Official Languages committee  In fact, I am Jean Johnson and I am the President of the French Canadian Association of Alberta. I am pleased to fill in for my director general, if you would allow me to. First of all, welcome to Alberta. On behalf of the francophone community, I want to wish you a warm welcome

Official Languages committee  I will talk about two major issues. I will say a few words about our association, the ACFA, and then I will speak about the measures that are needed for the vitality of the Alberta francophone community. Since 1926, the ACFA has been an institution that speaks on behalf of and d

Official Languages committee  Well, if representatives from the arts and culture sector were here with us, they would be able to address the issue. Personally, I think investments would need to be made. The sectors that are truly developing and experiencing growth in the communities are the ones you investe

Official Languages committee  I would like to add that it is not always a lack of provisions that is the problem, but rather that programs and projects are not taken seriously even though they are in keeping with the federal government programs. To come back to your specific question, when you talk about spe

Official Languages committee  Could you please repeat your question?

Official Languages committee  We have talked about the cities, but I would like to add that people in more remote regional centres, in rural areas, also have needs. The immigration strategies that Manitoba has implemented have turned out to be very successful. In order to invest in particular regions, they ha

Official Languages committee  I can tell you about the situation in Alberta. Right now, we are in a very fortunate position, and that is why we are able to deal with these challenges. Because of the economic boom in Alberta, this is where everyone wants to move. People are coming here in droves. When I talk t

Official Languages committee  I really want to give you a concrete example of an agreement that specifically accommodated the francophone community. This was the agreement on early childhood services. I know that the current federal government has taken a different position. However, the agreement enabled u

Official Languages committee  As I have said, it would be to develop the reflex to always insert and include such clauses. We are not shy: we would be happy to sit down and discuss these issues with the departments. We do not want to complicate your process, but we certainly want to tell you that we are here

Official Languages committee  First, we view this migration towards Alberta as a huge responsibility that the francophone community has been in entrusted with. That huge responsibility lies in being very fair in our reception and integration of these people. However, there are problems emerging: these people

Official Languages committee  Our challenge lies precisely in meeting that need. I could talk about another institution—

Official Languages committee  We propose working with the federal government and the Government of Alberta in order to find strategies focused on developing small rural communities such as Plamondon, which is only a two-hour drive from Fort McMurray. That is just one example of a nice community that could gro

Official Languages committee  I support that. Our greatest challenge involves infrastructure. We're sent from one department to another and all we get in return is frustration. You said that it takes 10 years to complete a project, but sometimes it's more. We face significant challenges. I absolutely suppor

Official Languages committee  In fact, that would comply with the new Official Languages Act, if I have understood correctly.

Official Languages committee  In our community, we do all the planning work and we identify certain priorities. The federal government or its officials do not necessarily respect those priorities. This has to stop.