Official Languages Committee on Dec. 1st, 2011

[Normand Lévesque]

You should be prime minister for a day, not me. I like your proposal.

Indeed, that kind of policy—

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

I assure you it would be more democratic if I were.

[Normand Lévesque]

First, it would be possible to implement that kind of policy. Then there would be an enormous impact on access to training, what you call integrated training. As you said, adults don't have the time to spend three or four years in school. That makes no sense because they have to work. Under that type of policy and program, that would be ideal, in conjunction and in partnership with provincial and territorial realities.

What you're raising falls within the policies that should be considered during the next Roadmap. You're right.

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

Thank you.

I'm going to share my speaking time with Mr. Harris.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much.

First, I would like to make a comment on immersion courses and schools. It's not surprising that most people do their studies in English. Most of those children have attended immersion schools because that was their parents' choice. The decision to go to university is one of the first choices that people can make on their own. They will more or less choose the easiest path, that is to say to study in their mother tongue. We must definitely take up that challenge and make an effort to change that.

My question is for Mr. Lévesque.

Earlier, you talked about bilingualism programs for public servants. You said those programs were not being used as they previously were. Do you believe that's because of the change in the government's priorities or as a result of budget cuts?

[Normand Lévesque]

I don't know the reason, but the result is the same, regardless of what happens. For us, it's not so much a question of bilingualism, but rather of training and the development of simple and effective communication skills.

Have there been cutbacks? I suppose so, but the result is the same: there's less training in this field. I believe it would be very interesting to see how we could increase bilingualism, but at the same time how we could increase public servants' skills in clear and effective communication.

However, that depends on how documents are written. The more skillful and competent public servants are, the simpler and easier to understand the types of documents prepared by the federal government will be. In addition, citizens will be able to participate to a greater degree.

The result is the same. There is less of that and there doesn't appear to be any improvement. A more in-depth study should be conducted.

I think it would be interesting to do some thinking about the Roadmap, regarding bilingualism and those more specific skills. You're right about that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Ms. Bateman, it's your turn.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks to my colleague Mr. Gourde, I have another opportunity to speak to Ms. Pilon and Ms. David.

We had a brief interruption, but I would ask you to continue discussing your consultation mechanism, please.

[Ghislaine Pilon]

CNPF has members that represent the provinces and the three territories. Every province or territory is a member. These are parents associations that conduct research in their province that come and tell us what's going on.

I believe Adèle could add something on that point. I can tell you the nature of our relationship. We chair the national francophone early childhood development issue table, which is intersectoral, that is to say that it represents all members, those in literacy and health, for example. All those operating in the various sectors of this field belong to the national issue table. We belong to the national education issue table and the Forum des leaders. We are members of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. The leaders who meet are francophones from across the country.

We take the pulse of what is going on in the provinces and territories.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Do you have a relationship with Canadian Parents for French, an organization that I knew well?

[Ghislaine Pilon]

Yes, we have a relationship with Canadian Parents for French because—

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

It's the flip side of the coin.

[Ghislaine Pilon]

We nevertheless have something in common: we want our children to be bilingual citizens and to experience Canada's linguistic duality. We collaborate. We have made announcements together to define the difference between immersion schools and French-language schools and the idea of rights holders who go to French-language schools. We have a good collaborative relationship.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

In fact, you have the same goal.

[Ghislaine Pilon]

The ultimate goal would be to have francophone children. We want them to live in a francophone community. That's not the goal of immersion programs; it's more to have French as a second language. That being said, we collaborate.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

And do you share your resources with Canadian Parents for French?

[Ghislaine Pilon]

No, unfortunately, that's not the same network.

Immersion is a program that was created by anglophones to learn a second language. For us, French is a right. Attending a French-language school is a right that we have. We have that identity. It belongs to us, which makes us rights holders. The immersion people make the choice to learn a second language.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

You share nothing with that organization?

[Ghislaine Pilon]

It's difficult to tell you what we share. The teachers there are francophones. We have things in common, but that depends on the provinces. There are public speaking competitions in which immersion students and francophones take part together across the province. Apart from that, I don't see anything.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Ms. Bateman and Ms. Pilon.

The last two minutes belong to Mr. Bélanger.

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

I want to raise a topic that concerns me to the highest degree.

An obvious attempt is being made to abolish funding for CBC/Radio-Canada. Some say the CBC is the only target. However we all know that Pierre Karl Péladeau is leading the attack and would like Radio-Canada to disappear.

Is CBC/Radio-Canada an important institution for the communities you represent?

[Ghislaine Pilon]

If there were no more Radio-Canada, some communities would never have francophone culture in their homes. It's very important for us to have access to French-language radio and television programs. It should not be cut because we know that, when funding is cut, it's francophones who suffer.

[Colette Arsenault]

We need all the French-language services in order to live in a francophone community. So the francophone media are very important to us, both Radio-Canada radio and television. People have to listen in their own language to what is going on in the world.

[Kenneth McRoberts]

Radio-Canada is obviously a very important institution for francophone minorities and communities across Canada. It's one way to bring them together, to provide them with information and cultural experiences that are available nowhere else.