Official Languages Committee on April 10th, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the 20th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on this Thursday, April 10, 2014.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108, we are conducting a study on the Economic Situation of Canada's Minority Linguistic Communities.

Today we will be hearing from representatives from four government organizations, including the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Department of Employment and Social Development, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

We will begin with Mr. Gauthier from the Department of Canadian Heritage.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Director General, Official Languages Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, honourable members. I have prepared a presentation, which you should have in front of you. I will just quickly deliver my presentation. I will take just 10 minutes or so in order to leave as much time as possible for questions.

My presentation is structured in three themes that I propose discussing this morning.

First I will provide a bit of context. I know that you have already heard a few presentations that have provided you with a lot of information on this. I know that my colleagues from Statistics Canada were here earlier this week. I will quickly say a few words about the context.

I also want to spend a bit of time explaining the role and programs of Canadian Heritage that have an impact on economic development, in order to inform your debates and your study.

Then, as part of the third topic, we will spend a bit of time talking about economic development in the context of the roadmap, which is a well known tool and a rather important one in official languages.

Let's begin with context. I won't go into the details, because I know that the presentation by my colleagues from Statistics Canada already provided you with a great deal of figures. I simply want to talk about each of the two minority groups, namely francophones outside Quebec and anglophones in Quebec. I will illustrate and quickly present some of the major trends and observations.

Over the past number of years, we have seen francophone minority communities close a historic gap in terms of the economy and social development. This has happened over the past 40 years or so.

Obviously, the government has made efforts to support the development of the communities. This increased in the 1980s. Today, we see that for the most part, the economic situation of members of minority communities is comparable to that of the majority.

Obviously, nothing is perfect. There are regions, places and groups that still have challenges. For example, people often cite the case of northern New Brunswick, which is facing many challenges. That is where we have to be very sensitive to the realities that might vary from region to region.

The second bullet on page 3 talks about something important. Education has certainly played a role in the communities' development, both in terms of social aspects such as the sense of belonging and of the economy.

The anglophone minority community in Quebec is facing challenges in terms of level of labour market participation for its young people. The unemployment rate is higher than it is for the majority. Their salary and average income are not the same as the majority either. Challenges exist and they are specific to the anglophone minority community in Quebec.

That is it in terms of context.

I will now quickly move on to the role of the federal government. I am on page 4.

I'm sure that we are all familiar with part VII of the Official Languages Act and the two objectives in that part. The act provides an obligation, a duty, for the federal government to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities, and that is the centrepiece of part VII. But there is also, as we know, the obligation to foster the full recognition of our two official languages. That is the backstage for everything we do.

I think there is no dispute that economic development, at the very least, helps enhance the vitality of a community. Therefore, we feel this is a good match to consider and that we should look into economic development and the obligations we have under the act.

More specifically, with Canadian Heritage—and I'll come back to this in more detail on the next page, but just to set the stage very broadly—we have another program, of course, at Canadian Heritage on official languages. One is of particular interest, I think, to the study of the committee. It is the development of the official language communities program that we have. It accounts for about $225 million a year.

Of course, you have in the bracket here, in the bullet, a description of the nature of the kinds of activities that we conduct with that money, and the minister was before you recently to talk about the annual report, as well.

But the point that I wanted to make is that although the program is not aimed or does not have as an objective the fostering of community development per se, it is clear that when we foster all kinds of activities, we are actually providing, at least indirectly, some support to community development.

This is particularly true, I think, when it comes to education, for example, which is a pillar for making sure that development occurs, both socially and economically.

The department also coordinates the road map. I will talk about that a little more at the end. It is one of the tasks we have. I also wanted to spend a bit of time talking to you about the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie, where there have been a number of discussions over the last few years. I think it would be of interest to the committee to hear more about it.

Let me turn quickly to page 5. As you can see, we have laid out there in a little more detail what we do with the official language communities program at my department. One of the key cornerstones of what we do is support for education, at both the elementary and secondary levels, but also with the provinces in a growing fashion. We're supporting their efforts to develop post-secondary opportunities, programs, and services for the many communities as well. Post-secondary education actually plays quite a significant role in fostering and supporting economic development.

You see that, overall, when we look back at the last term of agreements with the provinces for education, we spent about $122 million supporting their efforts in post-secondary education.

I mention this quickly in passing. There are also a number of programs at the department in other areas that are not even aimed at official languages per se, but are open to official language minority communities as well, especially in arts and culture, for instance. We know how important that sector can be economically as well.

So it depends on how you define the scope, I suppose, of what you want to study today, how indirect you want to allow yourself to be, because you can actually look at a great number of activities carried out in the department that contribute to economic development.

Let us talk about the MCCF. This is the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie. It's a gathering of all the ministers from all jurisdictions that meet once a year to discuss the Canadian francophonie and its issues. Interestingly, the conference has had, for a number of years now, concerns and an interest in economic development. I think it goes back to the meeting in 2009 where it was decided that attention would be paid to economic development by the ministerial conference. That itself, I guess, is good evidence of the fact that even the provinces and territories are paying attention to that in the context of minority communities.

There has been a working group of senior public servants established across the provinces, territories, and federal government. It's co-chaired by the federal government, with the Government of Quebec. We've been working with this group to encourage the organization of an economic development forum. That actually took place in 2012. On the slide, you will see a few of the parameters for that forum, which took place at the encouragement of the Canadian francophonie ministerial conference. We had a great number of participants who came from three broad sectors: the public, community, and the private sectors. The private sector references the business sector, of course, in a sense.

The outcome of the conference was an integrated action plan with six pillars of action that were established by consensus during the conference. We can provide you with more information on this one, if you'd like. We have the report from the forum. If there's any interest, we'd be happy to share that with the committee.

The conference chair has been an active supporter of the organization of that conference. We're very happy, very proud that it actually took place and was a good success. It was organized by a committee, again made up of representatives from the public sector, the business sector, and the community sector. It was chaired by Madame Aldéa Landry from New Brunswick.

The forum was held in fall 2012 and we initiated national consultations around roughly the same time, in summer 2012, to try to define the communities' needs and areas of interest in the context of renewing the roadmap.

During the entire summer, the minister responsible, or some of his colleagues who replaced him, visited 22 cities and listened to what people had to say. Interested parties were also able to have their say through the website. We were able to connect with more than 2,600 people that way.

Economic development certainly came up as something important and of interest to the communities. When considering different scenarios for renewing the roadmap, we knew that economic development was important, relevant and valuable.

I am on page 8.

We also evaluated the various components of the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2008-13, including three initiatives in the area of economic development in the former and current roadmap, namely the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities, the Economic Development Initiative, and the Strengthening the Language Industry and Technologies program, which is part of the National Research Council of Canada's responsibility. The evaluations find that the initiatives are useful and relevant, which reassures us.

I am on page 9.

When we were building the roadmap, we gave a lot of room to economic development. You know that the roadmap is based on three pillars. The communities pillar includes two programs that specifically target economic development, namely the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities and the Economic Development Initiative. That being said, it is true that all three pillars have a strong economic bent. The pillar that targets immigration focuses specifically on economic immigration. As far as education is concerned, I have already mentioned a few times the importance of education in a community's development on all levels, including economic development.

I will skip page 10. Essentially, last week you heard my colleagues from Industry Canada and agencies talk about the EDI, the Economic Development Initiative. My colleagues from Employment and Social Development Canada could also answer all your questions on the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities. This page simply summarizes the three main initiatives in the roadmap.

In closing, economic development is recognized as important to a community's development and vitality, and especially its sustainability. The federal government's commitments, efforts and activities reflect that.

I will stop there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Gauthier.

Mr. Johnson from the Department of Employment and Social Development now has the floor.

[Stephen Johnson, Director General, Corporate Planning and Management, Strategic Policy and Research, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to present to you Employment and Social Development Canada's contribution to the economic situation of official language minority communities.

ESDC's mission is to build a stronger and more competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives and to improve Canadians' quality of life. To do this, our department helps Canadians through all stages of their lives, including families with children, youth, working-aged adults and seniors.

ESDC plays an important role in supporting economic development of Canadian communities, including official language minority communities, through its efforts to support a skilled and adaptable labour force and an efficient, well-functioning labour market.

The department achieves this through many well-known programs that, among other things, encourage savings for post-secondary education through the Canada education savings program; reduce financial barriers through Canada student loans and grants; provide support for a variety of training programs both by means of direct delivery and by working with provinces and territories.

Many of the department's recent efforts have been focused on strengthening the linkages between the training and employment supports provided by governments and the needs of local businesses and employers. And, in particular, more directly directing these training efforts to high-demand fields that have a strong likelihood of leading to current and future jobs.

Recent federal budgets have reiterated the intent to refocus existing labour market transfers to the provinces and territories in order to encourage a greater degree of involvement of employers. These programs include the next generation of labour market agreements, labour market development agreements, and the labour market agreements for persons with disabilities, as well as the introduction of new measures such as the Canada job grant.

An area of particular focus has been the skilled trades. ESDC recognizes that the skilled trades are critical to Canada's economic growth and long-term prosperity. A number of ESDC measures support apprentices in their training and encourage employers to hire apprentices.

The department is working to implement the Canada apprentice loan that was announced in budget 2014 to provide apprentices registered in Red Seal trades with access to over $100 million in interest-free loans each year.

In order to improve the apprenticeship system, budget 2014 announced plans to introduce the flexibility and innovation in apprenticeship technical training pilot project aimed at reducing non-financial barriers and allowing apprentices to complete training and obtain certification.

Helping youth make the transition to the workforce is also an important departmental objective. Although Canada has high levels of post-secondary achievement, the transition to a first job can be challenging. Young graduates often lack opportunities to gain the workplace experience and skills necessary to find and retain jobs.

ESDC is improving the youth employment strategy by aligning it with the evolving realities of the job market and by ensuring that federal investments in youth employment provide young Canadians with real-life work experience in high-demand fields such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and the skilled trades.

Older workers can face specific challenges in smaller communities across the country. ESDC is expanding the targeted initiative for older workers program. The program is a federal-provincial/territorial cost-shared initiative that assists unemployed older workers in communities affected by ongoing high unemployment, significant downsizing and business closures.

Information also plays an important role in a well-functioning labour market. ESDC will be launching an enhanced job matching service to ensure that Canadians have access to information on available jobs according to skills and location. Registered job seekers and employers will be automatically matched on the basis of skills, knowledge and experience.

Literacy and essential skills can pose a barrier to initial entry or to mobility within the labour market. While provinces and territories have primary responsibility for basic education, the department has an Office of Literacy and Essential Skills that acts as a national centre of expertise with a focus on working with partners and stakeholders to influence systemic change that will lead to better labour market participation and more productive workplaces.

The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills delivers approximately $26 million per year in grants and contributions to a range of funding recipients. Part of this funding is targeted specifically to official language minority communities. In 2013-14, the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills supported six organizations working with OLMCs.

Now I would like to take a few moments to speak to you about a specific departmental initiative that plays an important role across the Government of Canada in community, economic, and human resource development.

The enabling fund for official language minority communities is ESDC's main contribution under the road map for official languages and an important part of the government-wide strategy for official languages and linguistic duality. Launched in 2005, the enabling fund and its predecessor, the support fund, represent a sustained effort to enable community-wide economic development and to grow the economic advantages of linguistic duality.

The current initiative is an investment of $69 million over the course of the road map to support the operations and activities of the pan-Canadian network of 14 professional organizations, with 135 employees working at 50 different locations across the country. Recipient organizations support and operate under the direction of boards of directors composed of volunteers and business and community leaders. This allows for strong public-private partnership approaches and an ability to tailor solutions to the needs of communities. Some of these organizations have recently appeared before this committee, as you're aware.

Serving Canada's francophones and official language minority communities are the

Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité

which is the national coordinating body, and 12 provincial and territorial RDÉE network organizations serving francophone and Acadian minority communities across Canada. Serving Quebec's English-speaking population is the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation.

The role of the enabling fund and of the recipient organizations stems from their ability to provide expertise for the development of local and community-owned strategies to use and help develop economic potential in official language minority communities, to forge partnerships at all levels, and to consolidate resources.

These organizations leverage about $2 for every $1 invested through the enabling fund program. They also provide an infrastructure to deliver programming, services, and initiatives in OLMCs. Communities with strong economies attract and retain investment, provide stable employment opportunities, bring in new residents, and retain their youth. The enabling fund is built on the principle that opportunities for development exist in OLMCs. The program provides these communities with local capacity and leadership so that the communities can realize their growth potential from within.

Organizations offer a range of economic development and employability activities and services for job seekers, employers, and entrepreneurs. They also develop and broker partnerships with a range of organizations to design and deliver responsive initiatives. The funding provided ensures the financial stability of the economic development networks and allows linguistic minority communities to make long-term plans. Activities conducted by the enabling fund organizations are diverse and the program design provides communities with the flexibility to tailor their actions to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve. Priorities and types of interventions also vary from community to community given the variety of circumstances, which you can appreciate.

The enabling fund organizations hold regular engagement sessions where community members share their views. Participation is at the heart of what the program is about, since community members have significant knowledge about the assets and needs of the community.

The enabling fund recipient organizations also get direction on priorities from their respective boards of directors. This is a unique approach that supports strong community and private sector partnerships.

The road map reiterated the importance of the enabling fund and set out a direction to strengthen the focus on identifying targets and measuring progress and on increasing the proportion of resources leveraged from the private sector.

The importance of the enabling fund for official language minority communities is consistently raised in discussions with community members and representative organizations.

I would like to thank you again for this opportunity, and my colleague and I would be pleased to respond to questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Wilson, of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, you have the floor.

[Randle Wilson, Director General, Trade Portfolio Strategy and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a pleasure to appear before you today in my role as official languages champion of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, or DFATD, to talk to you about what the department is doing to build growing, sustainable economies in official language minority communities, the OLMCs.

If the committee has any questions on the Destination Canada program, which is the responsibility of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, my colleague Rénald Gilbert, who is minister-counsellor and head of immigration at the Canadian embassy in Paris, will be pleased to answer them.

I will briefly outline our actions for you under three headings, which our interlocutors at our annual official consultations with OLMC stakeholders regularly view as priorities: international trade promotion, the government's international education strategy and the economic Francophonie, which is the new dimension of the international Francophonie.

Most OLMC businesses are small or medium-sized. Although it obviously supports large companies as well, the department in a way specializes in small and medium enterprises, SMEs, which constitute most of the clientele of our trade service, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service.

SMEs are also the particular focus of the Global Markets Action Plan, the new trade strategy the government announced last November. SMEs trying to penetrate global markets or grow and diversify their exports face many challenges. We have observed that many Canadian SMEs do this very successfully when they are well prepared and well supported by federal services in partnership with the provinces and territories and other relevant stakeholders, which helps them create jobs, grow their businesses and increase prosperity in their communities. This is how the department contributes to the economic development of official language minority communities.

However, many SMEs are unaware that services are in place to help them cut through the complexities of international trade and to find contracts, partnerships and financing or achieve any other desired objective in expanding their businesses internationally. That is why we put so much emphasis on awareness activities.

We travel across the country every year looking for new resource people and new clients, and although we normally reach out along sectoral lines, we make a special effort with OLMC businesses in all provinces and territories.

Our diplomats, when in Canada, are also enlisted in the cause. For example, during a tour of British Columbia and Alberta in February 2013, our ambassador to China met the executive director and president of the Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique, which is a member of RDÉE Canada, and made a presentation on that major market to approximately 40 members of the Conseil de développement économique de l'Alberta, also an RDÉE member. Incidentally, the ambassador also visited Concordia University before going on posting.

Our efforts involve much more than diplomats, of course. The national awareness activities plan for the department's executives provides for a permanent component through which the department will seek opportunities for engagement with OLMCs.

I would note as well that the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service has agents across Canada. They provide information and practical advice on international trade to businesses on the ground. This pan-Canadian network is specifically responsible for targeting OLMCs.

Last December, for example, the director of the Prairies and Northwest Territories region travelled to Yellowknife, where she met the executive director of the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest to discuss the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service and explore that OLMC's needs and potential regarding international markets. She intends to return during SME Week in October.

On the other side of Canada, our trade commissioner in Moncton is an active participant in the breakfast meetings organized every month by the New Brunswick Economic Council, which is the most extensive francophone business network in the Atlantic region. The purpose of our involvement is to raise the profile of the Trade Commissioner Service and to make New Brunswick's francophone and Acadian businesses aware of their services.

Another important line of action in promoting the economic development of OLMCs is Canada's International Education Strategy. As has already been noted today, education is of course a jurisdiction of the provinces and territories, but the department is working closely with them and with sectoral stakeholders to promote it internationally. The purpose of this strategy is to promote Canada's brand and to market the country as a prime education destination. The Association des universités de la francophonie canadienne and the Réseau des cégeps et des collèges francophones du Canada are two of our key partners, and specific institutions such as the University of New Brunswick are our clients in the francophone markets of the Maghreb, for example.

It is in fact an asset for Canada to offer postsecondary students the opportunity to pursue their education at Bishop's University, for example, or on the University of Alberta's Campus Saint-Jean, places where they can improve their comprehension of one language in class and of the other in the community. Incidentally, the Campus Saint-Jean was targeted last November by a cooperation mission that the department organized to promote the development of inter-institutional agreements with representatives of postsecondary education institutions in the Americas.

Lastly, the department has made reinforcing the economic aspect of the francophone space a priority in its involvement in the international Francophonie and views that as an opportunity for sustainable economic development in OLMCs. The draft economic strategy on which the members of the Francophonie are currently working will be adopted by the heads of state and government at that organization's summit in Dakar, Senegal, in November. This is also one of the current priorities of the Minister for La Francophonie, the Honourable Christian Paradis. For example, the new strategy will help consolidate implementation of the values of the Francophonie and have a direct impact on new market development, job creation and economic cooperation among the states and communities in the francophone space. One of our key partners on this project is the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité du Canada, RDÉE.

I will leave it at that since my time is running short. My colleague, Mr. Gilbert, and I are available to the committee to answer any questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Wilson.

So Mr. Gilbert cannot see us, but he can hear us, so we'll just proceed on that basis.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to welcome Mr. Gilbert, who is on the other end of the line, in the country of our ancestors.

You cannot see us, but we may have an opportunity to meet in Paris in two weeks, since I will be at the Canadian embassy with the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association. Perhaps we will be able to talk at greater length.

Mr. Gauthier, you say in your conclusion that the Government of Canada is committed to promoting Canada's official languages as well as the vitality of official language minority communities. How can your department help promote Canada's official languages when it has made cuts to Radio-Canada, a public radio and television broadcasting corporation? You do not talk about arts and culture, but we are going to talk about them now.

In Moncton, in the Atlantic region, which is a francophone minority region, we have been fortunate to have programs such as Belle-Baie, which was filmed in Caraquet. Francophones outside Quebec and in minority regions very much identify with that program. There was La Revue acadienne as well. However, all that has been eliminated.

The government says it has not touched the $1.2 billion roadmap. It says it is investing in our communities, but here it is taking something fundamentally important away from us, something that helps unite people. You also mentioned education, and I will get back to that. I do not understand where the Conservatives are headed. It is as though they want to eliminate our public radio and television. They are responsible under the act for guaranteeing a francophone presence in the minority regions, whether it be in Whitehorse, Nanaimo, British Columbia, or anywhere in Saskatchewan. They are responsible for promoting official languages.

I would like to hear your comments on that.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

That is a good question.

As you will understand, I am not the departmental representative most capable of giving you detailed answers on the Radio-Canada question. An entire unit at the department deals with broadcasting issues.

A lot of measures are designed to promote official languages. Although it is true that some measures may vary over time, and Radio-Canada is an example of that, there is a package of additional measures. They constitute a set, and, based on that set, I can say that support is being provided to the communities.

As you said, official language budgets, particularly that of the roadmap, have not been affected. So a continuing effort is being made to assist the communities. It was in that sense that I said we felt we were supporting the communities.

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

The government says the roadmap has not been affected, but it has withdrawn $120 million from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and invested it in the roadmap. That $120 million was part of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration portfolio. The roadmap has been affected to the tune of $120 million. One plus one equals two.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

There are various reasons for that amount. It is important to emphasize that there have been efficiency gains. We have made cuts to operating costs. The programs that were offered in the fifth year of the roadmap 2008 are still around in the first year of the roadmap 2013. There is continuity.

The plan was that certain programs would terminate after one year. They were term projects.

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

That does not alter the fact that $120 million has been transferred from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to the roadmap.

I would like to ask another question.

The Government of Canada and the provinces invested a lot of funding in the Forum on Economic Development in the Canadian Francophonie, which was held in 2012. At that forum, all the partners, who came from the federal and provincial governments, the communities and the private sector, adopted the integrated action plan for the economic development of the Canadian Francophonie.

Do you think that plan provides a good basis for the communities's economic development?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

The primary appeal of that plan is that it is consensual. It brings together many partners, whom you named. I also discussed it in my presentation. In that respect, it is a credible and interesting plan.

I also speak on behalf of the Ministerial Conference, because I am co-chair of the interministerial working group studying this matter. We have always wanted this plan to belong first of all to the communities and to the business community since it is their economic development that is at stake. We are here to help them, as we were throughout the forum. We observe developments under this plan and we offer our support.

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

Then why not invest in its implementation? The communities say there has been no investment in its implementation. It is good that the committee is conducting a study on the economic situation of official language communities. However, a major forum was held in Ottawa in 2012, and, as you said yourself, that forum was productive.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

Yes, it was.

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

However, the communities felt that the government was subsequently not there to help them.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

We feel that some of the roadmap investments, such as the EDI and the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities, for example, help pursue these objectives. Strictly speaking, that plan has not been adopted as public policy. The activities we carry out are clearly part of that plan; they are consistent and compatible with that plan.

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

Perhaps you should explain that to the communities because they do not see themselves as being part of that plan.

My next question is for the representative of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

In the April 7 "My Opinion" column, New Brunswick's Commissioner of Official Languages, Katherine d'Entremont, discussed the poor results of francophone immigration to that province, noting that French was the first official language spoken by only 11.7% of recent immigrants.

As you know, immigration is a very important pillar of the economic development of official language minority communities. In her article, Ms. d'Entremont called for a federal-provincial framework agreement to be established for francophone immigration to promote a long-term joint approach.

Do you agree that such a federal-provincial agreement would be necessary to maintain the demographic weight of official language minority communities?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

I am going to refer that question to my colleague from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

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

That is who I am addressing.

[Rénald Gilbert, Manager, Immigration Program, Paris, France, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

That would definitely be one way of increasing the percentage of francophones settling in New Brunswick. However, New Brunswick is already able to select a number of its immigrants. It already has tools it can use to do that.

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

Quebec has its own immigration office, which gives it an advantage, but the country's other provinces do not. How do we promote francophone immigration to minority regions elsewhere in the country in such a way that they will stay there?

[Rénald Gilbert]

Strictly speaking, New Brunswick does not have international offices, but representatives of that province frequently come and recruit in Europe and Africa. I believe they are coming for another week in June. Last November, the province set up what we call Destination Nouveau-Brunswick.

The province is already carrying on its own activities, but I cannot really respond for the Government of New Brunswick.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Gilbert.

Mr. Gourde, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for attending our meeting this morning.

My first question is for Mr. Gauthier.

At the Pan-Canadian Forum on Economic Development in the Canadian Francophonie, an integrated plan was prepared based on six areas of intervention: markets and marketing, entrepreneurship, economic integration, sustainable partnerships, funding and investment and public policies and regulations.

Could you briefly tell us what we should take away from that report? Perhaps you could also provide the report to the committee.