Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am pleased to see my former colleague from the National Assembly of Quebec again.
Mr. Pelletier, you said at the beginning that bilingualism has declined in government, and the way Act is enforced is a testament to that. As I said earlier, I am new to the committee and I am impressed by what I am seeing. Maybe that's because at some point in Quebec we addressed the issue and decided that French-Canadians from other provinces were not important.
I understand that many communities do not have schools for francophones. I am told that in Vancouver only one in five francophones has access to a spot in the early childhood network. There is a lack of funding and the issue of accountability was raised earlier. Let's not forget the significant number of francophone immigrants. I think that we have all the ingredients to promote bilingualism, but now we need legislation with more teeth.
Mr. Foucher, you started talking about accountability earlier and I found that interesting. The school boards are telling us that even though funding is available they have no say in how the money is distributed. In fact, the money is not devoted to French education and the school boards are disadvantaged. I liked your suggestion that the organizations sign the agreement or have recourse if they do have the right to sign it. How could we include that in the legislation?