Great. I want to rise to your challenge!
We are in the process of developing an educational assistant program, with a specialization in phonological development and articulation—speech therapy assistant, that is. This kind of employee can help in early childhood. With the way in which systems are evolving in Alberta, we need employees of this kind. You can ask me about it, if it is an area that interests you.
I am now going to talk about the specific challenges we face.
You have to understand that our centre is a college-level institution, the Campus Saint-Jean, established inside the University of Alberta, a research university. We are always trying to open doors and to evolve the systems and the ways of thinking of the people from the larger institution. This is in order to provide college-level education in French and meet the needs of Alberta francophones.
As for the early childhood education program and its development, we are in the process of establishing a program for which the Alberta government tells us it has no new funds at the moment. Consequently, we are going to use the funds we will be given under the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages to get the program up and running as we wait for better economic times in Alberta. We will then be able to apply for provincial government funding.
I believe that the Government of Alberta has a role to play. It must not simply rely on the official language communities establishing early childhood services.