Official Languages Committee on June 1st, 2010

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

We haven't fought; we're going to do that afterwards.

[Some voices]

Oh, oh!

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

Based on my personal conviction—I'm not necessarily speaking for all my colleagues—I find it deplorable that the image that people have of the Parliament of Canada is limited to the oral question period. I think that's the worst example we can offer of the people who work for the welfare of their fellow citizens.

What you've seen today is what I often experience in Parliament. It's not like the oral question period. We do a job in which we listen to people, we ask questions in an attempt to gain a clear understanding, in order to make recommendations that might improve the living conditions of our fellow citizens.

Thank you for being attentive and for seeing another example of people who, even though they have different opinions on the essential aspects of things, can work together for everyone's greater well-being.

Thank you.

[Some voices]

Bravo!

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You never know, Mr. Bélanger, perhaps your successor is in this room today.

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

I would ask that person to be patient.

[Some voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Now we'll go to Mr. Godin.

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

In this spirit of cooperation, one of the members didn't have a chance to ask a question. I'd like to let Mr. Généreux speak on my time.

I'm very generous, Mr. Généreux.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Go ahead.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I thank Mr. Godin. This is really very kind of him.

I noticed some very interesting little things this morning. The first is that the richest person in this room is Andrea. She probably doesn't know it, but the fact that she is trilingual is an absolutely incredible asset.

I invite her to continue her efforts to learn English and French. You already speak very good French; I haven't heard you in English, but I suppose it's comparable since you speak English with everyone in the halls.

[Some voices]

Oh, oh!

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I invite you to continue your effort and I invite the others to do so as well. This is really an example, and it's extraordinarily important. You don't realize it at your age, but you do as you get older, like us. At some point, you approach your past due date.

It's important that you understand that languages are Canada's greatest source of wealth. You're no doubt proud of your language, and you, Cédric and Kelly, showed that this morning. You are proud to be francophones in Canada, and I beg you to continue being proud of your language because you have no reason to envy anyone. You should be extremely proud of who you are and what you have. I'm not just speaking to you, but to all the others who are here today as well. You have a love for your language, and it shows. You're here at no one else's expense; you are here because you are who you are, and you're right to be that and to continue to be so.

I definitely have confidence in the youth of today. Obviously, with all the technological means that we have, iPods, cellular telephones, BlackBerries... Kelly, if you sent me an e-mail, I probably wouldn't understand what was written because that's a fourth language. In fact, my daughter sends me e-mails and I don't always understand what she says.

I'd like to ask the young people a question, but I know I don't have much time I have left. Ms. Lanteigne, I'd like you to go back over what you said in your recommendations. The first one is that the Canadian public should be educated about immigration. That's also related to what Mr. Apollinaire—I'm going to call you that too—said, that, in Canada, to be sure we properly integrate the people who come here, we must make sure they have the best possible education. Education happens at all levels. When facing the unknown, we often find it hard to have confidence, so I believe that confidence in each other is the main and most important thing. In your opinion, which of the few recommendations you've made is the most important, the one that should be implemented as soon as possible?

I'm going to stop talking and leave the floor to you because others haven't had the time to speak. I'd like to close by inviting you, Ms. Lanteigne, to forward the specific details of your recommendations to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration in writing. There are some very interesting points there.

I leave the floor to you.

[Francine Lanteigne]

Thank you, sir; it's a pleasure to hear that. This is the result of years of work. I was supported by my bosses and put a lot of time into it.

There's one recommendation that we can't rule out—my family has been saying it for too long—and that's the recommendation that the public should be educated. I'm not saying that in a pejorative manner. I feel like saying “the Canadian people”, but I would say that, as Canadian citizens, we are living in the media era, and I could see the media distributing the entire series of recommendations. I spend my time saying I would like to hire a journalist to cover such and such a subject, but I can't do that. There are journalists here at the school. My principal very strongly suggested this project to me; so a series of articles has been published. There should be a forum. We shouldn't be forced to search for information; it would be “in your face”, if you'll pardon the expression.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Ms. Lanteigne, pardon me, but it is my unpleasant duty to interrupt you. I invite you to forward your thoughts in writing not only to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, but also to our committee, at the e-mail address that was given to you. The time allotted to us is now up.

This ends the meeting. I want to thank you. I believe this meeting may well go down in the annals of the Collège catholique Samuel-Genest, and in the history of our committee as well.

We're going to adjourn the meeting, and then I invite members, witnesses, the clerk and the analyst for an official photograph to immortalize this meeting.

Thank you very much, and bravo, everyone.

The meeting is adjourned.