Evidence of meeting #84 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Thank you.
We'll have just a couple of questions from Monsieur Dion. Then we'll adjourn.
Monsieur Dion.
4 p.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Professor Genesee, thank you so much for being with us and for the research you are doing on this file.
We have only a few minutes before we need to get to the House in order to vote, so at the risk of you having to repeat what you have said, I will ask you to focus on the necessary changes that you would like to see in federal policies in this matter. If you had to list them, what would they be?
4 p.m.
Professor, McGill University, As an Individual
Well, that's a tricky question, since I don't quite know how the federal government really works.
4:05 p.m.
Professor, McGill University, As an Individual
I feel that at a federal level there needs to be a change in policy or a reinvigorated application of current policies to support bilingualism. I think there are multiple ways in which the federal government, including the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and Heritage Canada, could support that.
It could support it simply through publicity that talks about the importance of knowing French and other languages in a Canadian context, within a global context. I think as English Canadians we are complacent about these issues because we think everybody knows English and therefore we don't have to worry. I think that's a really dangerous assumption.
I also think that the federal government could possibly either develop policies or enact policies that provide resources at a national level to tackle some of the issues that communities with French immersion are facing.
These are big issues and we have a lot of competencies in our various provinces, but there is no way in which those competencies are working together to provide support for French immersion programs, French immersion teachers, and French immersion students.
My sense is we could move forward if it were possible to create some kind of centre that would provide resources to support immersion education, because I see it happening in other countries.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
I'm not sure I understand the purpose of these national centres. Could you explain?
4:05 p.m.
Professor, McGill University, As an Individual
These are very mundane issues to you and me, but they're very important issues for schools. One is the dissemination of information to stakeholders in the community—parents, educators, and specialists who work with children on the current state of research on second language learning and immersion programs.
Materials to teach students through the medium of a second language are also needed.
We need assessment instruments to help us identify students who have learning disabilities and who need additional support.
We need resources that will help the specialists to provide resources to children who have special needs in immersion. This could possibly be done on an individual provincial basis, but I think we need to pool our resources to get more bang for our buck.
It's that kind of thing.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Professor Genesee, I want to thank you for your opening statement and for the brief you've given us in both official languages, along with the bibliography of references for research materials that you've relied on.
I want to thank members for their questions and comments.
We value the testimony you've given us. Our research analyst will delve into it further as she writes our draft report.
At this point, because the bells have been going for 10 minutes, we will adjourn. Thank you very much.
The meeting is adjourned.
