Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I’d ask those of you who do not speak French to put on your headsets. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today. We met you yesterday at the Legislative Assembly. We had a group of witnesses appear before us this morning, including the Languages Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. I know that you have 11 languages to manage, and that’s a lot. Obviously, as my colleague said, this is the Standing Committee on Official Languages of Canada, so our focus is on French and English.
There seems to be a lot of transience among francophones. They settle here, but leave because they cannot get services in their language, especially in the area of health and education, both extremely important fields. When a francophone family decides to come and settle here, that family must be entitled to basic services.
I would like to hear what you have to say about this. How are budgets managed to ensure that francophones have genuine access to specific services, especially in the areas of health and education. How is the budget that you receive from the federal government divvied up among the various aboriginal nations and francophones in the Northwest Territories?