Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Welcome, gentlemen. I am sorry. I always have a meeting at 8:30, which causes me problems. If I ask any questions that you have already answered, do stop me.
As you know, I am from Manitoba and I am fairly familiar with the immigration program and how it works. In Manitoba, we have a policy of broadening the cultural space. We had no choice. Our numbers were dropping and, like Mr. Arnal said, the francophonie is changing in Manitoba. We have always pulled together to defend ourselves against outsiders, but the face of Saint-Boniface is completely changing. You find people there from communities from all over the world. It is refreshing and we have no problem with that.
The challenge is still with the funding. Our reception structure is quite small; there are just a few people working there. People want to come and settle in the francophone community. The problem is that it is very expensive to settle in our community. African francophones have even settled in Winnipeg's poor neighbourhoods where there are gangs, etc. We do not give them preferential treatment, but it still a huge problem.
Some families arrive with 12 or 14 children. Recently, two families arrived in the evening with 22 or 24 children. The situation is a challenge for people working in reception centres, who take them home. We are really at the beginning of the process. There are still some problems, but the main problem is with the funding.
Does your plan deal with that? It could be very expensive.