Two minutes to nine. As I sit here, I can tell you the decision was taken for the right reasons.
Unfortunately, if I had to do it over again, yes, I would make the decision a lot earlier. But six months or six years from now, I still think that we will have done what we should do for the official languages committee. This is what we have to do.
We've got 72% of Canadians who agree we should have a bilingual country—72%. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get it to 82% as a result of the work of this committee?
I want to continue as the chair of this committee. I think we've done wonderful work. You're not very easy to get along with, some of you, and by and large, I think I've tried my best. Yes, I can tell you the opposition isn't any easier to get along with...or the government side. We've had personalities on both sides. I've tried to be fair, I really have. And I want to continue to be fair. I want to continue to do good work.
One of the opposition members or one of the government members said I was angry. I take the blame for that, because I should have told you long before that, and I apologize for that. But the truth of the matter is that I was doing it for the good of official languages in this country.
If you chose to remove me as your chair, that's your prerogative, because—you know what?—in the final analysis, the committee is master of its own destiny.
Thank you.
Monsieur Godin.