Official Languages committee  Mr. Weston, it must be borne in mind that the federal government has a duty of leadership with regard to Canada's linguistic duality. In the regions where the number of francophones or francophiles does not achieve critical mass and for the communities to take charge of their destiny, basic development tools must offered.

Official Languages committee  Linguistic duality requires that we be present in our society. We cannot allow ourselves to lose the resources that present the face of the regions to all Canadians without taking this linguistic reality into account. Radio-Canada does this by taking into account not only the metropolitan centres, but the regions as well.

Official Languages committee  In the cooperative environment, the associations in French-speaking Ontario are independent. Even though they share services with Desjardins, it's an independent community that is responsible for itself. We maintain relations. In the financial sector, we have developed our own avenues, our own financial services and our own internal financing capability.

Official Languages committee  It's very well accepted. However, I want to make it clear that, even though we share and buy services from Desjardins, those services are managed by francophones, for their own interest, based on their situation and in accordance with their mandate. That doesn't mean we don't abide by the policies since we belong to a major network where we share IT services and everything else.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Gourde, I'm going to give you an idea for a specific project. The UN has declared that next year will be the International Year of Cooperatives. In French-speaking Ontario, cooperatives play an essential role in the entrepreneurial development of the communities. That's important because this involves people who are taking charge of their lives at the local level.

Official Languages committee  One thing has changed, Mr. Weston, and that is the rights holders. Under section 23 of the Constitution, we have gone after the rights holders, those who were entitled to French-language schools. Through funding, we have gained access to schools and we have funded schools outside Quebec in regions where, in many cases, there were previously no French-language schools.

Official Languages committee  I'd like to add one point. Once immigrants are here, there have to be integration mechanisms for them. Immigrants often find themselves without resources and lost in the community. The Immigration Program at Canadian Heritage and the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality must also take this approach into account in order to integrate them into the community, provide them with tools to understand where their next employment opportunities should be and what the education path is.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Trottier, I'm a native of Toronto. As a Franco-Ontarian, I understand your question. In the case of those who live in areas where there isn't this francophone linguistic enclave, we must remember first and foremost that there is the educational environment.That starts with child care centres and then moves on to the schools and, later on, to our social network.

Official Languages committee  To answer Mr. Bélanger's question, I would like to mention that there is an aspect that is often hard for the communities to accept. The decisions made by Canadian Heritage on the allocation and distribution of funding are not always consistent with interests as the community defines them.