Official Languages committee  I had an initial discussion with the QCGN in February. Its representatives raised the question and we are in fact in the process of considering how we could approach it.

Official Languages committee  The answer to that question is confidential.

Official Languages committee  The one thing I would add, Mr. Chair, is working with employers, because employment obviously is a huge draw. The other one, though, that may not be quite so obvious is the post-secondary institutions. If we can target our efforts towards those that offer post-secondary education in French, often there are spin-off benefits to that in employment in those very communities too.

Official Languages committee  I would say that the accord does have an important role to play when it comes to how we deal with settlement services and selection of francophone immigrants in Quebec. Under the accord, responsibility for selection and for providing settlement services is assigned to Quebec. That significant part of the work is therefore handled by the province.

Official Languages committee  I think the two laws are complementary. The two laws can be administered together. We work under the accord and the Official Languages Act.

Official Languages committee  I'm not sure what numbers you're referring to. I'm sorry.

Official Languages committee  For the most part they end up in Ontario. I think about 70% go to Ontario and the rest are dispersed to other places. We may be able to provide you with a more detailed breakdown of that if you like.

Official Languages committee  My colleague is telling me he has this on the tip of his finger, so maybe he should—

Official Languages committee  Ottawa is second.

Official Languages committee  I suppose, Mr. Chair, I'd offer in response to that first a comment on what you've put your finger on in terms of the challenges. Yes, indeed, for francophone immigrants considering a move to a country like Canada, while our prosperity and the society we have is attracting immigrants from around the world, the language barrier is a real hurdle for them.

Official Languages committee  Nor us. We could get back to you with that information after we ask the department. Absolutely.

Official Languages committee  It would be my pleasure to elaborate, and I'll ask my colleague, Yves Saint-Germain, to complement my answer. I mentioned Destination Canada because it is fair to describe it as our flagship program for recruitment and promotion overseas. It's been growing in popularity, and I think its impact has grown over the years.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, as I said earlier in reply to a similar question, the government's replies to this kind of report are protected and confidential. Those decisions have the status of cabinet confidences. I have no comment to make on that question.

Official Languages committee  You are correct. There seems to have been a cost overrun, since we drew on the settlement funds available to the department to invest in this very important area. We therefore exceeded the amounts that we had been given under the roadmap. However, in terms of whether we would like to see a larger investment in the next roadmap, I think we should let the evaluation that is underway run its course, and then step back a little and see what the results of our discussions with our partners are before starting to ask ourselves what the costs would be.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, we focused on three broad areas under the road map. We've talked about recruitment and promotion, but the other one speaks to the member's question, and that is the mechanisms we've put in place to ensure there is good coordination and fairly regular and sustained communication between the various actors in this field.