Official Languages Committee on April 3rd, 2008

[Régis St-Pierre]

Essentially, they were assimilated. Why were they assimilated? That is a good question.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I don't know, because I am not familiar with the history of the Yukon. Today, you say that it is easier to get by in French. If you compare yourselves to the anglophone community in Quebec, do you have the same advantages that it does? How do you perceive that?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Honestly, I don't engage in comparisons. My children were born in the Yukon. The francophone population in the Yukon has doubled. More and more people are maintaining their language and culture and flourishing. Our community is so unique that I could not even compare it with the Acadian population in the Maritimes. I won't allow myself to be drawn into a comparison with an anglophone population, because it is too far removed from my world, from my reality.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You said there was a big school for children who speak French. That means that the people who want to preserve their language and attend that school may travel far distances. They need a means of transportation to get to the school. They cannot receive services in French in their part of the country, in their towns.

[Régis St-Pierre]

There is only one such school in the Yukon Territory, and it is located in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Fortunately, most of the francophones live in the capital, and most anglophones... Whitehorse and its surrounding area encompasses 85% of the total population of the Yukon. The population of the city is approximately 23,000 people. The second largest city has a population of 1,600 people.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

We hear from many people from francophone communities in Canada. They often mention to the Court Challenges Program which was abolished. Did you need that program in the Yukon?

[Régis St-Pierre]

We did use the program in the past. Presently, we are using it by scraping the bottom of the barrel, and we would use it in the future. It is an essential program for francophone communities. The program has been successful and has helped us. We did not go to court. Why? Because people, advocates, pioneers in the Maritimes, in Ontario and in the west did the work for us. All of the francophones won their cases in court. None were lost.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

So it was an important program.

[Régis St-Pierre]

It is an essential program. It is more than important, it is essential.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Very well.

You have an agreement with the federal government. Earlier, you said that the federal government was your best partner for preserving and promoting the French language.

Does the Government of the Yukon cooperate? Is there cooperation between the Government of the Yukon, the federal government and your communities?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes. I said that it was one of the most important partners. The federal government has bipartite agreements, including two major ones.

The first is the Yukon Languages Act, with the languages being French, English and the aboriginal languages. This act was adopted in 1988 and has the federal government financing 100% of the cost of developing services in French in the Yukon. So it is an essential partner in that sense. The act is reviewed every five years under a community, federal and territorial mechanism.

The other type of bipartite agreement deals with bilateral agreements on education. Here again, the federal government plays an essential role by allocating funding for the development of educational programs in French in the Yukon, including French as a second language, French immersion, and French as a first language for the francophone school in the Yukon.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Earlier, you said it was an essential partner. What would you like to improve in that agreement or in the programs that the federal government offers in the Yukon?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Many things are working. It would be even better if the agreements were more flexible, if there was less bureaucracy and a little more understanding. The AFY signed its first agreement in 1983, and sometimes we feel like we are being treated as if we were still on our first agreement. When you negotiate with a banker for 30 years, normally he does not make you constantly sign the same papers: he has a sample of your signature, the files, and so on. Sometimes we fill out form after form for the reports.

I think there is a formal commitment by the federal government to its communities that is not in question. On the contrary, we are flourishing. Therefore, this message could be more apparent in the procedures. When 26 agreements have been signed with a key partner, it seems to me that there could be a little less paperwork and a little more acknowledgement. The financial means are often the sinews of war.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. St-Pierre and Mr. Gravel.

We will now continue with Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Welcome, Mr. St-Pierre and Ms. Bourque. It is a great pleasure to welcome you to our committee and to hear positive things. It is interesting to see how things could be improved.

You said you met Mr. Lord during his national tour. Where did you meet him?

[Régis St-Pierre]

We met him in Vancouver and we invited him to come to the Yukon next time. He was very receptive. We were told that during the pan-Canadian tour, there would be a visit to the north. The north makes up half of the territory of Canada. We were very happy to have been invited to Vancouver.

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

When you went to Vancouver, you were not the only group.

[Régis St-Pierre]

There were three people from the Yukon and approximately 25 from British Columbia.

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

In these groups, were there any people who talked about court challenges?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes. Someone mentioned that it was a mechanism that had been used in the past and that had yielded meaningful results.

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

When you examine the agreements and realize what is expected of organizations, it is rather... I want you to correct me if this is not the case in the Yukon. You said that you were tired of seeing everything gone over with a fine-tooth comb after 30 years of cooperation. In your view, since everything has gone well, there should be some confidence. You were not being criticized for having done something wrong. You are going in the right direction.

Are the agreements signed on time? Are you forced to wait? Some groups have told us, for example, that their new agreement was to begin on April 1, but they had still not received anything in May, and that they were forced to take out a line of credit to continue their programs.

Do you have the same problems in the Yukon?

[Régis St-Pierre]

We face similar challenges. For example, it is difficult to explain why these multi-year agreements are often received and signed during the summer.

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

Explain it all to me. I want to understand. You talk about the summer. How much time goes by, when an agreement expires, before it is renewed? Approximately how many weeks or months does it take?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Normally, we receive the signed agreements in our offices five months later.

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

If all is going well and you can survive five months without money, that means that you are rich.