Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen members, thank you for inviting Simon Fraser University and its Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs to speak before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.
My name is Claire Trépanier, and I am Acting Director of the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs, which we also call OFFA. I am here with my colleague Danielle Arcand, Associate Director of OFFA, and we will be sharing the presentation today. I apologize for my hasty departure; I'll have to leave at 10 o'clock. Thank you for your understanding.
The study on the federal government's support for postsecondary institutions and their efforts in promoting bilingualism in Canada is of considerable interest to Simon Fraser University. There is a genuine attraction to the French language in British Columbia: the use of French is on the rise not only among young people, but also in the general population.
Simon Fraser University is concerned about Canada's linguistic duality and is proud to make a contribution to bilingualism and to the development of the francophone minority community. I'll now hand over to my colleague Danielle Arcand.