Official Languages Committee on March 6th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much, Mr. Davies and Mr. Harris.

Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you.

I took great interest in the answers, at least the start of the answers, when we discussed the role of young people in the north.

Mr. Robillard, you said that only 2% or 3% of people in the north are francophone. In view of technological growth, we know that young people are increasingly using English with their tablets and other electronic devices.

I want to take this question further. How can young people in the north be persuaded that they should study French?

I'm convinced it is necessary to know another language, whether it be Chinese or Spanish. It's good to know another language. For me, however, the challenge is to determine how we can preserve both languages in a world that is changing so quickly and that is increasingly globalized.

Perhaps Mr. Dimatteo, Mr. Robineau or Ms. Setlakwe would like to answer that question.

[Aime Dimatteo, Director General, FedNor (Federal Economic Development Initiative in Northern Ontario), Department of Industry]

Yes, if I may.

Clearly, in terms of the work that FedNor is trying to do through the EDI program and our regular work, we're trying to demonstrate.... We have some 16% of the northern Ontario population that is francophone, so we have a fairly large francophone population.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Sixteen per cent and...?

[Aime Dimatteo]

Sixteen per cent of the northern Ontario population is francophone, so it's in our interest—

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

I'll stop you there a moment.

Unless I'm mistaken, you said that only 2% or 3% of the population of the north is francophone?

[Michel Robillard]

Currently, Statistics Canada's 2006 data indicate that approximately 2.5% to 3% of the population of the north is francophone. That means approximately 3,000 to 3,500 persons in the territories.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

But what is the percentage in northern Ontario?

[Aime Dimatteo]

Ultimately, it's larger percentage for us. Sixteen per cent of our population is francophone, and we have a lot of francophone communities. I'm talking about towns like Sturgeon Falls, Hearst, Cochrane and several others where the first language is French.

Even though the EDI and other programs are for us, it is important to be able to develop programs in the language of choice of the people who live in the north.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

We've heard it said that French immersion schools are popular in the north. My three children, who are from British Columbia, studied French at an immersion school. French immersion schools are really growing in British Columbia. Are we seeing the same trend in the north?

[Michel Robillard]

It would be hard to answer your question. I believe there are immersion schools in Yukon. As for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, I will have to look for the answer.

You mentioned iPads, for example, tablets and other electronic devices. Your question is eminently philosophical: how do we ensure that young people will always continue speaking French, English or both languages? I believe that question goes to the solidity of the community and the framework we offer young people.

One thing is certain: this is a very complex matter for us in the north, as I mentioned earlier. In Nunavut, for example, they speak English, French and Inuktitut, and, if I'm not mistaken, Inuinnaqtun is the fourth official language. Not only are young people living in the community with which they identify—francophones living in a francophone community—but they are also surrounded by a population that mainly speaks Inuktitut. That also changes the situation. Personally, I believe that young people are still speaking the language and opening up to other languages because they come from established communities whose continued existence is guaranteed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Weston and Mr. Robillard.

Mr. Godin, go ahead, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I heard Mr. Weston say how quickly the world is changing and wonder how we could continue speaking both languages. I believe that, if the federal government respected both languages and started appointing bilingual instead of unilingual English judges to the Supreme Court, as well as a bilingual auditor general, that would send young people the message that you have to know both languages to gain access to similar positions. That would show considerable respect to the founding peoples, including the aboriginal peoples. That would set the stage for everyone.

I am forced to send that message because Mr. Weston still wonders how we can continue to support the two languages. And our friend Ray Boughen still says there are more Chinese than francophones in the west and wonders how that can continue.

What is Industry Canada doing about this? Has the department considered the question? We're talking about industries and jobs—at least, that's what I think. Francophones who go to work in industry in the west aren't even able to get translated versions of the security tests they have to take, without which they can't get a job. However, foreign countries send temporary workers and everything is translated. It's as though they don't need the official languages program. You'd think everything is fine for them; we "accommodate" them. But it's as though no one wants to "accommodate" francophones because that's too costly. And yet francophones are one of the founding peoples.

I would like to know the opinion of the Industry Canada representatives. Are you doing something to help our francophone workers who don't speak English, people from Caraquet and Lamèque, for example? What is the government doing for them? Let's forget about the roadmap for two minutes. What is the government doing to help those workers?

[Mitch Davies]

First, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada is responsible for training and skills development. That question could definitely be put to them.

As for our department, we take our obligation to promote linguistic duality seriously. We meet that obligation in all the programs for which we are responsible. We have well-trained people. We can offer services in both official languages. Canadians have access to our programs in both languages. We take that very seriously.

I can't give a general answer to a question that contains a number of components. That is not something that—

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

Don't worry, we have already put the question to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

It isn't a major component, Mr. Davies. I am just talking about Canadian workers. In fact, I may have talked a lot, but I didn't discuss a lot of things. I just talked about francophone Canadian workers who go out west.

What is Industry Canada doing to help Canadian workers, those who could get a job? While foreign workers who speak another language and get aid are being brought in, Francophones are not getting that aid.

[Mitch Davies]

The department's role in general is to support economic growth across the country. We want a regulatory framework so there is a solid and competitive market. We want to offer programs to help small and medium enterprises create jobs and grow. We have programs for all that.

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

For employees, it's job creation. That's obvious.

Mr. Davies, under the title, Program Activities, on page 5 of Industry Canada's Report on Plans and Priorities, there is Marketplace Frameworks and Regulations. Below that, there are Subactivities, including Measurement Canada, Superintendent of Bankruptcy, Corporations Canada, Internal Trade Secretariat and Intellectual Property. Nowhere do I see official languages. There are a number of subactivities.

Further down the same page, I see Community Economic Development. That's ACOA, FedNor…

[An hon. member]

That's not ACOA.

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

No, it's not that?

[Mitch Davies]

In our case, it's Fed Nor. As for ACOA, the minister has his own report on plans and priorities. The funding is allocated directly to the deputy minister by Parliament.

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

So it's FedNor in your case.

There we see: linguistic duality and official languages. Why do linguistic duality and official languages appear only under the activity Community Economic Development, not under the other headings? The term "official languages" appears under no other heading.

Who handles official languages in the other departments?

[Mitch Davies]

In fact, it is the role of all employees to promote official languages for all the programs. However, in the case you are referring to, there is an accounting system in all departments which distinguishes funding under our economic development initiative program. That's what is represented in our plan.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Trottier will now have the floor.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to discuss Mr. Godin's topic a little.

I wanted to talk about governance. Mr. Davies, you said that the role of all departments was to work taking into account the official languages situation and to promote official languages within departments.

Who is really responsible? If it is everyone's responsibility, is there a person in your department who specifically deals with official languages? Who manages it?

We could cite some more specific economic development examples. If FedNor has a project in the natural resources sector, will responsibility for it fall to FedNor, the Department of Natural Resources or Canadian Heritage?

When the departments cooperate with each other, how does support for official languages work in your field?

[Mitch Davies]

Under the economic development initiative, we at Industry Canada are responsible for coordinating the activities of all regional agencies. We talked about meetings and standardization systems for the data and research that we conduct jointly on these mechanisms. We are there with all the other departments concerned so that we can have a common plan and something coherent at the end. We can look at each other's activities and make sound comparisons.

My team and I are responsible within the department for supporting all officials on all official language issues, whether it's training, applying our official languages filter or the report of the Department of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. That is our role.

In addition, we also interact with the commissioner. We have just completed quite an intense period with him because the people from his office conducted an audit of our implementation of part VII in particular. This is very important work for us and we take it very seriously.