I'm glad that Ms. Roy is here, and I'm especially glad that we can hear for ourselves what associations such as hers are doing. In the end, where are the real people? A sick person only exists once he is part of the health care system, and a student only exists when he is in school; otherwise, the grass-roots organizations are the ones that allow us to see what the problems and the needs really are. Having been president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, I am well aware of the extent to which women have played, and continue to play, an important role in this regard. Is it because they're women that they receive less recognition? The fact is that these groups have less recognition, even though they are absolutely critical for survival. In this case, we're talking about the survival of the French language.
When the government proposes budget cuts and these groups find themselves continually deprived of core funding, the other sectors are necessarily affected, in my opinion. This is an important issue, which is why I am making this comment. I want it to be on the record. Very few grass roots based groups have appeared before the Committee.
I now want to make a comment to Mr. Hubert.
You raised a matter that we have not heard much about, it seems to me — at least in the time that I have been around. I refer to the ability of professionals to provide services in French. We have not received much testimony about that from professional associations.
Could you give us any additional information about that?