Status of Women committee  I agree with you, research is often required in order to define the objectives of a project. That is obvious, and there will probably be some way to tie in some aspect of research. However, in many cases, a great deal of research has to be done in order to identify the issue before undertaking a series of projects, and that is where the problem lies.

Status of Women committee  I also think that the danger with projects—and, incidentally, this was discussed in committee—lies in the fact that you must continuously try to drum up funding to complete the project. If Status of Women Canada provides funding, if some other department or foundation does the same then, if one of the partners decides to withdraw its funding, everything falls apart.

Status of Women committee  Of course, I would never refuse to take money, even if there were $5 million somewhere earmarked for women, for example. Direct services for women are usually in education, health and social services, which are provincial jurisdictions. As a Quebec woman, I would tend to think that we will have problems accessing those areas in Quebec.

Status of Women committee  I am sure you will understand that it would take me hours to answer all of those questions, but I will try to be brief. I know it seems strange for the Montreal office to cover Nunavut, but Quebec already had a mandate for Nunavut for a number of years. So there is nothing surprising about it.

Status of Women committee  I would just like to say a few words about the effect that the changes to the Women's Program will have on the Fédération des femmes du Québec. Our funding is guaranteed until the 2007-2008 fiscal year, but after that, we will lose 21 % of our funding. We have determined that, on average, 21 % of our funding was provided by the Women's Program.

Status of Women committee  My name is Charlotte Thibault and I have been a member of the Fédération des femmes du Québec since 1979. I have been interested in the work of Status of Women Canada and the Women's Program since 1982. Seventeen years ago today, 14 young women who were students at the École polytechnique in Montreal were killed by a man who had a grudge against feminists.