Mr. Speaker, when I first became Premier, I was very concerned about the lapses that were taking place and why they were taking place. Given the importance of languages -- to the aboriginal people particularly -- and we have expressed in discussions in this Legislative
Assembly, there was a need to address how we are going to operate efficiently and ensure that the expenditures, and the planning for these expenditures, take place in an organized fashion so we would not have lapses.
Because the general organization really didn't focus on who was responsible to make sure these expenditures and planning took place adequately, the official languages unit was set up with the seven people you indicated. It was set up, specifically, to monitor the agreement, to make sure we lived up to the commitment and that departments had as much support as possible so that the funds, and the way to spend funds, were monitored and followed through.
I can't tell you whether the individual has been hired. But, from the reporting we have put in place, it appears that this year we will not be lapsing dollars. I feel it was a great concern that we had money and we were not spending it. We took the action to establish the official languages unit, to make sure that we planned with respect to what the agreement says and to make sure that we didn't have to wait until close to the end of the year to find out whether the dollars were spent or not.
It appears to be working. The system seems to be bringing in results and monitoring so that if there are lapses in a certain area we can notify other areas so that funding can perhaps be moved around, rather than waiting until the last minute. Thank you.