Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks as well to our guests. This study is extremely important, and their presence here may help us sort out the situation, but it will also help make the people around this table more aware of the challenges.
With respect to the money from Canadian Heritage, I've had some experience as a director general. At one point, the deputy minister told us we had to review the funding that had been granted to us because we were receiving money from Canadian Heritage. However, provincial funding for education is provided in the same way for English and French institutions. The reason why Canadian Heritage provides money is that there are additional challenges that need to be addressed, but the province doesn't address them. That's why they come to the table.
I won't go too far here, and I don't know how aware you are of this, but I want to tell you that the amendments made to Bill C‑13 will, for the first time, include the preschool and post-secondary levels. So that opens the door to funding. Please bear that in mind because it's very important.
Furthermore, I don't know if you know this, but since the amendments were made by Bill C‑13, it has been possible to secure land on which to build schools. The provinces often tell the school boards that there's no land, but there is land for anglophones and not for francophones. However, the Official Languages Act now enables francophone school boards to acquire land.
Mrs. Ouellette, were you aware of those changes, which have modernized the Official Languages Act?