Madam Speaker, I am glad that the members from the Bloc Quebecois, like the government, is concerned about the faith of minority French-language communities. The Bloc is making interesting promises to these communities, but whether they will be carried out remains to be seen.
There is no doubt, however, that the federal government is supporting these communities, and the official languages policy already provides them with a lot more than this political party which is only passing through Ottawa can promise them.
It is in the vital field of education that the federal government contributes most significantly to the development of minority communities.
In Ontario alone we have contributed approximately $334 million in the last five years for the teaching of our official languages, of which $200 million went for minority official language education for nearly 100,000 young francophones of this province, thus contributing to reducing dropout rates in illiteracy as well as increasing participation in post-secondary education.
To these amounts we have added a contribution of $50 million over the next five years to help establish a network of three post-secondary colleges for the French speaking minority of this province. This includes La Cité collégiale in Ottawa.
We also fund francophone community associations throughout this province that are active in community development.
Several members of this government will attend the ACFO convention and I would like to remind my colleague from the Official Opposition that government members meet, on a regular basis, with representatives of minority communities, from all over the country, to discuss concrete measures.
Our commitment to these communities goes much beyond simple rhetoric. We will continue to work in partnership with them to ensure their full development.