Yes, one of the things that we did say in the report is that during the first year we were trying to figure out what our role was, too, and I think everybody was. We still are. I mean, it's still not perfectly crystal clear, and part of that is because of the legislation which leaves so many grey areas that it's difficult to know where my authority leads me, but I did say in the report that we had dealt with a lot of things that were probably not within our jurisdiction. During the first year, we did that to encourage people to start contacting the office but then we started to refer them to departments. If the department was responsible, we would say we won't handle this. You go to the department. If you can't resolve it, then you can come back to us, and more and more we are doing that now, telling people you go to the department to resolve it.

In that first year that this report covers, we opened 187 files. Those were people that were calling every day for information or with complaints and it does lead us all over the map. We had to examine every single one of those complaints or enquiries to decide whether or not: number one, it was within my jurisdiction; number two, whether it did relate to the status and use of official languages; number three, whether or not there was any violation of the Official Languages Act or any other act or regulation relating to the status and use of official languages, because I have jurisdiction over those, too. That one led us into the Education Act, the Jury Act, the Mental Health Act, the Summary Conviction Procedures Act, and many other acts that relate to the status and use of official languages. That is my mandate. It is in the act, and it has been a Pandora's box, to say, for interpretation purposes, it has led us into a huge mess, a huge area where even in my first year, it wasn't clear. We had to spend a lot of time defining exactly what our jurisdiction was in the office.

It is true. I think in the first year we were not focused. We were trying to find out all the programs and services that are out there, are the problems and what groups exist and what they are doing. It was an information year for us. You have to realize when I walked into this position, I didn't even have a pencil. We had to establish the whole office with furniture and computers, hiring and job descriptions, budget planning and all those kinds of things, as well as handle all of these complaints and enquiries on a daily basis. So, in the first year, it was a big process of discovery, and we wanted to encourage people to contact the office and they did. Without a major publicity campaign in the first year, we opened 187 files.

When people call, we have to take every enquiry or complaint seriously and really look into it. There were a number of them that on the surface I thought, this is nothing, it's not within my jurisdiction or it doesn't really relate to the Official Languages Act, and when we researched it further we found out that it did or that it related to one of these other acts or regulations regarding the status and use of official languages. So, perhaps in the first year that is why we didn't seem to be too focused. Maybe that explains part of it.

I think another part of it, too, is that I was on my own. I didn't have directions, so it really was a year of trying it out for myself and in that first year I didn't meet with any of the MLAs other than a few of them. I sent letters to everybody and asked for input. I met with a few. I didn't have a committee to ask direction from, so I think if there is some lack of direction, part of it, too, is that it's not really clear to me through the act exactly what is expected of the position. That is how I would explain it.