Mr. Chair, when we decided to discuss the importance of calling upon new stakeholders, we were intentionally a bit vague regarding the way we should identify or appoint these new players. Nonetheless, I see that some provinces, universities, municipal institutions and school boards are showing an interest. This seems to show promise for the future. For example, last year in Quebec City, during the meeting of provincial ministers in charge of francophone matters, they adopted a resolution whereby they wanted more cooperation with the federal government. Thus, the door is open.
A huge amount of federal funding is already going to the provinces for education in a second language or for education in minority communities. Each time I raised the problem of accountability and transparency regarding these funds, I was told that the federation did not work that way, that we did not require the provinces to identify exactly how they spend the money that they get from the federal government. It is not easy to follow up and to require full accounts. Nonetheless, I think that there is an opening. The Council of Ministers of Education in Canada is currently discussing the possibility of developing a voluntary test on commonly spoken French so that students can know what their level of spoken French is. They could be compared not only with the students in their class, but also with themselves, and their parents could find out what level their child has been able to achieve, nationally or internationally. These are promising signs, and they call for a will to cooperate.