Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My thanks to the Minister for coming to the committee. I feel that is important. If there is one quality I appreciate in this Minister, it is that she makes herself available. That is to her great credit. The same cannot be said about her actions or the measures the government puts in place, but I do want to thank Ms. Joly as a person. I hope that you will pass that message on to her.
Now I would like to take this opportunity to ask Mr. Racine and Ms. Boyer some questions.
Earlier, Ms. Joly mentioned that the government intends to provide $5 million in financial assistance to Laurentian University. We heard the same thing in the media today. However, since this catastrophic situation began, she has been telling anyone who will listen that it's not the federal government's responsibility. It is always the provincial government's responsibility. However, when I talk about the situation, I think of my colleague Mr. Lefebvre, the member of Parliament for Sudbury, who is suffering the consequences because it is happening in his backyard and he knows many of the people involved.
Is the Minister skating on thin ice, so to speak, by coming out and promising $5 million in assistance?
To what extent do second-language post-secondary education institutions come under federal jurisdiction?
Isn't the federal government somewhat out of line by promising $5 million in assistance?