Official Languages committee  As far as the next Roadmap goes, I completely agree with you, we were not consulted. As far as we know, no members of the FCFA or the Leaders' Forum were formally consulted.

Official Languages committee  Without a doubt, we must be consulted. Such consultation is essential so we can work together in order to align both government priorities and those of the communities and ensure that the next Roadmap meets their needs. Frankly, we are in the best position to do so since we are on the ground.

Official Languages committee  In fact, it is our understanding that the Halifax office will also close and that everything will be centralized in Montreal. That would mean services for Atlantic Canada would be offered out of Montreal. This is of great concern to us. An Atlantic group is studying the repercussions of that decision.

Official Languages committee  Precisely, and I want to tell you that we are very concerned by the fact that when Quebec does promotion and recruits francophones, in so doing, you will agree, it is competing with us. In our case, when I arrive in Paris to promote our province and I talk about Saskatchewan, not many people raise their hand and say they know about Saskatchewan, and there are even fewer who know how to pronounce our province's name.

Official Languages committee  Yes, indeed we do. Moreover, we are recommending that the three components I alluded to, namely our space, our population and our development, be more aligned with the Strategic Community Plan. I will let the representatives from QCGN respond, but I think that they too have gone through this priority-setting exercise.

Official Languages committee  Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne to appear once again before you as part of your study on the Roadmap for Linguistic Duality. My name is Marie-France Kenny and I am the president of the federation.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think official languages should already be a part of everything the federal government does, and they should continue to be. You were speaking before about whether we should be correcting.... We've had this wonderful Official Languages Act for 42 years, yet it's never been applied totally in its integrity in any government in those 42 years.

Canadian Heritage committee  Celebrating is absolutely wonderful, but we could correct some of the inequities in justice. I'm not talking specifically about francophones, but any of those we've had over the last 150 years. That would go a long way to re-establishing my pride. I am proud. I said I am a very proud Canadian.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you for your question. As I said earlier, I am Fransaskoise. I am originally a Quebecker, and I must tell you that the vision in Quebec of a bilingual Canada and the vision that francophones outside Quebec have are completely different. We often get the feeling that, in government and elsewhere, people think that life in Quebec goes on in French and that there is the rest of Canada.

Canadian Heritage committee  We've had an Official Languages Act for 42 years. Governments, all governments, have timidly made commitments. We make commitments and provide funding, but when it comes to the federal government providing funding to a province, it has to include the official languages component or the linguistic duality clause, saying, “You know what?

Canadian Heritage committee  First, I'd like to say that francophone communities no longer have one culture. Francophone communities outside Quebec have several cultures and, because of immigration, in 2006, 13% of francophones outside of Quebec were new immigrants. So francophones are very much part of our community.

Canadian Heritage committee  We agree with that. For us, it's the whole issue of dialogue and getting to know each other. I am Fransaskoise, and I live in Saskatchewan. My anglophone neighbour may not know me, and I may not know him either. It's important to have that dialogue. We put forward the idea of a youth Parliament.

Canadian Heritage committee  That is somewhat the idea we suggested today in connection with a book. First of all, we realize that history is being taught less and less. I read the comments by committee members on this point. And we are teaching a history that is often viewed from a single perspective. For us, it is important that we first recognize the entire contribution by the first nations, that founding people—they aren't often called a founding people, but they are—by the Métis, by the francophone and anglophone communities.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, absolutely. That is why we suggest striking a committee that will take the components of society into account. A single history textbook should be produced including all these various perspectives. This is an option that would enable the young people to whom we teach this history to form their own opinions.

Canadian Heritage committee  Bonjour. Good morning. I'd like to say that you've saved the best for last, just looking at the panel before you today. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members. My name is Marie-France Kenny, and I am President of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.