We'll need funding to continue after January 15. This undertaking has undeniable momentum. If we stop everything for three years, let's say, that momentum will die. One hundred of the best consultants in the country and the world helped us design the programs we submitted. A lot of energy went into creating those programs so they could be among the best in the academic community, given the current state of the world, and they will definitely improve over time. It's a bit like a cake that's taken out of the oven too soon and collapses. If we stop the project, we won't be able to restore it to the level of quality we have today.
This university project has gained the trust of the best people in the country and around the world. I went to France to attend a conference two weeks ago. Representatives from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France's great engineering school CentraleSupélec and the Conférence des présidents d'université de France expressed considerable interest in our project. Those people were completely fascinated. They told us that a project this innovative and representative of academic reality today couldn't be introduced in France.
If the project were terminated or suspended for three years, I think all that confidence would vanish as well. If its funding were stopped, the Université de l'Ontario français itself would lose a lot and the francophone communities would as well.