Josée Verner

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, during the weekend the Secretary General took part in a major conference in the company of representatives of the entire Francophonie. It resulted in the St. Boniface declaration dealing among other things with light arms, war-affected children, good natural resource management in times of armed conflict, and the issue of women in situations of conflict. That is what is important. That was the outcome of the conference this weekend.

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary-General indicated himself that he was warmly received in St. Boniface, which has a very large, vibrant francophone community.

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie, Mr. Abdou Diouf, said that he was satisfied and pleased with the work done at the conference in St. Boniface on the weekend. It dealt with various aspects of conflict prevention and human security.

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat again the words of the secretary general of La Francophonie. He said that he wished “to thank the federal and provincial authorities for their warm welcome”.

Mr. Diouf had an excellent talk with the Prime Minister and stated that the matter was now in the past.

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

That said, I would like to quote Mr. Diouf. “I would first like to thank federal and provincial authorities for the wonderful welcome we received. This welcome attests to the vitality of the people of Canada and their desire to embrace the French fact”.

Those were the words of--

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

I would encourage my colleague from Bourassa to show the wisdom and respect befitting our admiration for Mr. Diouf and the excellent work he has accomplished for la Francophonie around the world.

[Francophonie, May 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, I had the opportunity to work with His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf, the Secretary General of the OIF.

[Official Languages, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it was with great interest that I welcomed the Commissioner of Official Languages' latest annual report. We will study all of the recommendations therein very carefully.

That said, linguistic duality is a core value in Canadian society, and the government is committed to ensuring that both the letter and the spirit of the Official Languages Act are respected.

I have started a cross-Canada tour that will take me to all four corners of the country to develop closer ties with official language communities.

[Francophonie, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as I said a few minutes ago, I had the opportunity to speak with His Excellency Mr. Diouf. Our relations with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie are excellent. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Diouf when I was in Paris at the end of March, and we agreed to work at the ministerial conference of the Francophonie to be held on the weekend in Saint-Boniface.

[Francophonie, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with His Excellency, Mr. Diouf. He was delighted to have arrived in Winnipeg. We agreed to meet tomorrow during the ministerial conference of the Francophonie. We both agree that the conference will be productive.