Thank you for your presentations.
I am a Franco-Ontarian member of Parliament. My riding has 65,000 Franco-Ontarians and I am always listening to the needs of communities. I enjoyed listening to your presentations this morning. I found that you were well informed about what is happening in Alberta with francophones.
I have found, over the course of this trip, that there are many needs. In fact, there are perhaps too many needs given the limited amount of funds and resources that are available. Success always represents a challenge regardless of the area or sector. On the other hand, I think that if their efforts are focused, communities, the federal government and the provincial governments will be successful.
Mr. Michaud spoke about education and a new agreement with the provinces that has just been announced and that is worth one billion dollars over four years. Yes, throughout Canada people are making the needs in the area of education known. There are challenges but there are also success stories. Take, for example, the health networks. There are still challenges that must be met, but significant progress has been made. With respect to immigration, there will be a 309-million-dollar project for the purposes of settling immigrants in Canada. That also affects francophones. Like any good politician, I'm engaging in an extensive preamble but I will now move on to my question.
You represent groups and associations here in Alberta. You work together in priorizing your needs. I think, as a politician, that there are several needs. Are you working together to set priorities for Alberta based on an agreed-on list of needs? In order to succeed, the federal government will have to focus its efforts rather than investing small amounts here and there.
I'll start with Mr. Arnal and Mr. Johnson and then continue with Mr. Lavoie.