Thank you for the question.
First, I feel that it is important to give you some details about the selection process for the assistant deputy minister in Manitoba. The selection committee includes members of the community. That means that the selection of the assistant deputy minister is not solely reserved for public servants or government representatives. Community members play a role also.
As I said earlier, during my presentation, when we work in an English-speaking environment, our role is very often to make other people understand the reality of francophones in a minority situation. You have to repeat it a lot, but it takes time before our colleagues get it. In a lot of cases, we had to revise a policy or proposed policy from a francophone point of view. I always made the deputy minister or the minister aware of the impact that a policy could have on the francophone community.
I also had a specific mandate, which was to develop a funding formula for French-language education. The idea of the formula was to ensure the sustainability of the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, the only French-language school board in Manitoba. It covers the entire province. We had to develop a funding formula to meet its needs. In that context, there were a lot of discussions involving the DSFM and the community. Each time there was a new program, we had to ensure that it met the needs of the Franco-Manitoban community.