Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Ms. Tremblay, Ms. Charlebois and Mr. Fraser.
I was in Vancouver from October 9 to 14. The purpose of that trip was to go and see where preparations were so that Quebeckers and Canadians who want to be served in French can get adequate service. It started off very poorly. I spoke about that at the last meeting. I won't go over it again and you've received my complaint letter. It concerns what happened when I was received at Ottawa Airport.
However, things went well at the Vancouver Airport. When I asked to be served in French, the lady from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority very politely asked me to wait a moment. Another person came and served me in French. It was very good in that respect. I must say I didn't conduct any exhaustive investigations. I didn't spend my day disguising myself and testing everyone. The fact is that the first impression is always important.
I must say that you will be receiving another complaint, this time concerning Air Canada's service. Is the Ottawa-Vancouver route a bilingual route? So I see my complaint is well founded. I was unable to be served in French on Air Canada's flight 186. The letter is in the mail, and Her Majesty's mail will convey it to you.
Having said that, I also met with representatives of the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique. They are project partners, as it were. I also read your report, “Reflecting Canada's Linguistic Duality at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: A Golden Opportunity,” to make sure I was on the right track and knew what I was about. We are 113 days away from the Games. As I told you earlier, we must not get stuck on sour notes; you have to remember that there is a full orchestra. Unfortunately, sometimes the guy who's off key makes the news. We know how that works.
However, there are still a lot of things to consider. I have a lot of topics, but let's deal with them one by one, and we'll see what we can do in five minutes, or in what's left of it.
I was told that the mayor of Richmond wanted to go back before the municipal council to see whether there would be any services in French during the Games. I find it quite disturbing that people still have so little Canadian pride. Pardon me for pulling a face when I say that. We still have to convince Canadians that the French fact is important in Canada when the International Olympic Committee has awarded us the Winter Olympic Games. I find it troubling that VANOC still has to convince people.
There are also a lot of other questions. Can Tourism Vancouver and Tourism British Columbia provide booths in French, or at least ensure the active offer of French? We know that, once on the ground, that's where people will go, among others, to get information. It's not the only place, but it's an important component.
The Vancouver Cultural Olympiad is also annoying the federation because the list of francophones is very short. We want the francophones of British Columbia, French Canadians, Acadians to have as much room as Quebeckers. It's the total picture and, with the Games not far off, we find this very disturbing.
The question of signage in Richmond is resurfacing. I also saw in your report that that was a problem. Will there be French signage everywhere, and will the legacy remain? It shouldn't be forgotten that the official languages will still be around the day after the Games. Remember that the act has been in existence since 1969, but if some people realize it in 2009, it will always be there.
With regard to all these files, can you give us any news or tell us what you know? I'll hand over to you.