Official Languages Committee on Dec. 11th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Ms. Brosseau.

Mr. Boucher, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Daniel Boucher, Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine]

Thank you very much.

I'd like to thank the Standing Committee on Official Languages for inviting me to appear today.

My name is Daniel Boucher and I am the executive director of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine, or SFM. As the voice of Manitoba's francophone community, the SFM works to advance all areas of the community's activities with the help of its vast network of collaborators and partners.

Today, I'd like to talk about three main issues: the implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages, federal-provincial-territorial agreements, and the lack of research on the economic impact of the francophonie. I will keep my remarks brief so that I can answer your questions at the end.

The SFM would like to take a moment to acknowledge the leadership shown by the federal government and parliamentarians in getting C‑13 and the new Action Plan for Official Languages, or APOL, passed. These are essential tools for promoting prosperity in our communities. That said, we are increasingly concerned about the delay in implementing the action plan, which is limiting the economic development of Manitoba's francophone community and all other francophone communities in Canada.

Through their hard work in providing stimulating jobs here at home while strengthening every aspect of community life, our community organizations act as catalysts for the economic vitality of our country and our province. It's important to stress that bilingualism is an essential part of Canada's competitive advantage. French is an economic asset on which we must build. The decline in the demographic weight of francophones across Canada calls for urgent and accelerated action on the part of the federal government.

It goes without saying that the economic development of our communities depends to a large extent on the availability of services in French, including education and health services. These services help to attract and retain bilingual workers and new arrivals. This has a major impact not only on the competitiveness of our economy, but also on the ability of our local businesses to grow and flourish.

That said, our communities are still waiting for new agreements on French-language services and the federal and provincial funding that goes with them. In the meantime, community organizations and the workers who support them are suffering from economic insecurity in times of uncertainty. In addition, the lack of language clauses in the Canada health transfer leaves much to be desired, making it more difficult for French-speaking people to obtain services in their first official language. We therefore encourage the federal government to conclude the agreements, to add language clauses to the agreements that still do not have them, and to support the municipalities so that they can offer services in French.

We are living through a revolution that is fundamentally transforming the way we work and the way we claim our rights. Never before in human history has so much data been produced. Yet there is a glaring lack of understanding of the weight and economic impact of the Canadian francophonie and bilingual entrepreneurs. Despite the work of organizations such as the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité, or RDÉE Canada, and its members, among others, more needs to be done to encourage the collection and, above all, the analysis of evidence in this area.

The Conference Board of Canada's 2018 report on English-French bilingualism outside Quebec is an excellent example of a methodologically robust analysis that provides a better overall picture of our realities than mere anecdotes. Analyzing and integrating research into the logic of our work is what allows our organizations to respond to real needs and work with different levels of government to find winning solutions. This could be done by encouraging collaboration between our economic development agencies and Statistics Canada, for example.

Thank you for your attention and for giving us the opportunity to present our point of view today. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Boucher.

For the witnesses taking part in the meeting by videoconference, we're going to move on to the first round of interactive questions with each of the political parties, for six minutes.

We will begin with the first vice-chair of this committee, Mr. Godin, who will have the floor for six minutes.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would first like to thank the generous witnesses who are with us today.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for taking part in our study and for providing us with the information we need to be better, so that we can implement recommendations and provide you with the tools you need.

First of all, I'd like to say hello to Mr. Alary, whom I had the privilege of meeting in Calgary this summer, at a round table I took part in with a number of other speakers. This opportunity will allow me to take our conversation a little further.

Mr. Alary, during your speech you mentioned that you have one full-time employee and one contract employee.

Is that enough?

[Étienne Alary]

Thank you very much for your question, Mr. Godin.

In my presentation, I talked about employees in the northeast and northwest of the province. The Conseil de développement économique de l'Alberta has a team of 12 permanent employees, including four in Calgary, five or six in Edmonton and those I referred to who provide services in rural areas.

Economically, we could certainly do more, but given that funding has been relatively stable for a number of years, if we wanted to have an employee, say, in Fort McMurray or Grande Prairie, we might have to axe a position elsewhere in the province.

Rather than robbing Peter to pay Paul, how can we better serve our community? Sometimes we have to be creative. We know that there are demographic changes in our communities. To stay relevant, I could talk about employability, another important area we'll be working on over the next year.

I know that speaking time is limited. So I'll finish now and answer any other questions you may have.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Alary, I believe you were given a mandate by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, or ISDE. You've been entrusted with the task of managing a PrairiesCan funding program.

Can you tell us a bit about the mandate and responsibilities you were given for this program?

[Étienne Alary]

It involves the creation of a Canada Economic Development fund for the Prairies that, three years ago, was called the Western Francophone Economic Development Fund. However, as I'm sure you already know, Western Economic Diversification Canada has split its activities into two regions: the Prairies, covered by PrairiesCan, and the Pacific, for which it's created PacifiCancouture.

For the Prairies, which include Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Economic Development Initiative envelope, which was previously managed by the department, is now managed by the Conseil de développement économique de l'Alberta. We're working with our economic development counterparts in the other two provinces to encourage the creation of projects originating from community organizations in each of the provinces.

In the end, we're trying to achieve a fair distribution of the $600,000 budget envelope. There would then be $200,000 per province to encourage some of the projects I mentioned in my presentation, such as the creation of a sewing co-operative for French-speaking African women—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but speaking time is very limited.

In fact, I'd like to come back to an announcement you made last year about the creation of the Alliance de la francophonie économique canadienne, or AFEC, with your counterparts from New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec.

What difference do you see between the AFEC and RDÉE Canada?

[Étienne Alary]

As you know, RDÉE Canada is the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité. It focuses on entrepreneurship, employability and economic development. The AFEC aims to promote economic and trade missions between French-speaking entrepreneurs in these provinces, such as the Rendez-vous d'affaires de la Francophonie, which takes place in Quebec City every two years. I know that the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec often sends delegations of French-speaking entrepreneurs who want to do business in Alberta.

The difference between the AFEC and RDÉE Canada is that RDÉE Canada helps entrepreneurs get started in business, while the AFEC has a more economic perspective; it aims for interprovincial exchanges between francophone entrepreneurs.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

So the objective is to develop markets in the more francophone sectors. I think it's a great initiative. Congratulations.

We know that French is a minority language in Alberta, and that many tourists come to your region.

Would it be possible for you to use French for your tourism industry?

[Étienne Alary]

A few years ago, we created a French-language tourist guide so that tourists could discover certain attractions in French. We’ve created bilingual tourist circuits.

We know that the tourism market is very important in Alberta. Our towns in the Canadian Rockies, including Canmore, Banff and Jasper, are often overflowing with tourists. I know that the Lake Louise region was closed on a few occasions this summer. So our projects are also aimed at bringing tourists to other parts of the province.

To do this, we work with Travel Alberta, the provincial tourism agency. As I mentioned, we’ve set up bilingual tourist circuits, which allow francophone entrepreneurs to stand out and offer certain services. We’ve set up a number of economuseums to showcase craftspeople at work, such as a cheese maker in Vermilion and a beekeeper in the Watino region in the northwest of the province.

So there are a number of great initiatives to help us better serve our French-speaking clientele. You should also know that this year, Travel Alberta made the French market one of its priorities for attracting tourists to Alberta. We’ve signed a partnership agreement with this provincial agency so that we can continue this collaboration.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

How are English-speaking Albertans reacting to this initiative?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's an excellent question, Mr. Godin, but your time is up. We can come back to it later.

It's now the Liberals' turn.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses, who are with us by videoconference.

I have a question to try to understand the ecosystem of francophone communities in Alberta.

You referred to the Economic Development Initiative, or EDI. The Conseil de développement économique de l'Alberta is now involved in implementing this program for the Prairies region.

In Ontario, we have “sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités“ or SADCs—that is, Community Futures Development Corporations. Is it the same in Alberta? Are there SADCs in that province that are more attuned to the reality of francophone minority communities?

[Étienne Alary]

The EDI is a federal program. In Alberta, we have the Community Futures Network of Alberta, a rural development network. In some places, particularly in the northeast and northwest of the province, the people in this network are more sensitive to the bilingual or francophone fact and work with us to increase bilingualism in these regions.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

In other words, in regions where there are more francophones, you have a good working relationship with these people and you work very well together.

[Étienne Alary]

Yes, we want to work together. Bilingualism extends to both French and English. There's a great deal of openness and we're counting a lot on co-operation.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I would now like to ask a few questions of the representatives of the Société de la francophonie manitobaine, to better understand the development context of Franco-Manitoban communities.

Mr. Boucher, do you also participate in the implementation of federal programs?

[Daniel Boucher]

We don't do it directly, but we do have the Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, which is part of RDÉE Canada, as well as the Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba. We work with the municipalities. We have federal and provincial programs, which we don't implement directly, but which are sometimes coordinated by the Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba. This association works closely with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Manitoba Association of Municipalities. All of these players contribute to the economic development of francophone communities.

At the Société de la francophonie manitobaine, our role is one of consultation and coordination. We work with various groups to promote much broader issues that are often political in nature, so to speak, including demands that we have programs and services in place to support us.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Back home in Ontario, I always say that it's a lot easier in my riding than elsewhere, because 60% of the population is francophone. That's a lot, but there are still challenges.

In Manitoba, are francophones scattered all over the place? What gaps need to be filled so that you can provide good service?

[Daniel Boucher]

There are a lot of bilingual municipalities. We now have 17, I think. Some municipal councils have passed by-laws requiring their meetings or minutes to be bilingual, for example.

We work in partnership with our English-speaking friends in the municipalities and we promote the importance of the French language in our communities as a means of ensuring that the quality of services is maximized for everyone. For us, services in French are essential, but it also improves the overall delivery of services.

We feel that we have made a great deal of progress with our friends in what I would call English-speaking municipalities. Some of them have declared themselves bilingual by decree. We are continuing along this path. It's not easy work, but it's work that is continuing and progressing very well.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Okay.

Ms. Brosseau, since we're talking about municipalities, I'd like to know what role your association plays in supporting the economic development of francophone communities in the bilingual municipalities you represent. Does this vary from municipality to municipality? Is it limited to translating the website, in some cases, or is there a real active offer of economic development services for francophones in our municipalities?

[Elisa Brosseau]

We have different initiatives. Some are broader and do encompass all of our members. We have 19 municipalities in Alberta that see themselves as being bilingual. In that case, for everybody, it is to help translate their website to be English and French. However, we do have some projects that could be more specific to a certain region, or a couple of municipalities that are more closely neighbouring than others.

We are still in our infancy. We've had projects in the past, but we are currently waiting for some results on some grant applications that we have with Heritage Canada and PrairiesCan in order to continue some of those larger projects for all of our members.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Okay, thank you very much.

I have just enough time left for one last question.

Mr. Alary, you talked about the Alliance de la francophonie économique canadienne, or AFEC, and the need to forge links between francophone communities. People are often inclined to look for resources outside their own country. We forget that francophones in Alberta, for example, can offer services to francophones in Quebec. What's more, there are often people in Quebec who don't speak English, because it's their second language, so official language minority communities can help build those links.

Do you see this as an advantage of creating the AFEC?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have 15 seconds left to answer.