Thank you for asking that question.
We as a sector, of course, and particularly our B.C. colleagues, are extremely concerned about that. In fact, AMSSA, which is the umbrella organization in B.C., has requested a meeting with the minister who is responsible for immigration there, Wally Oppal, as well as with the finance minister, Carole Taylor. They have declined meeting with them. In fact, I happen to know Wally personally, but anyway, he has said they're not going to address that question. So I think that's a really big indicator as to where that's going.
In addition, if I may follow up on Mr. Karygiannis's question, there are different systems for how agencies access funding across the country as well, which is what we hope is going to be addressed in this study too.
Let me give you an example. In B.C., the immigration ministry has implemented an RFP process for how those settlement agencies get funded. Let me describe to you how completely devastating that is, because you're not selling widgets here. It's not like an RFP process where we are going to be buying x boxes of paper, and therefore who is going to provide the cheaper service or be more effective? What has happened in B.C., in fact, through this RFP process is that agencies are being asked to compete to provide those programs and services. What you are doing then is setting up a community to move from a collaborative, partnership, supportive model—because, believe me, as a non-profit agency, providing settlement services, you need as much partnership and collaboration within those communities as you can get—to one now where the government is saying we want you guys to compete, to bid on the ability to get funded for these services. So it is in fact ripping the communities apart, ripping the agencies apart, because now it's a competitive bid process. In certain areas and in certain federal government departments and programs, we think that is a completely inappropriate mechanism to fund settlement services.