Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for his question and his work on francophone issues.
We were surprised by the announcement concerning the future of Ontario's French-language university. The vitality of official language communities across the country and the preservation of their language rights are a priority for our government.
Therefore, the Government of Canada is proud of its long-standing collaboration with provincial counterparts to provide better services to official language minority communities. That is why we have approved the renewal of all bilateral agreements on services in the minority language for the coming years.
Our government has renewed and strengthened agreements to encourage the provinces to provide services in the language of minority communities, through initiatives like education in the minority language, education infrastructure and access to provincial public services in the official language of one's choice.
ln 2018 alone, the provinces and territories received close to $149 million as part of bilateral education agreements, and approximately $13 million for complementary projects in education agreements.
ln terms of access to services, we have announced new investments to increase the offering of services in official language minority communities, including $22.5 million over five years to improve access to health services. We note that Ontario receives $1.4 million per year to provide French language services. This is the highest amount among the provinces.
Budget 2019 clearly shows that our government is prepared to invest additional funds in federal-provincial-territorial agreements as soon as a new protocol is signed. The accountability process must be improved, and the communities must be consulted regularly.
Our government is committed to supporting the provinces and territories in the provision of French language services. Our action plan for official languages, with its unprecedented $2.7-billion investment, is helping to strengthen minority language communities across the country.
Our official languages are at the core of who we are as a country. That is also why we are currently revising the Official Languages Act, on its 50th anniversary, to modernize it so it better serves the needs of Canadians. This is the first revision.
We hope that the Government of Ontario will follow our lead and take steps to strengthen the rights of francophone communities in the province.