Mr. Chairman, committee members, first I want to thank you for inviting us to appear before you this morning. I'm particularly pleased to be here because I should normally be attending my introductory law class at the University of Moncton. So I have an excellent excuse to miss a three-hour session. I'm happy about that.
I am president of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française and, of course, I am young. When our organization was established in 1974, young people had one clear wish, to establish an organization by and for young people. That's what we have been for all those years.
My colleagues on the board of directors are young francophones 14 to 25 years of age from across the country, like the youth they represent.
Our organization defines young French Canadians as persons between the ages of 14 and 25 whose spoken language is French, regardless whether it is their mother tongue. This open approach is very important in our minds, particularly since the 2006 census confirms that this clientele represents more than 1.6 million young Canadians.
What does "by and for young people" mean? For our organization, it means operating under a system of governance consisting entirely of young people in cooperation with a network that shares that same philosophy in order to equip youth in accordance with their actual needs. The added value of this operating method is that we are a reflection of young people.
Although this concept is ideal for our organization, it obviously isn't achievable in all aspects of society, and we are aware of that fact. However, we strongly encourage the concept of "by and for young people" in developing initiatives that target them in order to ensure their success.
With that mind, the FJCF and its members have taken care to develop genuine, productive partnerships with a broad range of partners, both governmental—