Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to try to obtain a further response to the question I put on February 25. I had asked the question in response to a reaction by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.
The federation was very disappointed to discover no additional amount for the development of francophone and Acadian communities in the budget announced by the Minister of Finance. In my work on the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we had the pleasure of welcoming Georges Arcs, president of the federation. Even then, he warned the federal government that money should be increased so services could be provided to all the communities outside Quebec.
All we learned since then, in response to questions put in the House and a number of interventions on the official languages committee, is that the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced on April 12 that a protocol had been signed with all the partners, all the provinces, but no time frame was mentioned. A lot of money was mentioned, but that is the way it always is.
What I find deplorable as well is that each time this government announces large amounts of money, there are always signing problems and difficulty meeting the timeframes set—as in the agreement on education. They said it would be signed on March 31. It had to wait until April 12. The minister may have wanted to bring us a little news when she met with the official languages committee.
All of this to say that the government appears to be having difficulty getting this famous official languages plan started, integrating decisions and obtaining specific results.
I asked whether the federal government would give additional amounts over and above the figures that appeared in the budget. At that point, the minister responsible answered that the amount of $750 million announced very publicly by the then minister responsible for official languages, now the Minister of the Environment, would be maintained. And yet we are still not seeing where the money is going.
I would like to know this evening whether the federal government really intends to make new investments for the development of francophone and Acadian communities?