Official Languages committee  Yes. I fully endorse those comments. By way of preamble, I would like to say this. This morning, we are talking. I wouldn't say we are complaining, but we seem to be raising issues. But the fact is the federal government has carried out some important work in recent years. I would even go so far as to say that if the federal government had not been there for people living in a minority situation, I am not sure I would be here today.

Official Languages committee  As you say, we often play the role of missionaries; there is no doubt about that. That is part of the job, and when you are Franco-Ontarians living in a minority situation, you simply accept that. It must be the same thing in the East. It's important to understand how the federal government's support is secured.

Official Languages committee  Missionaries.

Official Languages committee  I would just like to echo your comments. One of my concerns is the scrapping of a budget allocation of $39 million towards the Social Economy Enterprise Development Program, a cut that will have very serious repercussions. This fund made it possible to develop certain initiatives in Ontario.

Official Languages committee  No, they are not.

Official Languages committee  Well, I think it could be fairly simple. We basically know what the mandate is in terms of protecting official languages. Whatever the department, whether it's Canadian Heritage, Human Resources Development Canada, Service Canada or another organization, it is important that when the time comes to do something and actually put one's signature on a piece of paper, it be absolutely clear that all the necessary steps have been taken to abide by — based on any possible changes to the context or federal philosophy, or even a change of government — the current policy.

Official Languages committee  Absolutely, and that is the rationale for the linguistic accommodation policy that has just been launched in Ontario. I'd like to tell you a little story. With 55% of exogamous families in Ontario, only 14% of whom speak French at home. The rather strange burden of having to try to prevent assimilation falls to us, as educational institutions.

Official Languages committee  We need a land of welcome, and everything has to be built. That is one of the reasons for the plea I made earlier about the $900 million that is pending. We have to convince immigrants who settle in Ontario to go up north, where job opportunities are available. Approximately 64% of immigrants settle in Toronto.

Official Languages committee  Exactly.

Official Languages committee  You are absolutely right, and I feel we can only improve the old system. I've lived with it, or worse. Here we're talking about official languages, but imagine when those people came to the agency and the person greeting them could not speak French. Not only was I losing them or sending them back, I was losing them in English.

Official Languages committee  I am optimistic. I hope that with the new agreement, the provincial government will be able to better control the situation and draw lessons from what has occurred elsewhere in the country. That way, we may become more effective.

Official Languages committee  Yes, they're absolutely essential, because they broaden people's horizons. I did it, I was there, I learned things, sometimes more than I'd learned at school.

Official Languages committee  Yes, I did.

Official Languages committee  We should be doubling the subsidy for the Explore Canada program. It invites young people from across the province to go and study in a different institution, in a different language. It is absolutely critical to support that program. It is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and allows us to receive 200, 300, or 400 young Anglophones every year, who come to see Francophones in Ontario.

Official Languages committee  It's important to maintain that program.