Official Languages committee  Fine. All that to say that I heard the same concerns that you were describing this morning. We plan to have additional discussions with these organizations before the change takes place.

Official Languages committee  Thank you Mr. Chairman. I will ask Ms. Rallis to comment on language of work and on the way in which we comply with language of work provisions at Service Canada.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I would like to respond. I am trying to describe the situation as clearly as possible. I would like to thank the member for having stated that he is reassured by my statements, that you have a copy of, because that was truly the intent of the message I wanted to give you today.

Official Languages committee  Are you asking me to respond?

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, as I said at the outset of my remarks today, I was not being accurate when I said that the Atlantic region was an unilingual one, because such a designation is established by the Official Languages Act. Therefore, no changes have been brought to the designation of the Atlantic region.

Official Languages committee  No change was made, whether regarding the language of work, part V...

Official Languages committee  ... or the services to the public provided for in part IV.

Official Languages committee  The Atlantic region includes Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  It does not have a linguistic designation. The designation with regard to the language of work is defined in the Official Languages Act.

Official Languages committee  New Brunswick is a bilingual province. All the rights and responsibilities related to that designation are available in New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  With regard to the other provinces, as you know, that is an issue of service to the public. We comply with the official language regulations in designating bilingual offices, locations and points of service, as is the case for example in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, or in all provincial capitals.

Official Languages committee  Allow me to repeat myself, sir: there is no designation per se for the region as a whole. Some areas, like New Brunswick, are designated bilingual. They were and remain so. Nothing has changed in that regard.

Official Languages committee  The Official Languages Act provides for the designation of locations, and we comply with the act throughout our region.

Official Languages committee  I agree, that is what I said on March 8.