Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to welcome our witnesses.
I would like to start with the people from the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation.
At a previous meeting, I gave a representative from Library and Archives Canada a piece of my mind. But now, I have the right people here.
Earlier, you said that the priority of the Canadian Museum of Civilization was linguistic duality and the 150th anniversary in 2017. I do not want to trick you, but that is what you said. Let me say this clearly; I am not going to beat around the bush because I only have seven minutes and I would like to ask other people questions too. I have a hard time grasping the fact that the Commissioner of Official Languages had to get a complaint like this:
Just recently, I received a request for a financial contribution in the mail. It was written in English only. This was not the first time. I find it deplorable that an organization that operates under the Museums Act sends its correspondence in English only and the only concession made to French-speakers is a notice indicating how to get the document. It is unacceptable that this correspondence should have been written in English only, especially given that it was being sent to New Brunswick.
By the way, the name is Thibault, not Talbot.
Right at the end of the document, it says that you can get the letter in French by calling the 1-800 number shown.
I would really like to hear your response to this. There is nothing more insulting. Do you think that a letter like that sent to Alberta would be well received? Imagine if you had sent it in French to British Columbia or Saskatchewan. You would have heard about that.
From what I have heard, the Canadian Museum of Civilization does not want to cooperate with the Commissioner of Official Languages. I would like to hear your comments about that. As we move towards the 150 th anniversary, it would be good to put this behind us.
It is all the more important given that the government is about to spend $24 million to change the name of the Canadian Museum of Civilization to the Canadian Museum of History. I feel that the money would be better spent complying with the Official Languages Act.
I would like to hear what you have to say.