Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello, Dr. Larocque, and thank you for joining us on video conference from Montpellier. We are a bit envious. I think everyone agrees that the act must be more binding. You talked about the legal context. There is one thing we realized pretty much everywhere during our tours.

Official Languages committee  That's correct.

Official Languages committee  I would like to come back to the specific case of Ontario's French-language university. Just how much can the federal government do to ensure that Ontario's francophone minorities, especially those in the Toronto area, can have those courses? Would it be possible to have a mechanism in the official languages act for extraordinary situations, as is currently the case?

Official Languages committee  Mr. Pelletier, you talked about the wealth of bilingualism. I think that people in English Canada understand that better than we do if we look at the number of immersion schools. In Quebec, however, we seem to fear bilingualism. We continue to be insecure and fear assimilation instead of looking at the 2.4 million francophones outside Quebec as assets for promoting our language and culture.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to see my former colleague from the National Assembly of Quebec again. Mr. Pelletier, you said at the beginning that bilingualism has declined in government, and the way Act is enforced is a testament to that. As I said earlier, I am new to the committee and I am impressed by what I am seeing.

Official Languages committee  As someone said earlier, it does not seem that standing up for Ontario’s francophone minority is a priority for their government. We have mentioned accountability. You say that we must make sure that the government consults organizations. But in the tours that we have been on, representatives of minority francophone communities have all told us that they have not been consulted and that, in their provinces, they are the poor cousins in terms of education.

Official Languages committee  If I understand correctly, my colleague Mr. Godin supports his colleague Mr. Blaney, who is criticizing us for investing $1.9 million to maintain a fundamental value—

Official Languages committee  —of the country, namely, bilingualism. I want to come back to bilateral agreements. It is said that it is within these agreements that priorities are set. There is the old agreement, but I would like to know whether the Universitié de l'Ontario français is included in the new one, which you mentioned.

Official Languages committee  If I understand correctly, there was no openness on the part of the officials from the Government of Ontario when you were negotiating with them.

Official Languages committee  If I understand correctly, there was no good faith negotiation, because there was no will to pursue this project, despite the offers made by the federal government.

Official Languages committee  Okay. That's all from me, Mr. Chair.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Mrs. Roy.

Official Languages committee  Here we are in action central. Let’s talk about the relationship. In your speaking notes, you wrote: “My term began shortly after the announcement of the most recent Action Plan for Official Languages, which saw the Government of Canada increase its cooperation with all of its partners…” We have to think that that is not working with Ontario, at least when it comes to the Université de l'Ontario français.

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It has been said that the commissioner will now report to the ombudsman, whose role is to receive complaints. However, the commissioner's role was not limited to that. He promoted francophonie in Ontario. Do you agree that this aspect of his role will be lost to the detriment of Ontario's francophone minority?

Official Languages committee  In other words, the francophone community has reason for concern.