Official Languages committee  If I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to add something. Mr. Rodriguez, I think that what is important is that we too have a procedure to follow. Bear in mind that the incident occurred within the National Hockey League. The National Hockey League is our partner. We do not investigate on behalf of the National Hockey League.

Official Languages committee  We asked 9 or 10 francophone players to join.

Official Languages committee  These are National Hockey League players whose teams were eliminated. When the first—

Official Languages committee  The players refused to join.

Official Languages committee  They refused for a variety of reasons. Mr. Crosby was injured. Patrice Bergeron and other players said no, some for personal or family reasons, and others because of injuries. At the World Championship last year, we had six, seven or eight francophones on the team. At the Olympics, we had francophones on the team.

Official Languages committee  There are no francophone players.

Official Languages committee  In terms of players right now, out of the number of people participating, two players who have agreed to be on the team speak French.

Official Languages committee  Well, there's Lombardi, who is from Montreal, but he's Italian. So we have Mr. Lombardi. Mr. Martin is also on the team. What happened this year—as Bob explained earlier—is that at the end of the season we asked francophone players whether they wanted to join us. But players refused, either for personal reasons or because of injuries.

Official Languages committee  Let us clarify a few things. An incident occurred during a match of the National Hockey League, which is our most important partner. Since the NHL launched an inquiry and clearly stated that Mr. Doan did not utter that famous sentence, I do not see why we would not continue working with Shane Doan.

Official Languages committee  You're talking about sports fans, but I come from Quebec and we only received two or three phone calls from journalists asking why he had been appointed captain. I did not receive any comments from the people at Hockey Quebec, which is a partner of Hockey Canada. I never received any negative comments.

Official Languages committee  If we had to start all over, I would hope that we would have been able to stop the debate sooner. I think people are trying to stir up controversy. It was only one single incident, and not 15. It happened in the heat of the moment. These comments were not made outside of the ice rink.

Official Languages committee  You are putting words in my mouth.

Official Languages committee  I would like to answer you, Mr. Malo, but I wish to share a personal anecdote. Last week, I was attacked, as a Quebecker, by some journalist, and my own daughter's reputation was also attacked on the radio because of this situation. Do you think it's normal that Quebeckers would be doing that to fellow Quebeckers?

Official Languages committee  Mr. Malo, those concerned are before the court. But for the organizations in question, that is Hockey Canada and the National Hockey League, the matter is settled. Usually, even when trials are underway and certain matters are being resolved, people continue with their lives. Lawsuits were launched, and we are waiting for the decisions, and we are getting on with business.

Official Languages committee  On behalf of the Hockey Canada board, I am going to briefly outline everybody's role so that you can better understand our organization's decision-making process. Personally, I have been involved with hockey, as a volunteer, for 38 years. I was the president of Hockey Quebec for eight years and I was one of the people who advocated for French to be given its rightful place within Hockey Canada.