Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Ms. Verner, Mr. Lussier and Ms. LaRocque.
First of all, I'll admit to you that I'm very skeptical of your government. Your leader and Prime Minister has never repudiated the little sentence he wrote in a book, that bilingualism was a fallen god in Canada.
In my humble opinion, this approach says a great deal about how he sees the English and French facts in Canada, but especially about his perception of the communities that every day wonder whether tomorrow their children will have the opportunity to speak French, their language and that of their grandparents.
In that perspective, I'm thinking of the Court Challenges Program. That instrument has proven itself and has made it possible not only to make gains, but also to have rights that were theirs recognized. We had to have that kind of program in order to make significant gains for the communities.
Minister, I would like to know what assimilation is for you.