Official Languages committee  Thank you.

Official Languages committee  I envy the anglophone minority in Quebec because they have many hospitals, three major universities, well recognized throughout the country; and that gives us motivation to work to obtain the same thing here. We have one French hospital and we had to fight 21 years ago, tooth and

Official Languages committee  We have the same problem in Ontario. In the larger cities, it's easier to see that the French services are there, but we have 26 designated areas that serve about 80% of our francophone population. That means that 20% of our francophone population don't even have those services.

Official Languages committee  I agree with you.

Official Languages committee  First, I really appreciate the way they've been supporting us so far. They were at one of our press conferences, and they drove to Ottawa to support us. The organization, or their members, can write letters to our government, to the Government of Quebec; and we have the support o

Official Languages committee  After hearing the government's position, which is based on economic factors, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario tried to fight this position. We wanted to see exactly what that meant. Based on possible funding from the federal government, we concluded that the bill for

Official Languages committee  I understand perfectly well. We didn't stop at these ideological considerations. For us, it was more important to move the issue forward financially. To be able to talk to the government, you have to speak its language, and its language is the economy. So that's what we did. Pe

Official Languages committee  Yesterday, we appeared before a provincial committee. We are conducting the two files together because they are both very important at the provincial level. At the federal level, both issues remain as important as ever. The question of funding, however, only applies to the unive

Official Languages committee  I would like to add a bit of information.

Official Languages committee  Since Mr. Ford's personal cellphone number seems to be everywhere, I can tell you that he has been inundated with calls from Franco-Ontarians and francophiles. We heard about it because people around us were personally called by Mr. Ford. They had the opportunity to discuss two i

Official Languages committee  If I remember correctly, Ms. Joly made an initial announcement on Twitter that the government was ready to commit. We approached her office. I wouldn't be moving this forward without the assurance that there is a commitment. I didn't receive it in writing, but there is a commitme

Official Languages committee  We think it meets the objectives of both governments. Mr. Ford's response is that his government will start by working to achieve Ontario's balanced budget objectives. Mr. Ford has given himself until the next provincial election to achieve this. If we're counting properly, tha

Official Languages committee  I think so.

Official Languages committee  She hasn't responded. We mention this in the letter. What we are doing is establishing a channel of communication, among other things, between the two levels of government so that they can talk to each other.

Official Languages committee  First, we must continue the dialogue and maintain the pressure. Second, to put pressure on, you have to understand the issue, the need for the Université de l'Ontario français in Toronto and why we are here. The historical background contained in the document provided to you rais