Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you all for having gone out of your way to testify before the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
First, I would like to thank the Canadian Parents for French for the dedication you've put into making sure your kids are able to speak and write in the other official language of this country.
I'm from New Brunswick, and I can tell you that I heard about your group in the last Parliament, when I was first elected. I was on this committee, and it was the first time I heard about the work you have done in the country.
I would like to say thank you very much.
Certainly, everyone is doing their share of the work to move Canada's bilingual issues ahead.
Ms. Lewin, you mentioned something that I cannot ignore. It involves giving our young people who want to study in French the opportunity of benefiting from other experiences. As you said, this means giving them an opportunity to travel to other provinces.
You also mentioned something else, namely, the possibility of travelling to other countries. If we want to give our youth a full opportunity to develop, we must give them as many different options as possible.
Since you opened the door on this issue, I would like to know what you think about the cuts amounting to more than $11 million in the funding of training programs for our students abroad. Basically, does this not go against what you are saying? In fact, you are asking for help, but a few weeks ago we learned that the conservative government had slashed a little more than $11 million from the funding of training courses for students abroad.
I thought that this was a marvellous experience for these young people! This allows them to acquire more learning for the benefit of our country as well as additional tools that may be more difficult to find here.
I would like to hear what you have to say about this. You are asking us for something, but basically, this is something that once was but is no more. What is your position regarding this?
Perhaps others could also answer this question.