Evidence of meeting #13 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was services.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Angélique Bernard  President, Association franco-yukonnaise
Isabelle Salesse  Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

8:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Michael Chong

Welcome to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are here to study the economic situation of Canada's minority linguistic communities.

Today we welcome two representatives from the Association franco-yukonnaise who will be with us for one hour.

We have with us Madam Bernard and Madam Salesse.

Welcome.

Please proceed with your presentation.

8:45 a.m.

Angélique Bernard President, Association franco-yukonnaise

Good morning. Thank you for the invitation.

My name is Angélique Bernard, and I am the president of the Association franco-yukonnaise. I am accompanied by Isabelle Salesse, the executive director of the Association franco-yukonnaise.

The Association franco-yukonnaise is the official voice of francophones in the Yukon; we have been the pillar of community development for Franco-Yukoners since 1982.

Our mandate is to improve the quality of life in French for francophones in the Yukon. We provide services in a number of areas, including arts and culture, health, training, economic development and immigration.

We also stand as a unique model in the Canadian francophonie. Given the size of our community, our preference has been to bring together most services under the same roof rather than to create several different organizations. This model provides better integration and more efficient services using economies of scale. All the AFY's services use the same services for accounting, technology, communications, and reception. We are therefore able to make the most of the money we invest in projects that are of use to our community.

It is worth noting that, in terms of bilingualism, the Yukon ranks third among provinces and territories, with a rate of 13%, after Quebec and New Brunswick.

According to the 2006 census, public administration, education, health and social services are more than 35% francophone, and more than 10% work in the hospitality and restaurant industries.

Even more interestingly, the profile shows that more than 15% of francophones own their own businesses or are self-employed. This high percentage has an effect on the ability to work in French in the Yukon.

We have a contribution arrangement with the Yukon government that allows us to provide employment assistance services in French, as well as a co-operation agreement to provide courses in French as a second language. We also provide settlement services for French-speaking immigrants through an agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Our training service has moved in a new direction, allowing us to meet the needs of the workforce even better. We are also working in the area of essential skills. At the moment, we are conducting a study on what employers need from their employees in terms of skills and on the training needs that will get people into the workforce. We are also evaluating which are the best training models that we can establish.

In the Yukon, we have both highly educated people and people who do not have the essential skills that allow them to operate in the workforce. The Yukon has no post-secondary institution in French. However, the AFY has the mandate to provide training services that will improve the quality of life for francophones and to be with them through their training so that they can become full contributors to the economy of the Yukon.

We are also very active in tourism because a number of our French-speaking entrepreneurs specialize in the area. With the support of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CanNor, we have been able to adapt the promotional campaign called Canada's North into French. That was done jointly with the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest and Carrefour Nunavut.

We have organized familiarization tours for the media and for travel agencies to promote the Yukon as the tourist destination of choice in francophone markets. We produce a tourist kit that lists francophone tourism businesses in the Yukon. In 2012, we also distributed 22,000 tourist brochures in French.

Last year, also with CanNor funding, we administered a fund designed to increase the available range of bilingual tourist products.

Finally, the AFY also receives funding from the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities, operated by Employment and Social Development Canada. That fund has allowed us to establish the services mentioned above and gives us great flexibility in the projects we have undertaken.

The best example is that CanNor projects have been managed by our tourism manager, whose salary is paid 100% from the enabling fund. So we used core funding from Employment and Social Development Canada to establish our projects and we went out and found the funding to do so.

We had to do that because CanNor does not pay for salaries in its contribution agreements. Up to now, we have been able to work that way, but it may cause us problems in the future. I will come back to that later.

We also work together with our anglophone partners. We are aware that community development cannot be done in isolation. We are helping to improve visibility and bilingualism at the job and volunteer fair in Whitehorse, together with Volunteer Bénévoles Yukon, YuWIN, the go-to resource in the Yukon for job postings, and the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. We are also presently determining how we can become involved in a proposal seeking to establish a Canada-Yukon business service office.

Despite all those successes, we are today facing some challenges in consolidating the range and the quality of our services. We want to improve our services and to provide direct support to our entrepreneurs. Up until now, we have not been able to do so, because the enabling fund has not permitted it. As of next April 1, we will be able to do so and we are very pleased about that.

We also want to consolidate our services in the regions. At the moment, our greatest presence is in Whitehorse, given that most of our clients live there. But we also want to respond to the needs of francophones in the regions, such as in Dawson or Haines Junction. However, our level of funding does not allow us to provide them with full support.

There are also other major issues, such as the new direction for the enabling fund in the Roadmap. Last week, we received the invitation to tender for the renewal of our contribution agreement. One of its objectives is to decrease the proportion of our operating funds to 58%. This concerns us for two reasons. First, we do not control the overall target, given that it represents the average of all the organizations involved. Achieving the objective is therefore only partially in our control. Second, we see a lack of coordination in government policies. We also know that Employment and Social Development Canada has warned other federal departments about this change in direction.

But the policies of the other departments have not been adjusted as a result. For example, CanNor still does not fund salaries and other operating costs that the agency approves, even though they are an integral part of the projects. We feel that we are in danger of being caught in a problematic situation that, in our opinion, the Government of Canada did not foresee when it renewed the Roadmap. It is also a question of fairness, in our opinion, because other regional economic development agencies have no difficulty in reimbursing those costs. That is not the case in the north and it presents us with an additional challenge.

The Government of Canada has changed direction in social finance. This approach is a concern for official language communities because the population pool is limited. The concern is even greater in places like the Yukon, given that its economy is based on small businesses, self-employment, and the government. So the possibility of obtaining funding from the private sector is very limited. Our pool gets even smaller if you consider just the francophone community.

We have been informed by CIC that we should not be affected by the measure. But we have no assurances from other departments that they will consider our reality when the time comes to apply it. The fact is that we are at a double disadvantage compared to an organization in Vancouver, in Calgary, in Toronto or in Moncton, for example: the size of the Yukon and the situation of our official language minority community.

As mentioned, the AFY's contribution to the development of the Yukon is a tangible one. We hope that the government will take our reality into account and that it will continue to support us so that our community can continue to develop and to contribute to the Yukon's economy. It is also important for the government to ensure that federal transfers to the territory, or contribution agreements between the two levels of government, take into account the impact of their decisions on the people in our communities. The agreements on the workforce and workforce development are two examples.

The complex reality of francophone communities does not allow for one single pan-Canadian approach. A community's economic development may need different services such as training, entrepreneurship, employment assistance, welcome and integration. That implies many partners, including the government. We are proud of what we have accomplished to date and we thank the Government of Canada for its contribution.

Thank you once more for inviting us. We are ready to answer your questions.

8:55 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Michael Chong

Thank you, Ms. Bernard.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

February 27th, 2014 / 8:55 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to welcome Ms. Bernard and Mrs. Salesse. It is a great pleasure to see you here.

It is regrettable that, after our visit to Yellowknife and Whitehorse, the Standing Committee on Official Languages was not able to table a report in the House of Commons. Our committee held a cross-Canada tour, which ended in the north. But because of the elections, we were not able to prepare a report. We could have gone back and drafted a report, because we had the same clerks and analysts. It might have been of assistance to you and it could have shone some light on the situation in the north for Parliament and the government. I hope that our committee will be able to go back to it some day. It is a shame that $100,000 was spent. That amount of money could have helped the francophone community. I wanted to say that for the record.

You mentioned a figure of 58%. If I am not mistaken, the government does not want to spend more than 58% for administration. You explained that things are different in other places. Does it just happen at CanNor? I would like to have a better explanation of that.

8:55 a.m.

Isabelle Salesse Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

The funding comes from Employment and Social Development Canada, through the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities. In terms of the enabling fund, a call for tenders has just been issued for the next three years. The funding comes from the Roadmap and is designed to improve community access to networks and economic development projects for minority communities all across Canada.

Up to now, project submissions have included salaries and operating costs. In three years, all the organizations in the network have to reduce their operating costs so that they do not come to more than 58% of their total budgets. For example, if an organization receives $200,000, its operating costs cannot be more than 58% of its total budget. That is not feasible in all cases. For some organizations, operating costs can go from 40% to 70%, perhaps as high as 80%. The government used an average to arrive at the figure of 58%.

8:55 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

What effect will that have on your operations?

8:55 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

If we have to reduce our salary costs and if other economic development agencies do not fund salaries, not having access to the funding we need will make it very difficult for us to pay all the salaries. I hope that is clear.

8:55 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

If you reduce your salary costs, your performance on the ground will decrease.

8:55 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

If we cannot pay the salaries for our human resources who are providing front-line services and setting up projects to meet community needs, we will not be able to achieve our objectives.

8:55 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

In your region, economic development in anglophone communities, which make up the majority, is funded by Industry Canada, by CanNor and so on. Larger organizations are paid for by the government, compared to the organizations that look after the francophone minority.

8:55 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

In the Yukon, economic development organizations probably have better access to funding than we do because of their higher numbers. They are better able to make their requests known to the territorial government, which organizations in the francophone community cannot always do.

9 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

For the purposes of our current study, we go to places where there are official language minority communities and we ask ourselves how they can contribute to economic development. You have accomplished wonderful things in arts, in culture, in immigration, in hospitality, in catering and in tourism.

The government prides itself on having invested $1.2 billion in the Roadmap. It says that that money has not been affected, but in fact, it dipped into Immigration Canada's funds and put them into the Roadmap. But that's politics for you.

With its Roadmap, is the government becoming an obstacle to economic development? Is it taking away tools that would have let you perform better in the future?

9 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

There has been no reduction in funds so far. Actually, we know nothing about it, because the call for tenders has only just been issued. So we will be able to confirm that in the weeks ahead.

However, according to the vision that has been presented to us, we are going to have to find other ways of funding ourselves in three years. That does not necessarily mean that our funding will be cut, but part of our operating costs may well be reduced, and that will have a negative impact on us. In fact, we will not be able to hire the people we need, because we will not be able to use the funding to pay salaries in their entirety. At the moment, CanNor does not pay operating costs. The agency pays for fees, special projects and feasibility studies, but provides no core funding. So we could be in a difficult situation.

Today, we are asking the committee to watch out for that situation. At the moment, we are not yet in difficulty, but if things proceed as intended, it could become a problem. That is why we are sharing it with the committee today.

9 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

What do you recommend?

9 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

We recommend keeping programming funds as they are, with the enabling fund for official language minority communities, or for CanNor to change its policies so that it can fund operating costs, just like other economic development agencies elsewhere in the country, both in the east and west. They finance operating costs, which CanNor does not.

9 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

According to the Roadmap, funding for those involved in official languages issues comes mostly from the Roadmap. We have heard of delays in some programs. Can you talk to us about that?

9 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

Yes, I can explain it to you. I do that quite regularly at the moment.

9 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Is anyone listening?

9 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

I don't know. I think people are listening, but there does not always seem to be a simple answer.

The Roadmap was announced on March 27, 2013. Today is February 27, 2014, and we still do not know what is going to happen with some of the programs, including in regard to the amounts allocated for essential skills. It is supposed to help communities to support individuals who need training in essential skills. No criteria have been defined, no information has been given to service providers. We do not know what is going to happen with those funds.

In the first year, a lot of money went unspent. In culture and in health, a lot of the funding has not been spent to date. At the moment, we are being told that those funds will be transferred to next year, but the fact is that they have not been distributed for this year.

9 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Michael Chong

Thank you.

Your turn, Mr. Gourde.

9 a.m.

Conservative

Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to Ms. Bernard and Mrs. Salesse for being here this morning.

Tell me about the challenges that the francophone community in the Yukon has to face in order to take its place economically. Is it more difficult for you than for the anglophone community? Is it similar? Do you have real challenges to face?

9:05 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

The challenges are always different, because francophone entrepreneurs have less access to resources in French.

That said, the challenges in the Yukon are less than in other regions. The fact that we are a small community and are together in one place, has advantages, not just disadvantages.

In our work, we essentially depend on funds from the federal government. As we explained in our presentation, it is difficult to access private money in the Yukon, because our community is so small. So it is quite difficult for us to look for private investment for the services we provide today.

We hear about social finance and we are told that we have to move towards private investment, but that is a problem for us. Even though the Yukon is ranked third in Canada in terms of bilingualism, there are still only between 3,000 and 4,000 French-speakers in the territory, which is not a lot. So the private sector is not really inclined to invest money in our community.

Other challenges have to do with the access entrepreneurs have to certain services in French. For example, it is harder for entrepreneurs to take some kinds of training in French because it is not always offered in French.

Up to now, we have been faced with another challenge, but we recognize that things are beginning to change. Until now, we have not been able to provide services directly to entrepreneurs. Our funding did not allow us, for example, to help a francophone entrepreneur who asked us for help in preparing a business plan or the like. The only thing we could do was to direct that entrepreneur to an anglophone agency. But they came to see us because we are a francophone agency. It is crazy that we promote ourselves as being involved in economic development and in providing assistance to entrepreneurs, but we have to tell them that our funding does not really allow us to help them in a number of ways.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC

Thank you.

You mentioned that 85% of the francophones in the Yukon come from other parts of Canada. What attracts people to go and live in the Yukon, in your opinion? Is it the work, the potential?

9:05 a.m.

Executive Director, Association franco-yukonnaise

Isabelle Salesse

There are a number of reasons. A lot of people, francophone or anglophone, come to the Yukon because they are attracted to the wide open spaces. They may also be attracted by employment possibilities in the Yukon, especially in mining, an industry that is picking up again.

As for francophones, some people have immigrated to the Yukon from Europe. Previously, the Association franco-yukonnaise participated in Destination Canada, a job fair held in France and other French-speaking countries to recruit immigrants. The AFY was able to participate because, at the time, it received joint territorial-federal funding. But that funding was eliminated. The fair let us recruit people who were really interested in leaving an overcrowded homeland and settling in the Yukon.

Before leaving, or even when they arrive, they do research on the lifestyle that the Yukon can offer. Families appreciate having access to French-speaking daycare and to other services in French. Francophones, especially those with families, settle in the Yukon because they can live a good part of their lives in French there.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

Jacques Gourde Conservative Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC

If the number of jobs available in the Yukon were to increase, would the francophone community go and get its fair share? For example, if francophones represent 15% of the population and there are 100 jobs available, could francophones expect to get 15 of those available jobs? Or a few more? Or could we be looking at a decrease?