Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to the commissioner and his team.
Mr. Commissioner, you say that the 150th anniversary will be an event to remember. I know I am putting you on the spot by saying what I am about to say, but I notice that you named all the prime ministers who have done good things but stopped at a specific point. You did not mention the current prime minister, to whom we owe the appointment of a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court and of an auditor general who is also bilingual, as well as the closure of the only French-speaking rescue centre in Canada and the transfer of its calls to Halifax and Trenton. That is not a shining record. What will there be for us to remember in 2017?
Could you first tell me if you support private member’s Bill C-419 that specifically mentions the auditor general? You talk about respecting both languages. As commissioner, it is your role to defend that idea. But we are seeing that things are not going that way at all.
Are you not concerned about the direction that the Conservative government has taken? It is all very well to be preparing for celebrations in 2017, but things are happening in our country right now. Incredibly, government support for bilingualism is moving backwards at the moment. I would like to hear your comments about that.