Official Languages committee  We talked about positive measures. Including questions in the census in order to collect the data could represent quite a positive measure as far as Statistics Canada is concerned.

Official Languages committee  I think so, yes. The government is working on modernizing the rules. One option being considered is moving towards a more inclusive definition of the term “francophone”, as Ontario has done. That would mean including references to speaking French and so forth. The modernizing o

Official Languages committee  Yes. Mr. Généreux used the word “trap.” However, I don't think our goal is to trap Mr. Corbeil in any way.

Official Languages committee  We're also doing work on our side. At the FCFA, we know Mr. Corbeil very well, and he also knows us very well. Each time there is a census, we speak to each other. We have regular discussions with him. He'll attend our next board of directors meeting, in March, to discuss these i

Official Languages committee  I understood.

Official Languages committee  Can I answer your question?

Official Languages committee  What should be understood—and Mr. Power will correct me if I'm wrong—is that we're talking here specifically about federal money sent to the provinces for minority language education.

Official Languages committee  Okay. In some cases, provinces use the money for—

Official Languages committee  They use it for purposes other than the intended purposes.

Official Languages committee  We're saying this should be fixed. This is part of the tools to consider. We want to know the tools needed to have an impact. We must make sure the provinces invest the money where it should be used.

Official Languages committee  That is the case everywhere.

Official Languages committee  I'd like to add something in that regard. I think we're letting ourselves be too limited by the paradigm brought forward by Statistics Canada, that is to say that we seem to believe that it is not possible to increase the number of questions because Canadians will not want to an

Official Languages committee  I think that if there are 50 questions and three are added, I won't die if I have to answer those too. If I am asked three or four more questions in the short-form census, that won't kill me either. I filled out the short form and it took me less than 30 seconds. It's so easy on

Official Languages committee  I simply wanted to make a comment in the same vein as Mr. Power. The best thing the committee could do would really be to ask the government and Statistics Canada to find the best way to calculate the number of rights holders. We are not statisticians. We shouldn't get hung up

Official Languages committee  May I add something?