Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am not sure where Mr. Picco got his information from, but there have been no layoff notices issued. The employees have been advised of the proposal which, under reorganization, would see a number of layoffs. They have been advised that no decision has been made on the whole restructuring and, as I said, there is a three PY reduction as part of the budget, but there has been no indication that was going to mean layoffs in Iqaluit. Those are three positions that would have to be reduced within the Language Bureau if the Language Bureau, in its same format and doing the same sorts of functions that it is right now, would somehow have to reduce by three PYs in order to live within the amount of dollars that we have in the 1997-98 budget in comparison to what was in 1996-97.

In terms of what the Language Bureau does, it is also responsible for language promotion, for some limited support of language development and for developing of certification programs. Those would probably be the major functions other than interpreting and translating. As I said, Mr. Chairman, the consultation process that was undertaken over the past couple of years, starting with recommendations from the previous Language Commissioner, led us to believe that language development, language promotion and ensuring the vibrancy of languages would be better left in the hands of the language communities. Here I am using community, not meaning a municipality, but as a group of people who speak the language as a first language. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.