Good morning, Ms. Poirier, Ms. Dalton and Mr. Watt. It's a pleasure to be here today.
This is a bit like déjà-vu for me, since I used to sit on the Standing Committee on Official Languages. But I am now a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade. On that committee, in Ottawa, I realized that if you are not bilingual, you cannot understand what is going on. There is the Canada-US Parliamentary Association where everyone speaks English. I say this to point out the fact that assimilation happens everywhere. The reach of the English language is growing and it is being promoted in most institutions. I therefore understand how important the fight for our cultural diversity is.
I have several questions for you. To begin, Ms. Poirier, you referred to ways to promote culture. Of course, if we want more people to speak French, an excellent way of doing that is through culture. Under existing programs, is enough being done to disseminate this culture throughout Newfoundland and even in the rest of Canada?
I also want to connect this subject to something Ms. Dalton said. As far as I can see, you work in the local economic development sector. Are there any social economy projects, or other ones, which provide an opportunity for francophone artists to promote this culture?
I'll leave it at that for now.