be much more impact. Planning a festival or event on the scale of National Acadian Day takes place 12 to 18 months in advance. Right now, there's no money in the budget, which prevents us from doing the planning. If we were ever granted funding, we'd have to do the planning at the last minute, which would reduce the impact of the event.
This isn't just for communities in Acadia or the Atlantic provinces. For three years, National Acadian Day was celebrated in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It was also celebrated across Quebec. For example, I know that New Acadia received funding. So that has an impact on Canada as a whole.
It was indeed a great challenge not to have received confirmation of the return of this funding at the end of the pilot project, despite all the work we had done.