Official Languages Committee on Feb. 7th, 2011

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

[Inaudible--Editor]

[Dr. Harvey Brooks]

Yes.

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

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Then it's as good as in my home neighbourhood.

We are now coming to the conclusion of this first meeting. I would like to thank you for this massive delegation of representatives of the Government of Yukon. We are glad you were able to give us a profile of the services you are providing and your efforts in the development of linguistic duality.

I was pleased to know, Ms. Hine, that almost half of the students of the Yukon are somehow learning French, added to those who are specifically in a French program. That's very interesting.

Once again, thank you. The members will be pleased if you have any more information you are willing to forward.

Thank you very much.

[Some voices]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We'll continue our meeting.

I simply want to inform committee members that a francophone representative of the Franco-Yukonnais newspaper, L'Aurore boréale, is with us. She has requested permission to take a few pictures during our proceedings. If committee members agree, I will let her show us in our best light.

Before introducing the following witnesses, Mr. St-Pierre reminded me during the break that my grandmother's father, Émel Decaut, came from Yukon. He apparently brought back a few gold nuggets since, when he returned to his village of Saint-Patrice, he was able to buy a sawmill and secure his children's prosperity. I am here to attest to that fact. So there was a gold rush, and today it's a rush to promote linguistic duality.

To do that, we have the president of the Association franco-yukonnaise, Angélique Bernard. Thank you for being with us, Ms. Bernard. She is accompanied by Ms. St-Pierre, the co-executive director, who reminded me that she had testified before our committee in Ottawa. This time, we have come to meet you. We also have Roch Nadon, director of culture and youth. Welcome, everyone.

Without further ado, I invite you to give your opening address.

[Angélique Bernard, President, Association franco-yukonnaise]

Mr. Chairman, committee members, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Yukon. It's an honour and privilege to have you among us. On behalf of the AFY, thank you for your invitation. I am accompanied by Régis St-Pierre and Roch Nadon.

More than 100 years ago, in 1899, Paul Dumais surveyed the first site of Whitehorse on the east bank of the Yukon River. In 1900, Alexandre Prud'homme became the first Conservative member elected in Yukon.

In 1983, the AFY received an initial grant of $5,170 from the Department of Canadian Heritage, or the Secretary of State as it was called at the time, and created its first community development tools. Teachers and member parents of the AFY requested the support of the school committees of the eight Whitehorse schools to establish a French framework program in Whitehorse. Four committees responded positively. A survey revealed that 67 students were eligible to register in French. The AFY asked the department of education to establish the French framework program. Today, more than 180 students are registered at the École Émilie-Tremblay, the only French-language school in Yukon.

L'Aurore boréale, a bi-monthly paper intended for francophones and francophiles, focuses not only on francophone news, but also on government affairs and northern issues. The French section of the municipal library was officially opened by the minister of education in November 1983, long before Yukon's Languages Act. In 1992, after 12 years of demands, the community finally received Radio-Canada's French signal from Montreal at no cost. Since 1997, the community has been receiving CBUF-FM from Vancouver. Even today, the AFY is Radio-Canada's rebroadcaster.

Today, our population is growing and our community structures have proven themselves. With regard to adequately meeting our needs, the ball is now in the governments' court. For example, the federal government, through bilateral agreements on French-language services for the Franco-Yukonnais minority, funds the costs associated with implementation of the Yukon government's French-language services. The purpose of that agreement, it should not be forgotten, is to meet the needs of French-speaking Yukoners. We believe this funding creates a fiduciary obligation between the Yukon government and the Franco-Yukonnais community.

The federal government also has an obligation to ensure this agreement complies with the spirit and letter of Yukon's Languages Act. It is essential that the Canadian government perform a direct audit and consultation function with the francophone communities in our territory. It is also important to support francophone population growth to ensure our community's survival. It is fundamentally important that the federal system understand our situation. For example, why are the services provided in Yukon to immigrants by service providers who have signed contracts with the federal government in English only? Why does the RCMP, which is required to provide services in French, communicate in English only with the population of Yukon in its press releases?

Community development cannot be carried out without developing solid institutions, which requires a genuine partnership between the community and the government. The Supreme Court of Canada issued a clear decision in the Desrochers case. It held that government programs must be established based on the priorities and needs of the official language communities. A genuine partnership for genuine equality is what we consider a modern way to view the matter.

In closing, let us never forget that the Canadian north is above all, far beyond the mineral treasures in the ground and all the speeches on climate change, a place where part of Canada's population reflects Canada's reality. The greatest source of northern wealth will always be its people, its population, including the francophone population.

Once again, thank you. We are now prepared to answer your questions in order to continue our constructive dialogue with the federal government.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you for that opening address, Ms. Bernard.

Mr. Nadon, you also have a presentation to make.

[Roch Nadon, Director, Cultural and Youth, Association franco-yukonnaise]

As Ms. Bernard said before me, thank you for having us.

My presentation will focus essentially on the theme of arts and culture, which is related to your second study question on how Canada's Roadmap for Linguistic Duality 2008-2013 is being implemented in the northern communities.

In the Roadmap, culture is identified as one of the priority sectors. We very much appreciate that. The fact that the arts and culture sector is recognized as one of the priority sectors is very significant for the some 200 arts and culture organizations and stakeholders across the country.

Through its cultural sector, the Association franco-yukonnaise is the main francophone cultural stakeholder in Yukon. As a result of the Roadmap, the arts and culture sector has received investments of $14 million under the Cultural Development Fund, $4.5 million under the Music Showcases for Artists from Official Language Minority Communities and $5 million under the National Translation Program for Book Publishing. In short, there has been a total investment of $23.5 million, which represents a slim 2.35% of the total value of investments under the Roadmap.

This clearly cannot provide adequate long-term support for structural cultural action that will promote the vitality and sustainable development of the francophone and Acadian communities in Canada.

As a result of our profile, the cultural sector of the Association franco-yukonnaise has only been able to apply for the first round of funding under the Cultural Development Fund because the fund provides more support for new, non-recurring projects that do not support long-term consolidation efforts.

Our project, the purpose of which was to develop the artistic component of our actions in the field, was accepted during the first round, as I mentioned. Action taken included assisting artists in their artistic and professional development and disseminating the cultural and artistic product.

Unfortunately, our project was rejected in the second round. Disillusioned by the process, we submitted no projects for the third round. We believe our project was intrinsically linked to the sustainable development of our community.

Artists and crafts people are culture purveyors for a community. They instill energy and vitality in sharing their passion for language and culture. They are the players who shape the cultural identity of a group, a community and a country.

Yukon's French-language community is young and growing. It needs to be fed in order to remain vibrant. Arts and culture are essential food to ensure its full development and that it achieves its full potential. In other words, the artistic and cultural development sectors need increased funding for the operation of established structures in order to anchor those structures so they can develop and fully serve the communities. However, new structural projects must not be overlooked; they should receive adequate operating grants to ensure their development.

I will take the liberty of making a few recommendations.

We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage ensure that the next version of the action plan for official languages or any subsequent initiative includes a strategy and funding to meet the needs and priorities of the arts and culture sector in the anglophone and francophone minority communities.

We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage, in cooperation with the federal institutions operating in the arts and culture sector, ensure that minority francophone communities have access to adequate human and financial resources to support the development and to promote the vitality of arts and culture in their region. In particular, they could support the development of infrastructure—a cultural centre, for example—cultural facilitation in the schools, artist training and professionalization, the use of new technologies and networking.

We recommend that the Department of Canadian Heritage review the funding process for the Cooperation with Community Sectors subcomponent of the Development of Official Language Communities Program and that it grant the communities multi-year funding over a period of five years. The department must support the development of structural projects that can mobilize the community, simplify the funding process for small-scale projects and reduce waiting times for the processing of grant applications.

Lastly, here is the last recommendation.

That the Department of Canadian Heritage, in cooperation with community organizations, in particular the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française and the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, of which the Association franco-yukonnaise is a member, the federal institutions operating in the arts and culture sector and the provincial, territorial and municipal orders of government, develop a long-term vision of support for arts and culture in the francophone minority communities that specifically reflects the situations of the francophone communities, the role that those communities can play in cultural promotion and diversity and in intercultural dialogue in the country, the needs of first- and second-generation francophone immigrants, the needs of every province and territory, the needs of the young generations and the use of new technologies.

I would like to finish my presentation by saying that a language is much more than a means of communication. It is a way to access a culture and, at the same time, the expression of a sensibility, of one way of being with others, an original vision of the world. This fundamental link between language and culture has been underscored by many major Canadian thinkers such as Will Kymlicka and Northrop Frye. The clearest statement is perhaps that of Yolande Grisé, former Chair of the Ontario Arts Council, who said: "There can be no language without culture, just as there can be no culture without artists. The words of a language are merely the abstraction of all that constitutes culture."

Taken as a whole, language is a container, the overall form and channel of culture. In its specific usages, speech is only one of the contents of culture. Arts and culture provide people with the tools to go beyond the utilitarian functions of language, which enables them to attach themselves to their cultural roots, which are the basis of language. Artists and cultural workers help build a dynamic, living and inspirational francophone cultural sector which is necessary to the survival and long-term vitality of Canada's francophone and Acadian communities.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, the economic footprint of the cultural sector in 2007 was estimated at $84.6 billion, which represents approximately 7.4% of Canada's gross domestic product. This includes all direct and indirect impacts. Again, for 2007, the Conference Board estimated that the cultural sector generated more than 1.1 million jobs in Canada.

Lastly, according to the 24th report in the Arts Research Monitor series by Hill Strategies Research Inc., performing arts organizations in Canada generate $2.70 in income for every dollar received from governments. These are definitely factors that should not be neglected in the current economic context. The real beneficiaries of investment in culture are the communities. Culture has a direct economic multiplier effect of 8.5. Public sector funding is the incentive that stimulates the private sector. In the past five years, essential public sector support has stimulated growth in private financing, which is now twice the size of public funding.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Nadon.

We'll now hand over to committee members.

Mr. Bélanger.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks to the representatives of AFY and the community for being with us. You have seen how we operate in committee. Time is limited and I believe that prevents us from addressing certain issues in an appropriate and more in-depth manner. So we have to get right to the point, which I'm going to do now.

In your opinion, is it time for Canada's Official Languages Act to apply to the territories?

[Régis St-Pierre, Co-Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise]

Thank you for your question. I can give you a short or long answer. The short answer is yes. And the long answer is also yes.

Yes, because, in any case, the Yukon Supreme Court held in Kilrich Industries Ltd. v. Halotier in 2007 that, even though Yukon's Languages Act does not contain the word "official", it is an act that was passed by the Yukon legislative assembly. It is also a quasi-constitutional enactment and the Yukon government cannot change it on its own. I repeat. The Yukon government cannot change its own act because it is ultimately not its act; it's your act, that of the Parliament of Canada.

When that act was passed, it was said that only the Parliament of Canada could amend or repeal it. The act was introduced in response to pressure from Yukon francophones. It all started after a traffic ticket was issued to a Whitehorse taxi driver named Daniel Saint-Jean. That was called the Saint-Jean case. The judgment stated that, as Canada's Constitution Act, 1982 had been signed by the provinces—not by the provinces and territories, but by the provinces—and as the territories did not have provincial status, they could not sign the Constitution. That therefore means that the Canadian government signs it for them. I won't go into the legal details, but all kinds of pressure was brought to bear to recognize that Canada's Official Languages Act applied to the territories. It was not by chance that two territories at that time, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, signed their own act. The Northwest Territories decided to put the word "official" in their statute in 1984. In 1988, Yukon, for all kinds of reasons that we won't enumerate, did not do that. However, in 2007, the Court found that it was not necessary for the word "official" to appear in the act.

During the break, I told Ms. Zarac that her business card did not state "official member of the House of Commons", even though she was officially elected. We don't need to include the word "official". Once an act is passed, it becomes an official act. Now the real question is whether Yukon should do what the federal government has done and have a commissioner of official languages in order to proceed with a genuine implementation of the legislation and to invest the necessary money and resources in that effort in order to achieve that. The answer is yes.

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

As I told you, I don't have a lot of time. The problem that we as members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages can face is related to the fact that, since the Official Languages Act does not apply, the tools we have are useless with regard to you. For example, if I asked the Commissioner of Official Languages to audit the implementation of agreements between Canada and Yukon, I don't know whether he would do it because he is the Commissioner of Official Languages for the regions where the Official Languages Act applies.

It's in that context that I asked my question. Earlier I asked where the preparation of certain annexes to the Canada-Yukon agreements stood. We're missing Annex B, for example, which is a strategic plan, in the agreement on services. If we don't have the strategic plan, we don't know where we're headed. The same is true of the agreement on education. However, that's another matter, and we'll come back to that this evening because I believe we'll be meeting with representatives from the school board. How do you view all that, as members and as co-director of the AFY?

[Régis St-Pierre]

In general, the community is being held hostage because, from the territory's standpoint, you've seen the answers we're given. We say it's the federal government that doesn't want to give us any money, and the federal government says that it's the territory's act. So we've created a structure in which it's ultimately the individuals, the people of Yukon's francophone community, who are being held hostage. This act has been in existence since 1988, and it has not yet been implemented. An evaluation hasn't even been done to determine where things stand. The act states: "towards implementation of the equality of status", whereas we should have a timetable and be able to say that we have reached a certain point, but we don't even have an evaluation.

We believe the Parliament of Canada has a role to play. This falls within its jurisdiction. This act was passed and the two territorial acts were passed for one very simple reason: to provide services to the francophone community of the territories. Consequently, the Parliament of Canada is ultimately responsible for seeing to that. It signs an agreement that follows directly from the Official Languages Act, in the very preamble to Yukon's Languages Act. It has a role to play. It will have to ask the question. Never has anyone in the federal government asked whether Parliament is ultimately responsible for that act, which is a quasi-constitutional enactment. Parliament should be able to conduct its evaluation.

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

So you're telling us that we should be able to get the same kind of thing from the act in effect in Yukon, not from Canada's Official Languages Act.

[Régis St-Pierre]

That's correct because the Yukon act arises from the Official Languages Act. So this is a quasi-constitutional obligation, and the Parliament of Canada alone can amend or repeal it. An evaluation by the Parliament of Canada should therefore be conducted on a periodic basis to determine where the situation stands.

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

My last question concerns a completely different subject. It's for Mr. Nadon. I imagine I'll soon be told that my question period is over.

Has there previously been a community radio project here in Whitehorse?

[Roch Nadon]

No.

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

Is there a reason for that?

[Roch Nadon]

That's a good question. Régis was here a few years before I was.

I'd like to emphasize that we nevertheless have one hour of French-language radio on CBC North. It's a kind of agreement. Incidentally, this year we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the program Rencontres. So that's a—

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

Are you talking about one hour a day?

[Roch Nadon]

It's one hour a week, but it's also excellent.

To answer your question, I know there were discussions in the community in the 1990s to determine whether we should have a community radio station. Régis will correct me if I'm wrong. Following some consultations, they realized that there was no desire for a radio station within the community. Since then, I must say we haven't really revisited the issue.

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

Thank you.

[Régis St-Pierre]

I'd like to add to his remarks and to have a few seconds.

In one sense, we have a community radio station because Radio-Canada's 102.1 frequency belongs to the community.

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

So you control the programming!