Thank you.
Very quickly, I want to congratulate you, to acknowledge the vitality to which you have contributed. I am gaining a better understanding, through the visits we have made and the people we have met as part of the work of this committee, that living in French outside of Quebec is a constant effort, an ongoing effort. From this standpoint, a country that calls itself bilingual and that has a legal obligation to support the efforts that you have to make should not act in a short-sighted way. There needs to be consistency. I have just said this, but it is not a matter of petty politics to accuse the government of anything. In fact, we in the Bloc Québécois have no immediate interest in this issue, except for the natural ties that bind us to the francophone communities. I believe that we should do everything possible, no matter what government is in power, to ensure that you can obtain that which you are owed to enable you to ensure the vitality of communities outside Quebec.
We have already introduced a motion to this effect. It concerns the government's commitment to support the development of official language communities. We are also asking the Conservatives to increase the funding that was allocated to you, the overall funding, and in particular to provide you with core funding in the long-, medium- and short-term. Indeed, it is clear that the scope of the work you have done cannot be handicapped year after year by administrative or government decisions that threaten the very essence of what you are doing.
I want in particular to assure you that we are very much behind what you are doing and that we will do everything possible to set the situation right.