The Société nationale de l'Acadie represents Acadians from the four Atlantic provinces. So I will refer to Atlantic Acadia.
We often hear about the country as a whole being made up of Quebec and English-speaking Canada. But nothing could be further from the truth than talking about Quebec as French-speaking and the rest of Canada as English-speaking. Every francophone in the country knows that. So do Acadians.
The same goes for the Atlantic region. People often think that Acadia is in New Brunswick. But Acadia can be found in all four provinces. It has a strong presence, even in my province, Newfoundland and Labrador, where we represent less than 0.5% of the population. The population is extremely active, with its schools, its school/community centres and its organizations, some of which have spoken to you from around this very table.
More remarkable is the fact that, approximately since the 1970s, we are no longer talking about survival, even though we are still dealing with issues related to assimilation or migration; we are talking about a boom. I feel that this is a significant stage. We should also mention our relationship with the provinces and the acceptance in all provinces that francophone communities must have their place—even though three are not officially bilingual, as is New Brunswick. This is the case even in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I feel that major improvements have been made in this area.
So before you today is a young Acadia that stands proudly facing the future. No longer are we the Acadia of the past, with a cap in our hand, a chip on our shoulder and tears in our eyes. This is an Acadia that wants to take, and is taking, its proud place in Canada and that wants to move forward, as everyone does.
I also have to tell you that Acadia votes for all three parties. So the Société nationale de l'Acadie is not—I repeat not—a political representative of our people. Our people vote as they choose.