Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Indeed, based on the scant information we've received, the Antoine Code could be used for the study and transfer of scientific concepts. The Abraham Nemeth Code is currently in use. And it can be used without too much difficulty in the transference of scientific texts in both English and in French as they both use the same signs, or the same language. Now, in this case, we'd have two different modes of writing. That would mean that francophones may be handicapped because they'd be incapable—unless they learnt the other code, because there would be two in effect—of interpreting data or discussing science. There are a lot of blind people who become blind after an accident and who teach, are scientists, are versed in the sciences, who work in various science-related fields—and God knows there are more and more fields of this type—and they'd become incapable of communicating and transferring their knowledge and wouldn't be able to discuss problems that affect them every day. These aren't necessarily the same problems we have.
So I'm concerned, Mr. Chair, that there's a problem there. We understand that all of the provinces are free to decide whether or not to standardize their code. However, if blind people in Quebec and New Brunswick are no longer able to communicate in a given subject area, the broad field of science in this case, then there's a problem. Right now it's a linguistic problem. Writing is a vehicle, but this is a linguistic problem. Don't you think it would be good to ask Mr. Fraser whether his mandate—and in any mandate, there's what is written and there's the spirit of the letter—would permit him to intervene. So that's the question and I think we need to think about it. And if we don't, it will mean that in September 2009, that's four or five months away, the standardized Antoine Code will be in effect in Quebec and it will create problems for francophones outside Quebec. Now, even though we're talking about a minority group within a broader minority group, I still think we need to do our job as parliamentarians and follow up on this. We need to ascertain whether or not we can help these people. There seems to be a problem here and I certainly don't want, at a later stage, for blind people in my province or in New Brunswick to have even more of a handicap.
So that's what I wanted to say, and I think that we need to ask ourselves these questions. We're good parliamentarians. Ms. Guay has raised an excellent matter and this is an opportunity for parliamentarians to demonstrate compassion. I think that this is very important and that the committee should ask Mr. Fraser to research this and take the time he needs to determine—provided that it is within his purview—whether writing, the representation of the two languages, should be standardized, with or without his approval. So that's the matter I submit to your attention.