First of all, I would like to begin with two brief comments, Mr. Minister.
You said that official language community organizations had received a confirmation. Do not forget that the committee did not simply look into whether a confirmation had been received. We must also ensure that the money is there. Organizations, even if they have received confirmation, must find the money—the bridge money—to continue their activities. That means that they will have to get out their credit cards yet again, look for lines of credit from financial institutions and pay interest—that you do not want to reimburse. And they do not know exactly when the money will be available so that they can pay salaries. That is one comment. It is not enough to say that they have received an acknowledgement of receipt. More needs to be done.
Next, Mr. Minister, we have to proceed quickly this morning. We had asked for two hours of your company. We know that the trend for some time now has been to put a one-hour limit on appearances made by parliamentarians before committee meetings, including official languages meetings. I hope that this situation will be remedied in the future.
Now I would like to get to the heart of the matter. You referred to the Roadmap. Mr. Minister, what is the point of having a road map if you do not take the time to listen to the needs of organizations or communities? You will no doubt tell me that this has been done and that you will be doing this and that. I am asking you: what is the point of having a road map if you do not take the time to listen to what the people have to say?
I would like to give you the example of a meeting that we had last week with Mr. François Côté, of ARC du Canada. ARC du Canada asked to meet with you in order to pitch a new initiative for community radio. We are talking about an initiative that would cost, in total, $4.2 million. One of my colleagues here in the committee asked the following question: "Did you submit your request to the minister outlining your requirements?" The answer was: "Yes, to the Minister of Heritage, a year and a half ago. We submitted a request again, in November, because we had not received an answer. By way of a receipt, we have just been informed that we may get a meeting some time in the future."
Do you find that acceptable, minister? You talk about the Roadmap, but if you do not take the time to meet with organizations as big as ARC du Canada, which is there to ensure the survival of community radio, the voice of communities all across the country, how can you say that the Roadmap is progressing? Meanwhile, are you refusing to meet with such a major organization that represents so many communities from one end of the country to the other?