I must tell you that this is very troubling. There are transfers for health, immigration or many other areas, but without any knowledge of what is set out in the provisions on language. When the government transfers funding, it also transfers responsibilities but it keeps some responsibility. It transfers a portion of its responsibilities and it must make sure that the provincial government uses those funds to meet its obligations under the act, but it remains accountable all the same.
In reading the minutes of the committee meetings, I have learned that some provincial departments are getting a cheque for francophone education and that they are spending it on other priorities that do not necessarily fall under francophone education. This is extremely troubling. At present, not only is the federal government failing to meet its obligations under the act, but the province is too. When it comes to the transfer payments, we must first ensure that there is a very clear linguistic clause. If money is given to a province for francophone immigration, that is what it must go to.
The federal government says that the situation with the provinces is not always easy. It is not easy either for a francophone community that has to fight to get a portion of the funding it should have gotten to be told that there are more Ukrainians than francophones in the province. I think it is unacceptable for the money to go elsewhere. I have nothing against Ukrainian, but it is not an official language like French.