I am co-chair of Prince Edward Island's French Health Services Network and work for the provincial government. I basically came here to tell you that the Government of Prince Edward Island is a true partner of the Société Santé en français with regard to the work it carries out.
Our government adopted a French-Language Services Act in 2000. We are now working to implement this legislation in order to ensure comparable high-quality services in all areas of government jurisdiction. The support of the Société Santé en français and the various existing funding components allow the Government of Prince Edward Island to meet its objective in a timely fashion. We have set out to broaden access to French-language health care services throughout Prince Edward Island. There are a number of projects, including the creation of a website that lists the names of the francophone and bilingual health care professionals who are able to provide services on Prince Edward Island.
It is our objective to broaden access to French-language health care services. It is one thing to ensure that there are sufficient bilingual health care professionals working on Prince Edward Island; it is another to ensure that people have access to them. With the support of the Société Santé en français, we are achieving the objective: broadening access to French-language health care services and professionals.
I can also say a word about the Société Santé en français. The organization has already taken part several times in the national Ministerial Conference on Francophone Affairs. The next conference will be held here, in Ottawa, next week. It will be co-chaired by Ms. Verner and the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for the Canadian Francophonie. The ministerial conference has already expressed to the federal government that it is a key supporter of the work done by the Société Santé en français and hopes to see its work continue and improve.