Official Languages committee  That is another side of the same problem.

Official Languages committee  If you need any help on that--

Official Languages committee  Indeed, we established ourselves initially to influence decisions, so that francophones do not pay the price of all the reforms we are seeing. You are talking about one case, but I cannot go into detail on that case, because I do not have the necessary information to discuss it.

Official Languages committee  First, of course, we're conscious of the issue of visibility, because when you are living in a minority situation.... I've worked as a CEO of a big hospital and I can tell you that francophones, when they come to a large hospital that is primarily anglophone, will not make a fight for services in French, because they fear they will get second-level service, if you will, or hear “stand in line, and we'll get somebody for you”.

Official Languages committee  Take Vancouver, for example. I was there two weeks ago. The francophone and francophile population in British Columbia is increasingly exponentially. It's extraordinary to see all those people. There's a good side to that. For example, in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC, there are now young francophones coming from French immersion schools who are enrolled in medicine and who will eventually be able to offer those services to francophones.

Official Languages committee  Fifty-five per cent did not receive services.

Official Languages committee  I think we are noticing a movement towards greater access, owing to the investments that have been made. We think that if this tempo is maintained, in a few years access to services will significantly improve. This is currently just the beginning. Most projects take two or three years to get off the ground and we're often waiting for funding.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  I have one last question. Earlier, you mentioned continuity. The real problem with all levels of government is that even successful pilot projects only last two or three years. For example, the previous government had instituted a horizontal delivery service which provided funding not through Heritage Canada but through Health Canada.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Treasury Board is about to approve our request for only three years of funding for the organization of our services. So the 2006-2007 fiscal year has been taken care of. We are concerned about the funding for 2007-2008. We believe that the committee can help us to obtain that funding.

Official Languages committee  The answer to your first question with respect to Quebec is yes, Quebec has been providing us with assistance for two years. They pay for one full-time person to work with us, in our organization, and it is that person in fact who has helped us plan our services throughout the country.

Official Languages committee  I must be very careful about getting into the details that you are describing because that is the responsibility of our New Brunswick network. In each province our network works with the government and is finding better solutions. When that happened, our network was in a process of being created.

Official Languages committee  Yes, health messages are something we have thought of. We do not just consider the very specialized services because that only affects a small part of the population. Francophones have told us that we should be focussing more on prevention and health promotion. We undertake activities such as health broadcasts or health forums for seniors — we have been responsible for some very big projects in New Brunswick that were very popular — in order to teach people how to take responsibility for their health.

Official Languages committee  I will not enter the private-public debate this morning.