Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To begin with, the Treasury Board, which is the central agency, will have its powers enhanced by the act. How? As the minister mentioned, some powers will no longer be discretionary. From the moment the Treasury Board adopts policies and regulations and has verified the organizations' compliance, many of its powers will henceforth require it to take action, whereas before, it could choose whether or not to act. The directive is no longer that it "may", but rather "must" act. The Treasury Board's role has therefore been strengthened. It will fully perform its role with the aid of new resources. That, after all, is the role of a central agency.
Secondly, many departments, including the Department of Canadian Heritage, have important roles to play with respect to official languages. I think someone asked a question about that earlier. The department provides funds to postsecondary institutions and others through contribution programs. The department has the proper authorities. Granting project contributions constitutes 90% of its mandate. It will therefore continue to perform this role in close cooperation with the communities, because it needs to maintain a dialogue with them to know what their needs are. It is going to continue to do that. It will still be the intermediary with the communities to ensure that the programs offered to them meet their needs.