You'll agree with me: it's counterproductive. The government can be sure of the manner in which the funding will be allocated. If it takes five, seven or eight months to get approval and then there are only five months left to carry out the project, there's not much point in taking all that time to pay the same amount of money if the organization can't use it properly.
Earlier I asked how much money had been returned by the organizations. You answered $190,000, but that amount only concerns Canadian Heritage. Perhaps I should have asked how much money the minority communities have to return under all the programs offered, by Health Canada and other departments.
The minister has toured the regions. I've gone there as well. People tell me that the situation is the same with other programs. People in the regions tell us, for example, that they file applications with Health Canada and it's the same story: the money doesn't come. At one time, Canadian Heritage monitored the government's other grant programs.
The problem isn't just at Canadian Heritage. I don't just want to paint a poor picture of Canadian Heritage. In Newfoundland last weekend, we were told that, to obtain money from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the francophone community in Newfoundland had to draft its application, and ACOA answered that it would take time because the document had to be translated. Furthermore, there was no one in Newfoundland, in St. John's, who could handle the file: it was sent to Moncton. Then, before Moncton answered Newfoundland, time had passed. This is widespread.