The answer to your first question with respect to Quebec is yes, Quebec has been providing us with assistance for two years. They pay for one full-time person to work with us, in our organization, and it is that person in fact who has helped us plan our services throughout the country. It is a three-year agreement and Quebec has renewed it for another three years. We do receive funding from Quebec.
Furthermore, we have been working with people from the University of Sherbrooke, for example. We also work on certain issues with people from Quebec who provide us with advice and assistance that we do not have to pay for. In terms of public health in particular, there is considerable expertise in Quebec that we can benefit from. Even though I am Franco-Manitoban—I have worked in Manitoba for a long time—I have also worked in Quebec. I know many people in Quebec and we try to use existing resources to the greatest extent possible.
You ask which projects we are most proud of. I would first like to point out that I understand the issue of lobby groups: it is important to have lobby groups and we have them in our community, but we do not need to do the work that others are already doing. I respect what they do and I think that what they do is important. I simply wanted to explain what we do in order that you be able to distinguish it from what others do. Everyone has their niche in life and that is a good thing. I do not have a problem with that. But I did want to make sure that we understand each other.
In our opinion, our greatest success was our networking idea. From the outset, our challenge was to figure out how to work with governments within the current context involving changes in the health sector.
How can one become involved without being perceived as an enemy, but rather as an ally working with provincial governments and moving forward? We are very proud of our networks and how they have managed to become integrated into health systems and help them move forward in a way that has never happened before.
Six or seven of our projects are probably, in our opinion, the most interesting and promising ones. They could even give other people ideas. That is why we published Déjà des résultats in French and Positive Results Already in English. Our documents include the five or six projects that we think are the most successful.
That being said, the funding that we are expecting—that Treasury Board will no doubt grant us today—will make 18 other similar projects possible. They are what we call our flagship projects, projects that will give direction and provide the best possible solutions for the future. This will also lead to increased access to health care beyond the current 50 per cent.
Those are my answers to your questions.