Official Languages Committee on Nov. 10th, 2006

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Good morning.

I'd like to welcome you to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Our Committee has been around for 25 years. This is the first time, however, that it is making a trip such as this. Last year, we had decided to go across the country to meet with groups, but because of the election being called, our plans fell through or, as we say back home, fell right into the Baie des Chaleurs. This time, the project was approved by Parliament. Like other parliamentary committees, we wanted to make this trip, among other reasons, to meet with people on their home turf, rather than Ottawa, right in the middle of the big parliamentary machine.

One element of our mandate is the 2003 Official Languages Action Plan, which set aside $700 million for official languages. We are anxious to see what is going on in minority regions and communities with respect to official languages and, in some cases, as regards their minority status.

My name is Yvon Godin, and I am the NDP member of Parliament for the riding of Acadie—Bathurst, in the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick. That's why I made that reference to the Baie des Chaleurs. With us today are Mr. Pierre Lemieux, Ms. Sylvie Boucher, and Mr. Daniel Petit, representing the Conservative government. To my left is Mr. Jean-Claude D'Amours, representing the Official Opposition — in this case, the Liberal Party — and Ms. Vivian Barbot, of the Bloc Québécois. We also have with us our clerk, Mr. Samy Agha and our analyst, Mr. Jean-Rodrigue Paré.

This is how we are going to proceed: each group will have five minutes to make its presentation. Now you may be thinking to yourselves that five minutes is not much, but the idea here is to keep some time for a discussion with members after the presentations. We would like you to give us a brief overview of your organizations and your concerns. I can assure you that once the question period has begun, you will have an opportunity to elaborate further. Once we know the specific challenges you are facing, we will be better able to engage in meaningful dialogue. If you have any points to add, don't hesitate to do so.

We will begin with Mr. Jean-Claude D'Amours.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chairman, I can begin asking my questions, if you like. I have no objection.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Oh, I'm sorry! I just wanted to see whether you were really awake or not. But you seem to be. So, let's get going.

I will turn it over to M. Marc-André Larouche, Executive Director of the Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario.

[Marc-André Larouche, Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario]

Good morning, Mr. Chairman.

Five minutes really isn't much time, but I believe it will be enough. This morning, I would like to tell you about some of the achievements of the Francophone health network.

Of the $700 million set aside in the Action Plan, $14 million was allocated for the creation of 17 networks across Canada. These are networks of Francophone professionals, health facility managers and post-secondary training institutions, as well as community members. I would like to begin by saying that four of the 17 networks involved are in Ontario. One of those covers the mid-north region of Ontario. It is located here in Sudbury, and I am the Executive Director.

I want to talk about a very specific issue relating to reform of our health care system in Ontario. In 2004, several months after the networks were set up, one of the most significant health care system reforms to have ever occurred was implemented in Ontario.Yet no provision was made, as part of that reform, for health care services in French. That simply was not part of the plan. But the establishment of the networks allowed the Francophone community and key French-language health care services stakeholders to make their presence known, to find out what was going on and to become a force to be reckoned with, thereby ensuring that our voice would be heard as the reforms moved forward.

At the same time as these reforms were proceeding, one of the networks' projects involved planning the provision of health care services in French across Canada. As part of that project, one of the recommendations for Ontario was that Francophones should be given the responsibility of planning their own health care services in French, the idea being that they would be in a better position to understand their own needs. That was also raised with reference to the Montfort Hospital. So, there was nothing new in this. However, this was the very clear message we wanted to deliver to the Ontario Ministry of Health.

Today, some two years later, we have made tremendous progress. And that progress will contribute to the history of health care services in French. Now health care reform includes the Health System Integration Act. The four Ontario networks have finally succeeded in securing a Francophone planning entity. We are still at the discussion stage, but the fact remains that the four Ontario networks are likely to become planning entities recognized by the Ministry of Health. They will work closely with regional authorities responsible for developing funding plans. They are called local health integration networks, or LHINs. This is a major step forward for health services in French. That would have been impossible had these networks not existed. So, that is a real success story.

This major reform also had another positive effect as regards health care services in French. Thanks to the Health System Integration Act, which started out as Bill 36, a provincial committee composed of members of the Francophone community was created to advise the Ministry of Health. Although it is an advisory committee, because it's set out in the actual legislation, it is quite significant. I think this is one of the greatest advances we have made in the last 20 years as regards health care services in French in Ontario.

Now I haven't mentioned this so far, but I want you to know that for the last 20 years, health care services in French have not been very healthy in Ontario. The French Language Services Act has not yielded the desired results. On the contrary, services are stagnant, and even declining.

Do I still have a minute or 30 seconds left?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You have 10 seconds left, but I will give you 30.

[Marc-André Larouche]

That will be enough.

I again want to talk about results, but with more of a local focus this time.

The initial idea was to establish networks. But before those networks became a reality, the provision of health care services in French was left to the discretion of each facility. The offer of such services was more anecdotal than hit or miss. It wasn't something people were particularly interested in or valued in any way.

For several years now, the network has been operating on the ground. There is now ongoing training, and networking activities are occurring throughout the region. We have a sense of renewal and, among professionals, we are seeing a renewed energy and interest in health care services in French. People now have access to a variety of tools, to ongoing training and networking. The effect is analogous to someone being brought back to life by being given oxygen.

I believe that is a good overview of the concrete results that have been achieved with the $14 million.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank, Mr. Larouche.

We move now to Mr. Denis Hubert, from Collège Boréal.

[Denis Hubert, President, Collège Boréal]

Thank you, and welcome to the City of Sudbury and Northern Ontario.

Summarizing the issues associated with education in French in Ontario in five minutes is an almost impossible task, but I am going to attempt to do the impossible. I left a copy of some material with the clerk earlier. I invite you to have a look. And just to annoy people, I'm going to begin at the end. So, I'd ask you to go to the last page of the document, where I present my conclusions and concerns with respect to French in Ontario.

Assimilation, combined with lower birth rates, is currently ravaging Ontario. Out of ten students starting out in school, three drop out before reaching the post-secondary level. Every year, of 31,000 Francophone students in Ontario, between 500 and 600 high school students decide to study in English. 55% of Franco-Ontarian families are exogamous and, of that number, only 14.5% say that they use and learn French at home, which means quite a burden for primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges.

At the present time, 33% of Francophones who have the right to be educated in French in Ontario do not exercise that right. At the present time, more than 30,000 Francophone students in Ontario are not attending Francophone facilities or schools. I believe that if, as a representative of a post-secondary college, I'm able to ensure a family's or individual's economic stability, I will at the same time ensure their cultural stability. Hence the role played by a Francophone college in Ontario.

I come back to the first page of my document now, which I will go over with you quickly. Colleges in Ontario are different from colleges in other provinces of Canada. The ones most like ours probably those in the East, in the maritime provinces. The fact is that in addition to post-secondary education, we are also responsible for vocational training, trades training, literacy, employability, career counselling, back-to-work programs and community integration of immigrants. In Ontario, we have all those mandates. The 24 colleges have a very broad mandate in Ontario, and a very important one. Indeed, that is why they are called community colleges. I will come back to the idea of “community” later.

Our institution has been around since 1995. We cover 85% of the province. I should also mention that there are approximately 500,000 Franco-Ontarians. This is a population that should not be ignored. There are campuses in Kapuskasing, Cochrane, Sudbury, and Toronto. There are 42 service centres across the province. As you can imagine, I am often behind the wheel of a car or seated in an airplane. I travel from Point Pelee as far as James Bay.

So, it is a real challenge for a post-secondary institution to survive under these conditions. Up until now, we have had some success. But I would like to briefly touch on some of our challenges.

In any given year, the college has approximately 2,000 full-time students and 9,000 part-time students. Thus far we have trained approximately 10,000 people in the trades and again, in any given year, we have between 20,000 and 22,000 Francophone clients using our points of service for anything has to do with return to employment, jobs, and so on. In that context, we have actually just signed partnership agreements and agreements aimed at coordinating our programs with university programs in New Brunswick and elsewhere. We are also present in 12 countries and are working very, very hard to secure resources outside the province.

I would just like to mention two very important points. Of the 24 colleges in Ontario, 22 are Anglophone, and of those 24 colleges, Collège Boréal has had the highest graduate satisfaction rate in Ontario as well as the highest student retention and school success rate in Ontario for the last five years. That is quite an achievement, because it's a small college servicing a minority that has been around for barely ten years.

The challenge we are facing is this: our students see the Anglophone product and they are easily assimilated. Our students see how well provided for the Anglophone colleges are that have been in place for 40 years. When they're thinking of going to school, they shop around, they have a look at what it offered and what is available elsewhere. If we cannot equip our college to the same extent as Anglophone teaching institutions, we run the risk of losing our Franco-Ontarian clientele. Competition is stiff.

Almost 80% of our immigrant clients who settle in Ontario end up abandoning the French language. We have to put processes in place to put a stop to that. Increasingly, in terms of Francophone students and families arriving from abroad, these families are in fact the ones that will ensure the survival of the French fact in Ontario. There are currently 1.56 children per family. So, it is important to be there for these clients and be able to give them what they need.

I will quickly move on to a couple of other points.

We got some news recently. I don't want to be partisan here, but I do want you to be aware of the fact that some of that news has hurt us or could potentially hurt us. I urge you to reconsider these decisions.

Let's talk about the Court Challenges Program. I work as a volunteer on the Montfort Hospital file, and laboured day and night to ensure that that hospital would survive. My family was here in 1912 when Regulation 17 made the use of French in our schools in Ontario illegal. I survived the first iteration of Francophone school boards in Ontario in 1968, as well as the school funding — finally! — debate in Ontario. After 200 or 300 years of history, it isn't always easy to continue using the French language in Ontario. We are facing challenges, and we need the federal government. You cannot simply leave this responsibility entirely in the hands of the provincial government.

I know that time is moving along, but I do want to caution you with respect to devolution. In the last little while, there have been a lot of agreements signed:

labour market development agreements, labour-management partnership programs.

These involve a devolution of federal powers to the provincial government. In some cases, that's a great idea. However, I do want to caution you: when responsibilities are transferred from the federal government to the provincial government, it is essential — and this is what I'm asking of you — to include somewhere, whether it is written in black, green or yellow, that they must abide by the Official Languages Act and the philosophy that underlies it. It is possible to abide by the strict terms of a statute without necessarily abiding by the philosophy that it espouses.

Recently the decision was made to put an end to HRDC's activities in the field. Part of those HRDC activities have been entrusted to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Regional branches have been set up to deal with employability, counselling, education, and so on. It was decided that the position in Eastern Ontario would be bilingual, but that turned out not to be the case either in northern Ontario or in central southwestern Ontario, where there are 165,000 Francophones. That is just one small example.

I do hope this situation will be corrected. I'm sure you understand how important it is. Receiving services in French at HRDC service outlets has been quite a challenge. We have been partially successful in that regard. However, I am concerned about the transfer of these activities to the province; I'm afraid there will be slippage. I could spend quite a lot of time talking about that.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you very much.

We move now to Ms. Suzanne Roy, Executive Director of the Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury.

[Suzanne Roy, Executive Director, ACFO Regional, Community sector development, Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury]

Good morning. Thank you for inviting us and giving us the opportunity to speak to you today.

The vitality of minority language communities depends to a large extent on work carried out in the field, and therefore on the work of regional ACFO branches in Ontario. ACFO stands for the Association canadienne française de l'Ontario, for those who may not be aware of it. There are 21 ACFOs in Ontario that do their best to cover the entire territory. ACFOs have as their common goal to give the community the tools it needs for its own development, in a spirit of sustainable development and with a view to ensuring the growth of the community and the Francophonie. Every ACFO is in charge of local development in its own region, in the broadest sense of the term. Any service that is not available in a given region may lead to an ACFO's involvement, but what works in one place may not necessarily work elsewhere, because development is different from one region to the next.

Community development is the least well structured and the most underfunded of all the sectors. Regional ACFOs are one of the oldest development tools, along with education. We have been doing what we do since 1910. The Association is governed by the community it serves at the regional level. The places where development most readily occurs are the small base units, on the ground, and the work carried out in the field is neither recognized, valued or supported. The very principle underlying community development is think globally and act locally, which runs completely counter to the centralizing and bureaucratic approach which is increasingly forced on us.

In terms of the overall development of Francophone communities in Ontario, we want to emphasize the exceptional contribution that regional ACFOs have been making for years now. Community development is not just projects, and the work carried out by regional ACFOs should be recognized as the vital work that it is and supported accordingly. All ACFOs are facing similar challenges, but every region is unique and decides on its own direction in the field. Community development is not something you can do on the basis of a framework, and what is done in one place may not be appropriate elsewhere. As a result, the first step is to ensure that there is recognition of the work being carried out on the ground and of regional specificities, with a view to ensuring the survival of the community and slowing assimilation. We are in favour of long-term, sustainable development through funding in the form of multiyear grants.

Cofunding must be acknowledged by the federal government in order to support and sustain regional development, and that development happens at the grass roots. The kind of funding that is needed is not project funding, but operational funding. Program officers and funders have to be trained, because they need to recognize that community development is not project development but, rather, the kind of development that is essential to ensure the community's survival. With an adequate operating budget, we can develop projects to better meet the needs and expectations of the community.

By supporting that vision of recognition, the Canadian government will ensure the viability and vitality of the Francophone community in Ontario, while reducing assimilation and boosting its demographic growth. Regional ACFOs have to work together to develop a consistent approach that reflects their needs, and ministries have a duty to collaborate with these ACFOs to identify ways of ensuring we are truly effective.

We need guarantees in the form of a larger budget envelope for the Ontario official language minority community, so that the government can appropriately meet its obligations with respect to supporting and promoting its minority. Equitable core funding for organizations working directly with the community and for its development in Ontario is absolutely critical, and requires that all ACFOs working on the ground receive recognition.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

Mr. D'Amours will be our first questioner.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to come and meet with us this morning. It's very important that we have an opportunity to discuss your concerns and challenges.

Mr. Hubert, to begin with, I would like to commend you for your cooperation — and you mentioned this at the beginning of your presentation — with the University of Moncton as regards forestry. That is certainly a clear demonstration that even though there is quite a distance between you and that you are in two separate provinces, when people are really determined, they can make great things happen. If you're interested in saying a little bit more about this later, you will have an opportunity to do so.

Mr. Hubert, you mentioned one thing in particular. Indeed, you did more than that. I almost sensed some distress as you were speaking. One doesn't have the same perspective as a Francophone from New Brunswick, where the Madawaska region is 98% Francophone. Sometimes the reality facing other communities is difficult to understand, unless you actually come into a region such as this, to see how things really are.

As you were speaking, I sensed some distress at the budget cuts that were introduced in late September. You referred specifically to the Court Challenges Program. You said that this is not just a matter of policy, and that there are major challenges to be met. I would like to hear you say more about that. You spoke in detail about your history and the difficulties you have faced in order to be able to speak impeccable French even today, in 2006. I would like you to clarify what the challenges are you're facing and the risks for your communities if we completely abolish the Court Challenges Program.

[Denis Hubert]

Thank you.

First of all, I think we have been able to surmount the obstacles by working to develop linkages.

We have just returned from Acadie. We only just signed an agreement to develop a bachelor's program in forestry that will be jointly delivered by our college and the University of Moncton, allowing young Francophone students to take advantage of the expertise that exists in New Brunswick in that area and then come back home. I don't doubt they will come back. What is important, however, is economic development and stability. Those young Francophones will come back home even richer, because they will have learned about another culture or gotten to know brothers and cousins who are not that far away.

It is possible to break down those distances. We signed a similar linkage agreement with the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia. I am so proud that New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have their own Francophone university.

The Court Challenges issue is certainly of great concern to me. At the time, I worked with other colleagues on the Montfort file; I am from a family that has been defending the French fact in Ontario for 250 or 300 years. We need access to funds in order to do that, and the cost of preparing a case is huge. Whether it goes through the Association canadienne-française de l'Ontario, or the new Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario which was created this summer, it is important that our minority community continue to have access to federal assistance.

I could spend a lot of time talking about the challenges we face because of the federal and provincial governments. Sometimes our agency finds itself caught between the federal and provincial governments on matters relating to health, education, community activities, and so on. We have to be relatively capable of meeting these kinds of challenges.

One of the problems I would like to raise has to do with learning a trade in Ontario. I am currently discussing this issue with Crown counsels with a view to showing that Francophones are subject to systemic discrimination when it comes to learning a trade in Ontario. I alone am handling this file, but I do hope to receive some assistance, in order to clarify the whole issue of trades training or vocational training, and the discrimination that I believe exists in that area in Ontario.

Literacy is a major priority for Ontario colleges. That may not be the case for colleges in other provinces, but in my view, literacy is important. I was recently told about a variety of cuts, including a $17 million budget cut that will directly affect the Coalition francophone pour l'alphabétisation et la formation de base.

I teach basic education, particularly in Northern Ontario. I have the highest complement of clients who have not completed Grade 12. I have to sit down with a father or mother who may have worked in a mine or in forestry, and talk about their sense of pride in trying to convince them to go back to school. That is not an easy thing to do. I have to sweet talk them, be supportive and convince them to go back to school. But I don't necessarily receive any money from my province for doing that work. I have to knock on a lot of different doors to get that money. It's a huge challenge.

My apologies for getting so passionate about this.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Ms. Barbot.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to meet with us this morning.

What you have told us is similar to what we've heard from other stakeholders. There is this enthusiasm out there that, despite the many challenges you are facing, sustains your belief in what you're doing and your conviction that the French fact in Ontario is important enough for you to keep going. I strongly encourage you to do that, particularly since I understand the federal government has a responsibility as regards official languages. It has responsibilities to you as citizens, but it has special responsibilities with respect to official languages. Furthermore, it has to provide you with the means to carry out your mission and especially to ensure that people get what they need, because that is its principal function.

In that regard, the abolition of the Court Challenges Program has really shaken us as well, just as the other cuts have. They were carried out indiscriminately, with no consideration of where social needs are greatest, because of the problems associated with the current environment. You can rest assured that we will be passing that information along to the people who have decisions to make and who want to make those decisions.

However, there are a couple of points you raised, Mr. Hubert, that I would like to explore further. I understand the complexity you have described with respect to colleges in Ontario, which are completely different from colleges in Quebec. When you are in charge of literacy, education and vocational training, your responsibilities are obviously very extensive, and the cuts hurt you in many different ways simultaneously — hence the problem.

The particular point I would like you to clarify relates to immigration. You say that 80% of immigrant families choose English. I would like to know two things.

Are their numbers similar to the number of Francophones who just decide to leave? I don't think so. There are simply fewer Francophones. However, it is surprising, because the Francophone communities keep telling us that they are now trying to bridge the gaps through immigration. I would be interested in hearing your comments on that.

Mr. Larouche, your network is clearly a success, from what I understand. You have taken the time to point that out to us, while adding at the same time that the situation is serious. I realize that you have succeeded in becoming fully integrated with the various programs, but what concrete results do you expect to achieve and what will you need in order for that to happen?

[Marc-André Larouche]

In terms of concrete results, I would like to come back to the initiative entitled Setting the Stage. This is a planning project with a limited budget and timeframe. Its purpose is to review the situation in the region to identify critical needs and find solutions that effectively improve the health services offer in French. As that and the reforms are going forward, new provincial organizations which are now officially recognized, having been created and institutionalized by the province, will also be involved in planning.

I'm talking about the four Ontario networks, and particularly those in northern and northeastern Ontario — in other words, my own region and the region for which Mr. Bénard — who, I neglected to mention initially, was unable to be here this morning — has responsibility. So, we immediately made contact and developed a relationship with the provincial entity — the LHIN — based not far from here in North Bay.

As soon as they came on stream — I just want to clarify for the lady from Quebec that LHINs are sort of the equivalent of regional health boards in Quebec — we began to work together. There is obviously a lot of preparatory work to be done. Over the last two years, there has been lobbying, I guess you could call it, supported by the networks, in order to ensure that services in French would be included in system reforms. Almost 25% of the population in our area is Francophone. Because of the pressure we have brought to bear and our determination, our message has been well received and we have begun to work with LHINs.

For the time being, this institution is officially responsible for planning for the entire health care system. I'm going to go out on a limb here. They have been in place for almost a year and a half and are about to table a report which is also an official plan for the province — the Health System Integration Plan for the Region. It reflects regional health system planning — in other words, who should be doing what, and so on.

We have held consultations and worked for a number of months on developing that plan. I would say that together, we did a reasonable job, and that there was openness and good will on both sides. Without saying too much, since I don't want to give the show away, I would say that overall, just about everything that was in Setting the Stage is now reflected in the integration plan.

I just want to add that in Ontario, the French Language Services Act is not strict enough and has some weaknesses. This legislation is intended to ensure services are provided in French, but if they are not provided, there are no sanctions. So, this plan includes ways of giving the legislation a little more teeth and correcting those weaknesses. So, it will have a quick, and direct impact.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Larouche.

Mr. Lemieux, please.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much for your presentations.

I am the Member of Parliament for Eastern Ontario. In my riding of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, there are some 65,000 Franco-Ontarians. So, there are a lot of people who require services in their mother tongue.

How are health care services delivered here in Sudbury and in the mid-north region of Ontario? I imagine that the challenges are probably different.

[Marc-André Larouche]

There is a lot of variation across the region. For example, in the western part of the region, the City of Sault Ste. Marie has declared itself to be unilingual Anglophone. So, there are very little openings there. In fact, health care services in French are practically non-existent there. And because Francophones constitute an aging population in that region, the negative impacts on them are significant.

In the far east — for example, in the North Bay region — there are slightly more services available in French. On the other hand, considering the percentage the Francophone population represents — almost 25% — health care services in French are practically non-existent. Let's not forget that one quarter of the population is French-speaking.

In the central region, Sudbury does provide health care services in French. Unfortunately, there are some major deficiencies: health care services in French are not always offered consistently. I'm sure you know that there is a regional hospital. At the present time, as far as designations are concerned — in other words, being recognized as an institution that provides health care services in French — the regional hospital is not considered to be one of those. In fact, it has a partial designation which corresponds to about half. This has been dragging on for years.

I have to say that providing services to Francophones is really not considered a priority in these institutions. On the other hand, things are better there than they are in the rest of the region. In certain polls, such as the Sturgeon Falls region, the population is quite different: almost 70% of residents are Francophone. So, Anglophones are the ones that are in the minority. That is really interesting. In fact, there is one institution — a general hospital — where services are provided in French and English, because Anglophones demand to be served in English. However, we are well served in both languages and we feel comfortable, whatever our culture — in other words, both Anglophones and Francophones. As far as we are concerned, that is a great model.

Under the national project called Setting the Stage, which you are aware of, these are what we call points of access; this also has to do with jurisdiction over culture. Whether you are Anglophone or Francophone, in a health care institution, it is critical to feel comfortable — to be able to request services in one's own language and, as a professional, to be able to provide them. That, too, is a problem.

We have voiced our support for the Canadian Nurses Association. This summer, the Association travelled across Canada and stopped in Sudbury to consult with nurses and find out more about the challenges they are facing. One nurse said that when she spoke French, she was told by her boss to stop. She was very young and was from Hearst, a Francophone-dominated area. So, she was in shock, in a way. There were ten or more nurses present, including some from Sudbury that were older and more experienced and who were nodding their heads as she spoke, as if to say: yes, that is the reality.

So the issues have a number of sources: historic problems, public awareness, funding, and human resources. The fact is that we do not have enough Francophone health care professionals. We also have to tackle that problem. The provision of services is highly variable, sometimes anecdotal, from one part of the region to the next.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You have 30 seconds left.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Hubert, you said there is a great deal of cooperation among colleagues, particularly here in Ontario.

What is your strategy for attracting and retaining students?

[Denis Hubert]

Our strategy focuses on providing extensive student support — looking after them as though they were clients and ensuring that all their needs are met. That is what we do. We work very hard and very closely with school boards. As far as we are concerned, every student is important.

Right now, I am working with nine school boards in Ontario. I haven't had a chance to discuss the linguistic accommodation policy, but that is addressed in my paper. It is an Ontario invention that I believe will be quite successful.

The secondary schools have to work closely with the colleges and universities. That is the only solution.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

It's my turn now. I am usually seated on the Opposition side and I am used to asking questions. Today I am chairing the meeting. Nevertheless, I want to get my own questions in.

Ms. Roy, you talked about the ACFO. In your opinion, what did the action plan do for the community in your region? What is missing? I would like to hear your views in that regard.

[Suzanne Roy]

In terms of what the Official Languages Action Plan has meant on the ground, I can tell you that a lot of the large institutions got preferential treatment. Very little is happening in the field. Our funder is Canadian Heritage. The ACFOs have very little recognition. There is a great deal of disparity in terms of what is being done.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You say that the major institutions did receive funding. Is that correct?