Official Languages Committee on Sept. 20th, 2016

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

It's never too late to do the right thing.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

It would be a lot better to hear from the ministries. I have nothing against the organizations, but I repeat that our work is done with the governments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

It's the Ontario Ministry of Francophone Affairs. We will have to find the exact name. We will set aside one hour for them.

What are we doing for the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario and the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

They would have half an hour each.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

So, half an hour each, but they would come at the same time.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Lefebvre can correct me if I am wrong, but the French Language Services Commissioner in Ontario might make similar remarks to Katherine d'Entremont, our commissioner in New Brunswick.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

That's right.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So why make them come here? They are protecting language rights in their provinces, according to provincial legislation.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

A bit like an ombudsman for language rights. They don't deal with immigration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

So are you dropping Ontario's Office of the French Language Services Commissioner?

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Unless they have a broader role that includes immigration. I don't know.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I agree, but I still have one concern.

We are making a list of witnesses and we are coming up with our game plan, which is good. However, I am concerned that we do not have a complete list of people that we want to hear from about the roadmap. At the end of all this, we will have heard from a few people about the roadmap, but no one else.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

It is not just about the roadmap; it's about immigration.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Yes, but if we do all this for immigration, there will be no time for the roadmap.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

That is what we told you just now, but you weren’t listening.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Ha, ha!

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I would like to clarify one thing for the record, because it is not clear for everyone. This debate is in public. We are not rejecting groups but we have to choose what seems to us to be most relevant for our study. I still want to leave it a little open. At any point, if a group cannot come for any reason, there will perhaps be room to invite another group. This is a message in the public interest that I am sending to those who might be listening to us or reading this.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Mr. Chair, did I understand correctly that we are going to invite officials from each provincial government for one hour each? That is what we decided, was it not?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

That is the proposal. At the end, I would like us to add in half-hours and hours and, if that goes over the time we have set aside, we will drop some of them.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

We are already at our limit of 20 hours.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I have a suggestion. Can we check with provincial and territorial governments to see whether they have policies on immigration in minority situations, which is the main goal of the study? Perhaps all of them do, but I am not sure about that; I would be surprised. We could then hear from provincial ministries that do have policies on immigration in minority situations.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

What about governments that do not have them? Why don’t they?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We have to encourage them to get some.

[An hon. member]

The goal is for them to have some.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

We only have 20 hours. Our time is limited.