Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drummond for his question. The Government of Canada, and all Canadians, firmly believe that access to federal services in the language of their choice is a fundamental issue.
We firmly believe that Canadians who want to access public information from federal institutions must be able to do so in the language of their choice. We all know that every Canadian has the right to communicate with the government and federal institutions in the language of their choice, and that federal institutions are required to provide services in full compliance with the Official Languages Act. We also believe that both official languages are on an equal footing.
In this case, the National Energy Board had asked TransCanada to provide a consolidated version of its application in both official languages, which TransCanada agreed to do. The French version of the document is available.
Last May, in the House, the Minister of Natural Resources answered questions about this during question period. He said that he regretted the amount of time TransCanada needed to provide the French version of these documents.
As the Minister of Canadian Heritage has already told the House, our government continues to work on the measures needed to ensure that all Canadians have access to these documents in the official language of their choice. Since he is a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, the hon. member knows that our government believes in the importance of encouraging and fostering the use of the official languages in all of Canadian society and in all sectors of activity.
We are therefore coordinating our efforts to continually improve services to Canadians. We are actively working with the Treasury Board president to ensure that all federal services are provided in full compliance with the Official Languages Act.