Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, our government has always been clear on this, and our position has not changed. We understand the concerns of the francophone cultural sector. We want to reassure people and and remind them that we have made historic investments in support of our culture. We have made massive investments in arts and culture, over $2.3 billion to be precise.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for St. John's East for his question and for his excellent work. Last week, for the first time ever, a temporary family skating rink was installed on Parliament Hill. In addition to free family skating time, 32 peewee hockey teams from coast to coast to coast will be here to compete in the “Hockey on the Hill” tournament.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, we know that trustworthy journalistic content is essential to a healthy democracy. Our thoughts are with the employees and their families who have been affected by these cuts. Canadians value local media, and we will continue to support this industry. We have already announced that we are going to modernize our programs to better support the newspaper industry, both in print and online.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, our thoughts are with the workers and their families affected by the cuts in the print media industry. Canadians value local news, and our government will continue to support it. We know that reliable journalistic content is critical to a healthy democracy. We have already announced that we will be modernizing our programs to better support local media in both paper and digital formats.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, our government has always been very clear on this, and our position has not changed. We understand the concerns of the francophone cultural sector. We want to reassure the cultural sector of our support and point out that we have made historic investments in support of our culture.

Recognition of Charlottetown as the Birthplace of Confederation Act  Mr. Speaker, I am proud and honoured to stand in this place to offer my contributions to the debate on Bill S-236. I would like to acknowledge some of the people who have brought it to this stage: the former member of Parliament for Hillsborough, George Proud; Philip Brown, from Charlottetown, and Sharon Larter, both of whom have been tenacious in advancing this private member's legislation through various Parliaments since the early 1990s; Senator Griffin, who introduced it and saw it through the other place; my colleague, the hon. member for Malpeque; and Dr.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, as I said, we have already indicated that the leaders of the parties in both Houses of Parliament were invited to promote the opportunity to potential candidates, provide their input on stakeholder engagement, and highlight qualities the selection committee should consider.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Drummond for the question. As my colleague knows, on July 28, the government relaunched the process for appointing the Commissioner of Official Languages. We sent a document to the leader of his party. My colleague complains about a lack of consultation with his party and his leader, but we sent him a document that I have here with me entitled, “Commissioner of Official Languages — Selection Process to Appointment — Key Stages”.

Rail Transportation  Madam Speaker, the people of Lac-Mégantic are always in our thoughts and prayers. Improving rail safety is the Minister of Transport's top priority. That is why we have allocated $143 million to rail safety and the transportation of dangerous goods. That is why we accelerated the removal of the least crash-resistant tank cars.

Rail Transportation  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable for his question. As the Prime Minister said, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and all those whose lives were changed because of this tragedy. Four years later, this very tight-knit community continues to show remarkable resilience in the wake of the scars left by these awful events and their traumatic consequences.

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, on February 25, 2016, the Prime Minister announced the introduction of a new approach to Governor in Council appointments. The new approach is more open and transparent, representative of Canadian diversity, and merit-based. The Government of Canada considers the function of the Commissioner of Official Languages to be very important since the incumbent is responsible for enforcing the Official Languages Act across Canada.

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada sees the function of the Commissioner of Official Languages as very important, since it ensures the enforcement of the Official Languages Act in Canada. We will ensure that we identify the best candidate for this position. A new commissioner must be appointed before Ms.

World Children's Day  Mr. Speaker, yesterday was World Children's Day. I was honoured to be invited to the United Nations in New York to witness a kid's takeover of the proceedings. Children from all over the world gave inspirational presentations to the UN delegates. Canada's representative was Basel AI Rashdan.

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our two official languages are central to our history and our Canadian identity. We are firmly committed to promoting the use of both official languages in society and to supporting our official language minority communities. We are working on a new action plan to support and promote the vitality of these communities.

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, we understand the concerns of the francophone cultural sector. I want to reassure and remind the cultural community of the historic investments we have made to support francophone culture. We have made massive investments in arts and culture, over $2.2 billion to be precise.