Official Languages committee  I personally do not know. I could not tell you. I imagine we would get the information if we requested it. I believe the committee can very well file a request. However, I can tell you that, in a number of cases, the money does not go to the right place. That applies to most of the transfer agreements with the provinces in health and other areas.

Official Languages committee  Good afternoon and thank you, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, it is always a pleasure to be here. I feel as though I have been given a free pass to come and meet with you, like on Guy A. Lepage's program. Our organization appreciates that very much. First of all, I want to thank you for inviting us to testify before you today about French immersion programs.

Official Languages committee  As Alexis said, I think the composition should be representative.

Official Languages committee  It is difficult to answer that. We are talking about huge celebrations across Canada. However, I would say that there must absolutely be an anglophone member from Quebec, an anglophone member from outside Quebec, a francophone member from outside Quebec, young people, first nations members, Métis members and representatives from ethnocultural communities.

Official Languages committee  I admit that this is the first time I have thought about it. I had not thought about it before you mentioned it. However, I must say that I am not particularly concerned by it. The celebrations will be something completely separate, in my opinion. I do not see how it could be part of the Roadmap.

Official Languages committee  Yes, we will watch it closely.

Official Languages committee  I think that if we look at values, all Canadians value having a prosperous country. I think our values are to be respectful to one another, although we have a tendency to not always be respectful. I think if you ask anybody, you'll find that the common values are to share in the celebration and to share together—not francophones and anglophones, but together.

Official Languages committee  I agree with Alexis. If I had a family get-together and if, for some reason, we received funding—I cannot imagine that we would—I would not expect to be required to do everything in both languages. However, if we are talking about money transferred to a province or even a municipality, I think it is essential for there to be a language clause.

Official Languages committee  If we're talking about values, one of my values is equity, justice. I think that if we went around the table, we'd be hard pressed to find somebody who is against this value. For me, the value of equity applies to official languages not being equal. I have equal rights. My needs are different from an anglophone, and needs of anglophones in Quebec are different from francophones, and we must make sure that we meet those needs.

Official Languages committee  One thing that might be important is that every province and territory has a minister responsible for francophone affairs. They are called the Conférence ministérielle. They're actually meeting right now, in an economic forum right here in Gatineau, and I have to say that we now have a minister responsible for anglophone affairs in Québec, so I think it's important to involve la Conférence ministérielle.

Official Languages committee  If we're transferring money to a city, there should be a linguistic clause there also, saying that there's a francophone community.... There might not be. If there is no anglophone community or no francophone community somewhere, I'm not saying we should involve somebody who doesn't exist.

Official Languages committee  I agree with the question of accessibility. I don't want people to just read things to me in French and English. I want celebrations to reflect linguistic duality. I want to see francophone artists, anglophone artists, Métis and first nations artists. I totally agree. I was chair of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the City of Regina.

Official Languages committee  It is a bit difficult for me to answer that question because I do not represent my anglophone friends. However, I can tell you right now, speaking as a francophone, that if there are anglophones in Chicoutimi, they must participate and celebrate with us.

Official Languages committee  We want to encourage dialogue and, in order to do that, the celebrations must be held in both languages.

Official Languages committee  If I may start, yes, if we want to celebrate what makes this country great, linguistic duality is a big part of it. There should not only be a linguistic clause; there should be a strong linguistic clause. I live in Saskatchewan. I don't want to be an afterthought, as in “Maybe we should have invited some francophones or some token francophones”; I want to be part of organizing that celebration.