Official Languages Committee on Oct. 1st, 2009

[Suzanne Bossé]

Verbal.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

This is verbal information to the effect that they did not want to inform you.

[Suzanne Bossé]

They are no longer allowed to tell us the stage the application has reached in the process.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Therefore, they can no longer tell you.

[Marie-France Kenny]

Allow me to give you an answer, because I went through that assessment exercise in Saskatchewan, when I was president. As soon as the community association makes its recommendations—usually in February—it is sent to the Department of Canadian Heritage, and that is where we lose track of it. Our local officials will give us some feedback on the substance of the questions and so on, but following that we lose track of it.

However, I can state that in Saskatchewan, the recommendations are made as of February.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Petit.

Mr. D'Amours.

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

Mr. Chairman, I tabled a motion that is directly related to the subject we are studying today. Even though I do not require unanimous consent, I hope to obtain the support of all members of the committee. I will read it to you, it is quite straightforward:

That the Committee ask the Chair to write to Canadian Heritage requesting the total amount of funding that had to be repaid to the Department by organizations that did not use the funding for various reasons, including the Department's delays in approving the funding, for the years ending on March 31, 2008 and on March 31, 2009.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I thank you, Mr. D'Amours. Your motion is in order as it deals with the subject we are studying.

Also, as soon as we have finished with our witnesses, we will be able to let them go so that we can hear comments on this motion. First of all, I would like to finish hearing from the witnesses.

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

Do you object to our dealing with it?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

No, but if there are other questions for our witnesses, I would like to proceed with that immediately. If not, I will thank them for their appearance.

Are there any further questions for the witnesses?

Ms. Zarac.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

On a point of order. Could we get a copy of the survey that was done?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will check with Ms. Kenny.

[Marie-France Kenny]

Yes, absolutely.

Other studies had been tabled on this issue by various organizations, the provincial and territorial critics. They dealt with working conditions, but they also contained information on interests and on the cumbersome administration, that is to say the cost of managing the agreement.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You could send it to the attention of the clerk, who will have it translated and distributed to the members of the committee.

[Marie-France Kenny]

That's wonderful.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Are there any other points related to the presence of our witnesses?

Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I want to ensure that what Ms. Zarac has just asked for is material that might be useful for the report.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Yes.

I would like to thank you. This was most enlightening. This meeting has made us aware not only of various problems, but also various solutions that you have proposed. We will continue our work in this regard over the next weeks, particularly with people from the Department of Canadian Heritage. I thank you for having come this morning, which allows us to focus our work and the report that we will eventually draft on this issue.

We now come back to Mr. D'Amours's motion.

Mr. D'Amours.

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

Mr. Chairman, the motion that I tabled deals directly with what we are studying. You have a copy in English and in French.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I will reread it, and following that I will hear your observations.

That the Committee ask the Chair to write to Canadian Heritage requesting the total amount of funding that had to be repaid to the Department by organizations that did not use the funding for various reasons, including the Department's delays in approving the funding, for the years ending on March 31, 2008, and on March 31, 2009.

We shall now proceed with questions and comments on Mr. D'Amours's motion.

Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I am fine, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I would just like some clarification from the mover of the motion.

Does the motion as tabled cover one year? In any case, in truth, we understand why we are trying to work on this. Does it cover one year or two?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It concerns two fiscal years.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. D'Amours, did the repayment of contributions exist before or does it only apply to those years?