Thank you very much.
Welcome, Mr. Minister, and your staff. I understand you have an ambitious agenda, and I wish you all the best.
In question period we had a little chat about my concern that the idea to close the Quebec City and St. John's centres might not have been a recommendation that came up from the department. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but it would look to me as if the government had decided this would happen—which is every bit your right.
But listening to the response on French training, I understood that you have to ramp up the French training in order to meet the requirements. Or did I understand that incorrectly? I indeed could have. Also, I understand there are people within your department who are very concerned about proficiency in French. They are also concerned that Trenton and Halifax are not large enough to handle this.
I would like to know if you have a cost figure on what this transition is going to cost. You're going to have to absorb this in your department, which means there will be fewer dollars for all of this monitoring and science, and a lot of things that we need to do. I'd like you to elaborate on that.
Am I wrong to indicate that there are some great concerns in your department, or within the government, as to the proficiency levels in French and as to the accommodations?
Also, when will this happen? Is it all going to happen next spring? Will they both close at the same time?