Official Languages committee  I will once again emphasize that we would not have stabilized our program for official languages; we would not have done rounds and rounds of qualitative testing; we would not have had a committee of experts; we would not have subjected 135,000 households to a module of five questions, if we weren't serious about meeting the needs of this very important group, and I think that's not lost on cabinet.

Official Languages committee  —to do more than that.

Official Languages committee  I'll just repeat what I have said, which is that we would not have gone to all those extents and tested and subjected 135,000 households if there were no intent to include that as a recommendation.

Official Languages committee  First of all, we do get called in front of courts—

Official Languages committee  —to defend our methodology. We would be more than happy to do that on this aspect if called upon.

Official Languages committee  The answer is yes. That's what we do and not just for this variable, an important variable, an important topic, an important aspect of our law and our society. We do this for so many other needs. Whether it's for hospitals, fire station or businesses, this is why we do these surveys and why we do the census.

Official Languages committee  We will present recommendations that will provide high-quality data that will meet the expressed needs. That is our goal. I don't understand why we would provide a recommendation that would not have that objective. Our goal is always to provide high-quality data.

Official Languages committee  Under the law, the decision rests with cabinet. Our job is to provide the right questions to collect high-quality data.

Official Languages committee  The only reason we tested the five questions is because they were not there before, and depending on the decision that will be made, they will be asked for the first time. This is new.

Official Languages committee  We are committed to providing good data to Canadians. That is our sole objective—

Official Languages committee  —and that's what we will do.

Official Languages committee  I'll just repeat what I said before. I'm very concerned if people think that any of the data—through that logic that you've put—that comes from the long-form census is missing 75% of the responses or that it is not of good quality, because you as legislators make decisions on a whole host of programs based on the quality of the data that we get from the long form.

Official Languages committee  Users have expressed their requests, the courts have made their decisions, and three elements are required. First, what is the entire population in a given region? Second, how many people will prefer or use a service? Third, what will be the changes in the population? The judges, in their rulings, were very clear.

Official Languages committee  First of all, there are many programs where there's a need for very high-quality data. The unemployment program is one example I've given that we benchmarked from the census to our ongoing surveys. There are a lot of programs, such as employment equity. There are many legal requirements that are based on the long form.

Official Languages committee  I think I understand the question. The possibility of multiple responses is not unique to this question. There are several other questions like that. There may be situations where there is more than one answer. The question is how we deal with this and how it relates to the situation of the rights holders.