Official Languages committee  It was a general comment, because I have to leave very quickly. One of the things I wanted to say that I thought was very relevant and Madame Boucher alluded to is that it's fabulous, in my opinion, and certainly in the opinion of the association, I'm sure, that you decided to co

Official Languages committee  Exactly.

Official Languages committee  It's not the case. That's what I'm trying to plead with you today, to be aware that the English minority in Quebec is more than just Montreal. Sure, there are problems in Montreal. There's no question. I'm not trying to deny that. But it's especially acute here in the Townships a

Official Languages committee  Okay.

Official Languages committee  Literacy is definitely a problem. There's a community group that specializes in that, Literacy in Action, in Lennoxville as well. But certainly that is a problem. It's probably not unique to our community, but it's definitely a problem, and it does not help.

Official Languages committee  Concerning the services that are available for FSL, French second language training, there are some. Admittedly, many of these are at private colleges and so on, courses, night courses and so on. There has been some effort by the provincial government, through Emploi-Québec, to p

Official Languages committee  Well, there are a number of associations. I can't really speak on behalf of them. Obviously, for the Townshippers' Association, itself, the funding has been helpful. There's no question. When you speak of federal funding, that's a huge umbrella. There are a lot of different depar

Official Languages committee  Maybe, Rachel, you can....

Official Languages committee  I would say it's probably a mixture of all of the above. In a minority situation, language is always part of the equation, but it's also a question of resources. A question of awareness is a big part of the problem as well, and to be perfectly honest with you, it's a question of

Official Languages committee  My name is Michael Van Lierop, and I'm the president of the Townshippers' Association. Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk to you today about our position regarding the 2003 action plan for official language minorities. The