Official Languages committee  Currently—

Official Languages committee  In part VII of the Official Languages Act, the government has committed to protecting and promoting French across the country, including outside Canada. However, I haven't seen any specific programs designed to meet that obligation.

Official Languages committee  I will speak specifically to part VII, to which you refer and which very much concerns official language minority communities. We discuss this at length in our report. Last week, I met all the deputy ministers in government to discuss the importance of part VII of the act and its implementation.

Official Languages committee  That's actually mentioned in the act because part VII refers to the education continuum, and post-secondary education is an important part of that continuum. Having lived in Moncton and Saint-Boniface, I know from experience that the role post-secondary institutions play in the development of communities is important.

Official Languages committee  I think all post-secondary educational institutions should be properly funded. Are you referring to public or partially public institutions? That depends on the funding that governments provide.

Official Languages committee  As I said earlier in my answer to the first question, presenting certain information, data and tables may help explain a trend, but is that the only factor? I don't think so.

Official Languages committee  As I didn't attend that meeting, I don't know what was said. What's important is to realize that it's extremely important, especially for minority francophones, to have access to an education system in their language, from early childhood to the post-secondary level, in order to offset the effects of the very anglophone community in which they live.

Official Languages committee  Certainly—

Official Languages committee  I read the report of the Office québécois de la langue française on the situation in Montreal and Gatineau. Can that situation be explained as a result of a single factor? No, especially when it comes to young people.

Official Languages committee  Young people live in a completely different, almost virtual world. Their eyes are constantly glued to their telephones and they're subject to many influences. What role does post-secondary education play in this phenomenon? As I said earlier, we have to determine what variable, among all those that are involved, we can address.

Official Languages committee  It's an interesting question, to which I don't really have an answer.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much. Actually, when we talk about a periodic review of the act in 2033, people think that's way into the future. However, it's already 2024, and the act was assented to in 2023. We've already lost a year. It's important to measure the impact of the act on the communities first and then on the federal government.

Official Languages committee  We announced a deployment plan during the press conference for the release of the annual report and have restructured my office in the past nine months to reflect these new powers. We've brought in expertise but are still waiting for the resources we need to move forward. We'll also be launching a new investigation process this coming July.

Official Languages committee  There are a lot of them. Although there were fewer complaints this year, the percentage was the same. There were a lot of complaints from the travelling public. So I'm talking about Air Canada. Complaints were also filed against the Canada Border Security Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada, Global Affairs Canada, and I forget the fifth one.

Official Languages committee  I think we should always work with one another in a respectful manner. I'm going to limit my remarks to the fact that this is how I want to work and how I think you want to work.