Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister Duclos, thank you, and welcome to our committee.
Like my colleague Mr. Samson, I am very happy and very proud of the work you and your department have done.
In fact, we knew that early childhood would be a part of the action plan. As you know, last year in its report to Parliament, the committee noted that early childhood needed to be made a government priority, and your statement has confirmed that this is indeed the case.
I will speak about my personal experience. When my family and I moved to Sudbury, we had to register our daughter in advance on a waiting list in order to obtain a spot in a French-language day care. We had to do this one year in advance or we would not have had a space. I can also give you the example of my sister-in-law and my nephew, who was unfortunately unable to obtain a day care spot. Even though my sister-in-law made the request six months ahead of time, she did not obtain a space in a day care in her area. Of course, no one wants to drive 45 minutes to go to the day care before driving to work. So we can conclude that there is a shortage of day care spaces in Sudbury, even though this is a very important location for the francophonie.
You spoke about the agreements you concluded. My colleague Mr. Samson is anxious to see Nova Scotia follow the path taken by Ontario. As we know, it is often Ontario that leads the way. That said, I commend my colleagues from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.