Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to our witnesses.
In a previous life, I was a high school teacher, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A relationship was established between the French Canadian school and the Joe Duquette School, in view of cultural exchanges between youngsters from both schools, Métis and Franco-Saskatchewanian, in order for them to get to know each other better.
Ms. Polak, you are from British Columbia, and you, Mr. Richard, are from Toronto. As we saw, the perception was tangible with regard to the poverty issue, the difficulty of the situation of one versus the other. It is a concern.
Before being a teacher, I was an educator in youth centres in Quebec and, as educator, I was responsible for the young people who came to us from Rapid Lake and Maniwaki, in Quebec. These were juvenile delinquents subject to judicial control. I did the follow-up because I spoke better English than my colleagues, in particular, and because I had been trained as an educationist. The work was very difficult. It is difficult at the outset when dealing with delinquents. Despite their small number, they unfortunately account for a good proportion of the residents of our social transition institutions.
I would like to ask a perhaps somewhat more targeted question pertaining to persistence in school and drop-outs. What are you doing, both in British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto, to motivate these young people to pursue their education? We know that there is the issue of the education scheme per se. Who teaches? How is it done? Is it in the city or on reserve? Indeed, these are two different worlds.
I will invite you to respond, Madam Polak.