Madam Chair, the member has put his finger on the source of my concern, the lack of reflexes and will. I will give you two examples.
Last summer, I was in Dublin to attend the Canadian Legal Conference. During the opening session, politicians and members of the Irish Bar Association made their speeches in English and Irish. When the President of the Canadian Bar Association spoke, he spoke in English and French and read a long paragraph in Irish. However, he is not of Irish origin.
Afterwards, I went to speak to him to commend him for it. He said he thought it was important because Ireland, like Canada, is a bilingual country. He went to the trouble of finding a Celtic studies professor to help him translate the paragraph and pronounce it correctly. He believed it was important and a sign of respect.
Yet, when the Olympic flame arrived in Victoria I heard three consecutive speeches from senior representatives who had just come back from Athens, but not a word was uttered in French. Linguistic duality was left up to the Prime Minister. I was shocked. It is a lack of leadership, of respect and of reflexes. There are 66 days remaining before the beginning of the games, and I hope that the leaders who are responsible for these matters will understand the issues and get to work to make sure what is needed will be done.