Official Languages committee  No, we wanted our amendments to be foundational and systemic and to cut across the federal government. That's why we chose those six amendments. We selected amendments that would enable real change so we wouldn't wind up in the same situations we've found ourselves in since the p

Official Languages committee  The mandate letters were one of many factors we considered in the research we conducted so we could propose wording that conveyed what we expected from the bill.

Official Languages committee  It's obviously important for the whole country to have a strong French presence in Quebec. We want the French language to be a real presence in our communities and for that presence to generate all types of opportunities for exchanges, closer relations and so on. Consequently, i

Official Languages committee  Yes. Our goal isn't to create publications that aren't constitutional. We want the federal government, when negotiating agreements to transfer funding to the provinces and territories, to be required to consider the challenges facing francophone minorities. We understand why the

Official Languages committee  We and our lawyers have examined all the functions of each of those central agencies. On pages 3 to 7 of our brief, we explain why we think this should be the role of the Treasury Board. We think it's very important to have this central agency, which already has this mandate for

Official Languages committee  Following all the consultations we've conducted of our members over the last five years…

Official Languages committee  First, we consulted all the parties as well as our members; we referred to the model bill we had proposed and to all the studies we had conducted in the context of the meetings of the standing committees on official languages of the House of Commons and the Senate. However, since

Official Languages committee  As we said, I think we can try. We've made some proposals in our brief, and we've also proposed alternatives. For example, if language clauses aren't accepted, we can propose another solution whereby the federal government could address the communities directly on matters of conc

Official Languages committee  That's very important for us. Anything that promotes bilingualism and the French language in Canada is important for us. We will support all measures that do so. Of course, our priorities focus less on that aspect, since it's important for us to have foundational and systemic mea

Official Languages committee  Yes, we would.

Official Languages committee  What's important for immigration is that it help to restore and increase the demographic weight of francophones. If we implement a policy on francophone immigration, it must be done to restore and increase the demographic weight of the francophone community. Mr. Dupuis has all t

Official Languages committee  We also want those powers to extend to part VII of the act. Perhaps we can show you clearly what's on page 20 brief. Do you want to discuss that, Mr. Dupuis?

Official Languages committee  I'll be brief, Mr. Chair. As I said in my opening statement, it's important for us that a central agency be responsible for the entire act and ensure coordination and implementation of the act as well as accountability. That's why we think the Treasury Board is in the best posit

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question. We consider language clauses very important. They are one of the six priorities we've presented to you. First and foremost, they enable the federal government to agree with the provinces and territories on ways to support their linguistic minorities.

Official Languages committee  As we recommend, we have to have a holistic francophone immigration policy and to look at everything that can be done in this area.