Official Languages committee  You have to accept that people get recognition. I don't think we're talking about funding right now.

Official Languages committee  If I may, I'm going to talk about Manitoba. We're from the same province, Ms. Ashton. French is indeed declining. If we don't all work together, the French language will continue to decline. Take Manitoba, for example. The organization Pluri-elles opened 10 literacy centres throughout Manitoba.

Official Languages committee  Yes, I support them.

Official Languages committee  Yes, absolutely. I just gave an example about the federal government transferring funds to the provinces. The education people negotiate with the provinces and the federal government, but the other groups don't, to my knowledge. We certainly support including well-defined language clauses in the modernized act.

Official Languages committee  I'm not sure I understood the question. My device didn't work.

Official Languages committee  I wanted to say earlier that this is part of the work that RESDAC does. However, RESDAC is going to work with its education partners to do compliant assessments. Indeed, we want to make sure that our evaluations of the knowledge acquired by these people during non-formal and informal training are good.

Official Languages committee  I absolutely agree with that. You have to work with the employers, because they're the ones who hire people. In Manitoba, as well as across Canada, no one is doing prior learning assessment. We see doctors, pediatricians, dentists, and other people with great skills, which are not, however, recognized by professional bodies.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Drouin, if the Government of Canada recognized both informal and formal training, we would all benefit, whether it's your constituents, my children, my grandchildren, or citizens across Canada. There are credentials for formal training, but now we need to ensure that non-formal and informal training opens up opportunities.

Official Languages committee  No, I was saying that the skills of people who take training courses are not recognized. However, literacy trainers are often retired teachers. They help us give literacy courses. This includes digital and technological literacy, and so on. They are good trainers. One of our partners in Ontario is setting up a program with a university to provide courses for literacy trainers and some prior learning assessment.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Desgagné, I would ask for your help to answer that question.

Official Languages committee  It is certain that the Réseau has done some work and has come up with something that is really well thought out. We're going to have to develop ways of thinking, as well as tools for evaluating skills that can be discovered in non-formal and informal training, such as reading. Certainly, the Réseau will set up evaluations, for which the centre of expertise that we want to establish will be responsible.

Official Languages committee  When we talk about learning from early childhood to post-secondary education, we always forget about non-formal and informal training, which nevertheless helps complete the education continuum. We are part of the Table nationale sur l'éducation with various partners, such as the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne and various organizations representing schools and universities.

Official Languages committee  Are you talking about positive measures?

Official Languages committee  It'll be a pleasure. Formal education refers to universities, including the new university in Ontario. The issue we're hoping emphasize in these proceedings is that of non-formal or informal learning, which involves the skills and abilities acquired in settings other than colleges and universities.

Official Languages committee  We understand that there are agreements with the provinces and territories. I believe there should be language clauses that would allow each province and territory to interact with its francophone communities and determine their specific needs. That isn't happening at the current time, so I think we should take closer look at these language clauses.