ACOA takes advantage of the fact that we do not have the critical mass to meet the 5% threshold. There is only one French-speaking ACOA officer in our province. The officer in question is a bilingual English-speaking person. When I went to meet with officials at the Moncton headquarters to seek an explanation on certain matters I was advised — very politely — that while they respected us and recognized the contribution made by the French-speaking community, they were perfectly at liberty to conduct both written and oral communications with us in English. They basically said that it was because we were in their good books that they deigned to communicate with us and provide us with services in French.
Furthermore, the federation was recently sent a survey by ACOA's president, Monique Colette, with whom the RDÉE has met on several occasions. The survey, evaluating the quality of services offered by ACOA, was done in English. It is somewhat ironic that a service quality survey would be sent out to us in English. I got in touch with those in charge, who sent me out a French version, but the return date had been and gone before it got to me. I filled it out nonetheless. In my opinion, some departments — and as was the case here, some agencies — depart from their official language responsibilities. That is why we always have to be on our guard. Although I do not want to return to the militancy of yesteryears, we have to remain vigilant.