Welcome, Mr. Jolin and Mr. Hominuk, to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Thank you so much for coming this morning.
As you know, this is the committee's first meeting on the issue that we spoke of i.e., the promotion and preservation of institutions within the Franco-Ontarian linguistic community. I would like to reassure you, as I did Sunday in Quebec City, that for us, and I dare say for all parliamentarians in the House of Commons, the promotion of linguistic duality and the preservation of institutions for linguistic communities is essential and is at the very heart of the Canadian identity.
I had a conversation with Mr. Dupuis of the FCFA, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. He made me realize that in Quebec, the state works to preserve our culture and our language, but in other provinces, it is important to have strong institutions. The Official Languages Act sets out the federal government's responsibilities for promoting our official languages.
Mr. Jolin, I would like to commend the constructive approach that you have always used, especially over the two past weeks. It is interesting to see that you have presented us with a letter which contains a solution for the very institution which is at the heart of our deliberations, the Université de l'Ontario français. This university would be alongside the University of Ottawa and the Université de Hearst.
We will perhaps talk about it in more detail during the second hour, but could you explain to me where exactly the project of establishing a Franco-Ontarian university is at? More specifically, what would be the federal government's contribution?
You spoke of possibilities which are most interesting. In the end, it all comes down to funding. You have proposed a solution in order to get the Université de l'Ontario français up and running over the next four years without dipping into Ontario's budget. We know that Ontario is faced with tremendous difficulties. Could you talk about funding for the project?