Official Languages Committee on May 6th, 2010

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Yes. I'd like to talk about the committee with which you're doing business on immigration to the Acadian and French Canadian communities.

Mr. Linklater, you're a member of that committee. What are that committee's priorities for Saskatchewan?

[Les Linklater]

Mr. Chairman, the committee on which the provinces sit has general priorities. There are 12 priorities. I can give you—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I'm talking about Saskatchewan. I know it's very different from one province to the next.

[Les Linklater]

We work in partnership with the provinces. We requested the suggestions of all the partners before establishing our list. With regard to the priorities of the Government of Saskatchewan, for example—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I'm not talking about the Government of Saskatchewan, but rather about the communities.

[Yves Saint-Germain]

I believe that, among the 12 priorities... I can't comment specifically on the communities themselves.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Is there a province whose specific demands you can mention to us? Since each province has a representative and an institution—whether it be in Ontario, New Brunswick or the territories—can you cite an example of a province where, in the field, needs have been expressed and things have been done since the last meeting?

[Yves Saint-Germain]

In general, the steering committee sets national priorities. Currently, we're working on—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I understand that. What I want to know is whether you are in the field or whether you have relations with those who are working in the field.

For example, in the bilingual corridor that runs from Moncton to Sault Ste. Marie, certain universities and colleges, whether it be the Collège universitaire de Hearst, Guelph University-Alfred Campus in eastern Ontario, the Collège Boréal or the University of Sudbury, aren't partners for the purpose of taking in new foreign students. The University of Ottawa is also located in that corridor, if we're talking about Ontario.

Could you give us an example of the priorities of that province, Ontario, where the largest number of francophones outside Quebec are located? What are the priorities? I'm asking you that in order to assess your knowledge of needs in the field.

[Yves Saint-Germain]

Here's how that works in Ontario: we have Réseaux de concertation sur l'immigration francophone, which are responsible for coordinating community efforts and identifying needs. So, together, we study needs, language training—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

What are Ontario's needs?

[Yves Saint-Germain]

Ontario's needs concern the increase in numbers, in general, the percentage retention in the small communities. We have three networks: the East network, the Centre-Southwest network and—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Let's talk about the East network.

[Yves Saint-Germain]

In the East, that's essentially the Ottawa network. As you saw based on the Statistics Canada study, the numbers are increasing a lot. Language training is the main demand in the East network.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

In the North, that is to say the region where my friend Mr. Gravelle comes from, what are the demands?

[Yves Saint-Germain]

In Sudbury, I don't believe I have that information.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

New Brunswick—

[Les Linklater]

I can check and answer you later.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

That would be important because that's the purpose of the exercise. This is one of the major problems. I know that Mr. Greenshields and Mr. Tachdjian will check to see what the situation is in that regard. In our report, we want to respond to the communities and be able to tell them what we can do to help them.

There are always the general objectives in the overall picture, but we never learn what's important for the communities. I saw in Mr. Greenshields' document—incidentally, you don't say “service franseskois”, but rather “service fransaskois”—that there is an adult training service in Saskatchewan. According to the list, it isn't a participating institution, but it nevertheless handles adult training. So training isn't a priority for the community. You say it's one of your main goals. In the community where the assimilation rate is appalling, this institution isn't one of your partners.

[Chris Greenshields]

We work with the institutions. We start with associations like the Association des universités de la francophonie canadienne or the Fédération des cégeps, but we also work closely with institutions on an individual basis. Every institution has its international strategy. For a fransaskois organization, for example, the emphasis is on training the francophone citizens of their province. The goal isn't necessarily to attract francophone immigrants because this is an internal program that isn't necessarily aimed at foreign students.

The presence of foreign students who have to pay high tuition fees brings additional resources that make it possible to offer programs in French, which increases the number of foreign students.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Nadeau.

That completes our third round.

Mr. Bélanger said he intended to ask other questions.

Mr. Nadeau, you would like to speak as well.

First of all, Mr. Linklater, you said during your address that your objective was to have the percentage of francophone immigrants who settle in the anglophone majority provinces correspond to the percentage francophone population outside Quebec, that is to say 4.4%. You have an intermediate target of 1.8% by 2013.

Isn't that a somewhat modest objective, since there is still a statistical lag?

[Les Linklater]

In our work and consultations with the communities, representatives and networks, we determined that a lot of work remained to be done, even though we've accomplished a lot in five years. I therefore believe that the percentage of francophone immigrants who settled outside Quebec last year was approximately 1%. To reach the target 4.4%, a considerable effort will have to be made to ensure there are networks in our communities that can take in people and retain them, which means that employers and the NGOs must be engaged to ensure that we can create conditions conducive to attraction and retention.

I believe it is more realistic to change our objectives for the intermediate phase. It will take a lot of time and energy to work in partnership with other organizations and representatives to ensure that we create the necessary conditions to attract and retain people in the minority communities.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

I can only encourage you to revise those realistic objectives upward.

Mr. Bélanger, go ahead, please.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Linklater, I'm pleased to learn that, when I call you to make an appointment, you'll meet with us. So I'm warning you that I'm going to do it and here's what I would like to discuss. I'm doing this in an entirely transparent manner.

I'd like to know what resources it would take to achieve 5% francophone immigration outside Quebec in 2017, on the 150th anniversary of this country.

I think this rate of 1.8% by 2013 is a problem. It isn't even one-half of the current demographic weight. If we wait until 2023 to reach that demographic weight, we'll have weakened—relatively speaking—the francophone community outside Quebec. I'm astounded to learn that we're accepting that.

Mr. Greenshields, who is the champion at Foreign Affairs?

[Chris Greenshields]

It's Mr. Gérald Cossette.