Citizenship and Immigration committee  We weren't able to present all of our brief because of lack of time, but we went through a long process of attending information meetings with CIC staff. There were online resources for us. And yes, we knew we were going into a new phase of funding. I would like to read to you

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That may have been, but the same services that we're currently providing will still be needed after March 31. There has been no change in the needs of newcomers in our community.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I may, I'll just say that in actual fact, before the year begins we have to give them the numbers of clients that we intend to serve, in both individual and group services. We submit that. CIC signs off on it and sends it back to us. That's our legal contract. We exceeded our

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I mean, the thing is that it's so difficult for us to get that information. CIC doesn't help us. They don't provide us with the information. There's no central source to collect it. All we're doing is kind of estimating from average numbers in agencies what we know, and then tryi

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sir, I couldn't hear because of the noise. Would you mind repeating the last part of the question?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd first respond to your first point, about it not being a political process. Our agencies are working in the community, and we do turn to our elected representatives—as does everybody in their riding—for help to understand what is happening. We were not afforded any informatio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We were actually approached by a lawyer from an administrative law firm. They feel that we have a very strong case. We're going to meet with them next week just to get some information. We have made no decisions at this point, and it hasn't gone to our boards yet, but they want t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  OCASI called a meeting in January, and mostly the Toronto-area agencies met. They're doing as much as they can behind the scenes and writing to the minister. It was very hard for them to get any information. They requested certain information that has not yet been provided, such

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think at this point we just don't know. There hasn't been time to even begin to address that, because there are so many things we're trying to deal with at the same time. CIC has made it clear that they are not responsible for any wind-down costs and they are not going to help

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In the form letter we received, there is an indication that all equipment needs to be disposed of according to Treasury Board rules. Usually what happens is that CIC quite often sends other still-funded settlement agencies to go through your furniture and take what they need. In

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's correct.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It was only a sentence in a stamped form letter. So we got the form letter in December, which was a stamped signature, and that was just one of the generic sentences that was included. I can certainly get you a copy of that letter.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It was in the letter that we received in December, yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's my understanding, yes, because I was asked by this agency to present.... I was at a workshop put on by United Way in Toronto to help us deal with the trauma of what's happening to us all, and I was speaking to one of the board members during the session. The look in his