Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chair, it will simply be me speaking for a few moments and then answering your questions.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, we will.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. Merci, monsieur le président. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you today about the follow-up to Canada's Universal Periodic Review. As you know, following Canada's appearance in February 2009 before the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, a report was issued by the United Nations that included 68 recommendations touching on a number of themes.

Official Languages committee  This is a recurring issue.

Official Languages committee  If we've told an organization that its grant was approved, we can tell it, most of the time, that it will be receiving payment within 30 days. Approval has to be official before we can provide an exact answer. As officials, we don't say whether something is approved before the minister has approved it.

Official Languages committee  Obviously, if the grant application isn't complete, that causes a delay and that can delay the final decision.

Official Languages committee  Yes, that's definite. That has an impact on the process.

Official Languages committee  The ability of certain groups that submit applications may cause delays in the processing of grants. If an application is incomplete, the officer definitely has to work with the organization for a number of weeks or months to ensure the application is complete. That also causes a delay.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Your question includes three items to which I'm going to try to respond. First, the minister gives final approval for grants on contributions. It's not an authority that's delegated to departmental officials. Second, our files indicate that the last advance payments to eligible organizations were made in July.

Official Languages committee  Until the official decision has been made, all the organizations can be told is that their application is still being processed. From the moment we know the decision, we can communicate it to the organization. We can also begin the necessary procedures to start payments. I can't give any other answer.

Official Languages committee  Of course, our officers were able to explain that there would be a delay. I'm not saying that we told them absolutely nothing, but they perhaps can't say how far the file has gotten and why there was a delay. I think the solution will be to publish our service standards, which is planned for April 1, 2010.

Official Languages committee  I think it was Ms. LaRocque who said that approval for the program renewal was unusual this year. For example, there weren't any multi-year agreements or we hadn't approved the 25% payment in advance. However, that won't be the case next year. We'll be able to obtain a signature and to authorize payments in advance to ensure the payments are made in April.

Official Languages committee  I agree with you, Mr. Godin. If there is an unacceptable delay in the funding of a project—if we're talking about projects instead of programs—that can have a negative impact on the project. We definitely don't want any situations in which project funding is provided in the last three or four months of the year.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Godin, for Canadian Heritage to be efficient, we obviously have no desire to disburse the funds at the end of the fiscal year if recipients can't use the funds for common objectives. As I said, we're going to work hard on our action plan to ensure that the funding arrives on time for the official language projects and programs.