It's all very well and good to have 1,000, 10,000 or 20,000 volunteers... If I may, I would like to make a comparison. All kinds of recommendations have been made in the last little while. The Senate Committee on Official Languages made recommendations in February of 2007 and in June of 2008. You also made recommendations in December 2008. However, we are reliving what happened in February, after the countdown ceremony, despite the fact that they had been told, including by us several times... This raises all kinds of questions. I will use an expression we use back home: I really am afraid that we will engage in some badmouthing after the fact, once the Olympic Games are over, because it seems that very few people understand what is at stake. I understand that people might say they are interested in this matter, as you said, but there comes a time when you have to translate words into action. In the past, they were told to pay attention to this, and that we want that. We asked them how they intended to deal with this issue or that one. And yet, less than a year before the games are to begin, and despite all the recommendations which have been made, and everything which has been said, and despite your presence, it seems that the only thing which is happening is that the message is going in one ear and out the other. After the games, there is a risk that the services provided in French will be criticized, and we know that it will be a long time before Canada obtains the Olympic Games again. Let's be realistic: it will probably not happen in the next 10 years. I get the feeling we are missing the boat. Perhaps they feel that they have enough leeway to make it through to the other side, without having to respect the requirements, and once the games have started, it won't matter any more. I'm worried. I might be mistaken; I sure hope so. However, I have serious concerns because, as I said, it seems that the message is going in one ear and out the other. The message is going in and out, and ultimately nothing is really being done to ensure that francophones outside Quebec and elsewhere throughout the world will see their language respected.
On April 21st, 2009. See this statement in context.