Official Languages Committee on Dec. 12th, 2006

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

If you had more original versions—

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

TFO will become an independent network in January.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Yes.

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

TFO has in fact just begun to produce téléromans with Franco-Ontarian producers and actors, and these are being shot in Franco-Ontarian settings. Some are being produced in Prescott-Russell and in Sudbury.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

That should give you a solid boost.

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

Yes indeed. Now TFO broadcasts all around the country. Its airwaves are received in several western provinces and even in some parts of Quebec.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

But—

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Unfortunately, your time is already up.

Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

For the purposes of the report, the surplus was not $16 billion, but $13.2 billion, with $2 billion coming from workers who had already lost their job. There was a $2 billion employment insurance surplus. That was simply a point of information. That was in the 1996 cuts. I can't remember which government was in power in 1996.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Certainly not the NDP.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

No, because we don't like making cuts.

Returning to official languages cuts now. Mr. Lemieux said that there had not been any cuts in this area. There were perhaps not any budget cuts in the action plan, but if cuts are made to literacy, in the communities, and to volunteers—

[Francine Brisebois]

—status of women—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

—status of women, the Court Challenges Program. Not to mention in passing that Montfort Hospital would not have won its case had it not been for this program.

We could go on. Were these not official languages cuts?

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

These are definitely cuts that had an impact on official language minority communities. For example, some organizations have responsibilities with respect to the status of women. The Court Challenges Program was used frequently. In Ontario, the program was used to oppose the provincial government, and to move a number of our causes forward, whether they had to do with French-language school boards, French-language schools, or Montfort Hospital. The fifth anniversary of the Montfort Hospital was just celebrated last week in Hearst.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Ms. Carrier-Fraser, you spoke about TFO. I would like to congratulate Ontario francophones, because they have their own radio and television stations. We receive the TFO signal where we live, but the people from TFO do not come to Caraquet to find artists. It is true that Canada will be able to see on TFO what is happening in Ontario, and that's great. I often watch that channel and find it terrific to be able to see other francophones.

Our committee has existed for 25 years now, but we had never undertaken a national tour like this one. Our trip enabled us to learn that there were francophones in every region of the country. I knew this personally, but some people apparently did not. We met truly lively communities; it was interesting.

We do not have a network in New Brunswick or in British Columbia like TFO. There is no TVA and no French-television network. It is the CBC's responsibility.

I return yet again to the CBC. I have been picking on this organization since this morning. It's as if the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had given itself the mandate of telling everyone about where France is located and indeed every other country in the world, but not to show our own country. It doesn't want to show that there are francophones everywhere in Canada and the charming things we were able to see everywhere we went. I was amazed to see everything that francophones have done.

Mr. Bourbeau, you are being very polite towards the CBC, but it is not the work of TFO, TVA or TQS. Will the CBC help you? What should the government do to play a role in the region and help culture and the arts?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

The CBC is the public broadcaster. Our public television is sick at the moment because it has over the years come to play the same role as the private networks, which is to generate funds from advertising. The end result is that the State television network depends on ratings and is thus prevented from playing its role.

Mr. Godin, the CBC needs better financing, and we need to know exactly what its role is supposed to be. In our own jargon, we call the CBC "Radio-Montréal'. That's what it shows us. We also argue that additional funds should be provided to promote enhanced regional production. Even in Alberta and New Brunswick, the CBC would do well to reflect the lives of Acadians where they live and then show this reality to the rest of Canada.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

The budget cuts at the CBC were made in previous years under the Liberal government, and even after. The Liberals deserve some credit perhaps, because they had many things to do, including reducing the deficit. You mentioned the NDP, but we have never been in power. So we can't boast about putting the country into debt to the tune of $565 billion.

[Pierre Bourbeau]

That in fact is why we were happy about the recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Finance. One of the recommendations said clearly that the CBC should receive more funds. We applaud this recommendation. We feel that if the CBC were to receive additional funding, it could then really properly play—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Would you like this mentioned in our report on official languages?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

Absolutely. I think that we could go even farther and say that it is essential from now on to clearly identify what this extra money should be used for. We need to be able to properly identify the current flaws at the CBC.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Mr. Bourbeau and Mr. Godin.

We will now end with a third round of questions. Each of you will have three minutes. We begin with Mr. Jean-Claude D'Amours.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The three minutes will go by quickly.

I'll be frank with you. I've been listening to what the government members have been saying. They seem to be trying to say that they haven't made any cuts and that they have done nothing but good things. Their behaviour reminds me think of an ostrich with its head in the sand to avoid seeing the facts around them, when in fact there were cuts of $1.1 billion not so long ago. It had a direct impact on the official language community.

Later, after we have finished with the testimony, you will be voting on a motion that I presented to ask the government to reinstate the Publications Assistance Program. That will have an impact on your communities.

Looking at the situation, we find that we also previously voted on a motion asking the government to give 5.4% of the advertising budget to community radio stations. We have not yet heard anything about this, know absolutely nothing, and the government has not moved.

All three of you talked about culture. In this connection, the community radio stations are not community radio stations, but rather radio stations run by the community.

Earlier, Ms. Brisebois, you were saying something about programming mandates. Among other things, the community radio stations have this mandate of including culture-related components in their programming, in order to provide our official language communities with tools to help them develop. However, we are not even able to obtain from the Conservative federal government the 5.4% of the advertising funds to be able to help the community radio stations provide programming as well.

At the end of the line, how can the community radio stations and your organizations fulfil their mandate if student projects and grants are cut? What are you going to use in the end?

If the government slashes and does not provide the funds needed, what will happen to your organizations in the short or medium term? Who will be there to offer community activities?

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

Our organizations are going to become threatened species because, unfortunately, funding will continue. The overall funding was increased. As for official languages in Ontario, the amount was increased by 11% last year, but the number of francophones in Ontario also increased, as did the number of organizations for meeting the needs of the communities. The amount of money for each of the organizations is therefore decreasing steadily. That is one of the reasons why many are closing their doors. There are no longer any funds to hire people. And as there is no one left to do the work, the volunteers become exhausted because they are busy in various other areas as well. Our organizations are therefore disappearing, and the programs and the cultural activities no longer exist. Representation to the governments about various issues are becoming increasingly limited, because there is no one left to do the job. So it becomes—

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

The government doesn't want you to make representations—

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Unfortunately, Mr. D'Amours, your three minutes are already up.

I will ask Ms. Barbot to ask a question now.