Official Languages Committee on Feb. 9th, 2011

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

I see. So you can provide us with a list with those that showed up and those that didn’t respond. I’d like to see that document. If you forward it to the clerk, everyone will to get a copy.

What’s more, you said in your presentation that you respected the process, but that you noticed that priority was being given to other objectives. I assume that you are referring to the territorial government here. Could you elaborate on that?

[Richard Létourneau]

I’m sorry, I spoke very quickly because the brief was quite long.

In fact, I was referring to aboriginal communities represented by aboriginal leaders who are standing up for aboriginal languages. Their political goals do not necessarily correspond with ours. Given that very few people speak some of these languages, the NWT government does not focus on service delivery in those languages. The focus is often more on trying to implement curricula, as the commissioner mentioned.

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

So the objective is to save the language rather than to offer services in the language in question

[Richard Létourneau]

I would say that it is more a matter of the survival of the language than the delivery of services in that language.

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

As far as part VII of the act is concerned, you said something that made me raise an eyebrow, I must admit. You talked about an obligation of result.

I played a role in introducing amendments to the act in 2005, and we did not refer to an obligation of result, but instead to an obligation to act. There is a subtle difference. I do not think that Parliament would otherwise have agreed to amend the act. What we created is an obligation to act, with the hope that the outcomes would be positive. I want to make sure that we understand each other on that point.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

When it comes to the concept of an obligation to act, when you are a responsible government, any action you take or activities you engage in must make good use of any money allocated for the purpose in question. So it is certainly an underlying factor. There are real and positive measures that must be taken to achieve results.

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

There is indeed an obligation to take positive measures.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

Yes, there is.

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

You might say that it is a subtle difference, but it is very important. In fact, you cannot force results; you can ensure that actions and positive measures are taken.

I want to come back to the crux of the issue. You stated that $145,000 is allocated to the Fédération franco-ténoise out of the funds the Northwest Territories receives annually.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

This $145,000 envelope is funnelled through the cultural and community development program. It is bundled in with the $1.6 million managed by the territorial government for the purpose of francophone projects.

Obviously, it is not the only money that—

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

No, I understand that. So the federation receives $145,000 of the $1.6 million envelope.

When you sued the territorial government, it was revealed that $5 million of the remaining amount was returned over a specific period.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

Your question is a little technical. I think that it has to do with the duration of the agreement. The Official Languages Act was passed in 1984 and implemented three or four years later. As soon as it was implemented, the government established a cultural and community development plan, and in the ensuing period, $5 million was handed back.

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

Do you know whether the funds were completely used up under the current agreement?

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

We don’t have access to that kind of information. The territorial government reports to the federal government regarding the management of the funds.

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

So there is no published breakdown of the figures?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Bélanger.

We shall continue with Ms. Guay.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

In other words, you have no direct access to the federal government.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

When it comes to managing the agreement, the federal government works hand in hand with the territorial government as part of a government to government collaborative approach, as they like to put it. We did not take part in the discussions regarding the renewal of the agreement that occurred over recent months.

We have already said that, from our point of view, there should have been a steep increase in funding, however we do not have a seat at the bargaining table and cannot discuss and argue our points of view.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

So you weren’t consulted either.

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

We were consulted once and we put forward a figure. That was a few years back. At that time, we had far more in-depth knowledge of the results, the provision of communications and services in French. We wouldn’t submit the same figure today. At the time, we argued that the $145,000 should be increased to a minimum of $975,000, and we backed this up. Today, however, we would give you a different figure.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

An even higher figure

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

We now know what needs to be done to improve communications and provide adequate services, document translation, bilingual positions, and training. For example, interpreters must familiarize themselves with the health care sector and medical jargon. Often, they are not familiar with the more technical terms they should be using. I've had contact with a number of interpreters who fill in at Stanton Hospital, and they aren’t necessarily trained in lexicology. Our health care project includes a training module that deals with medical terminology.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Even in your own language, medical terminology is not always clear. You really need an expert to explain what certain words mean.

Ms. Francoeur, you spoke about young people and the trouble they have getting involved in activities, partly as a result of how few of them there are. We visited Émilie Tremblay School, where one high school class had only six students. There were not even enough of them to make up a basketball team. They were upset they weren’t able to play any team sports. Do you experience the same issues here?

[Rachelle Francoeur]

There are more than six students, I think, because there are already two francophone schools. The number of students does not necessarily have a bearing on the participation rate. We also cater to immersion students. It is often distance that gets in the way of large numbers of people gathering together in one place.

Our youth activities obviously usually take place in Yellowknife. As a result, many communities go without these very beneficial services that help languages survive.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

When you conduct activities, is there an organization responsible for fundraising in the regions to bring young people together?