Evidence of meeting #82 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was alberta.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Bloc
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Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
I don't want to cut you off, but...
Ms. Ashton, you also have the floor for two and a half minutes.
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Okay, thank you.
Again, my question is for Mr. Boucher.
As part of this study, we heard about the work done by the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities, or CDEM, and in particular the Destination Manitoba event. Since the passage of Bill C‑13, an act for the substantive equality of Canada's official languages, we've set much more ambitious immigration targets. We want them to be even more ambitious.
Does this CDEM initiative help boost local economic development by promoting the province's attractions and opportunities for francophone immigrants and the business community? Would federal support for this type of long‑term initiative play an important role?
12:55 p.m.
Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine
Absolutely. Thank you for your question, Ms. Ashton.
In terms of francophone immigration, the key is to get to know people, to talk to them about the area in person and to help them fully understand our situation. I think that these initiatives would support and encourage a somewhat better‑structured francophone immigration, based on various factors that include employment. In addition, I think that the federal government can certainly play a role. This type of initiative works. It helps us recruit more and more people who can work in our communities and settle here, in French, in Manitoba.
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you.
I'll take my last few seconds to ask Mr. Alary the same question that I put to Mr. Boucher about the cuts at Radio‑Canada.
Mr. Alary, are people in Alberta concerned about these cuts and the impact on the province's francophone communities?
12:55 p.m.
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
It's a major concern, especially given the number of positions slated for cuts and the impact on our regional stations. Cutting positions in Alberta, Manitoba or Saskatchewan will negatively affect media coverage of our francophone communities. It's unfortunate that the crown corporation has reached this point.
We understand that the media is facing a somewhat challenging period these days, from a financial perspective. We're hearing about the decrease in advertising sales, for example. That said, these issues are nothing new. In the 1990s, we heard about regional stations closing in Saskatchewan and in other places.
Sometimes teams are streamlined to make them more efficient. However, if a single journalist is taken out of the field in Edmonton or Calgary, the community along with francophone communities across the country will lose out.
12:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Alary and Ms. Ashton.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Sudbury's mayor, Paul Lefebvre.
Mr. Lefebvre is also a former member of Parliament. He served on the Standing Committee on Official Languages for four years.
I want to thank the witnesses for being here.
Further to Ms. Goodridge's comments, I must say that it's wonderful to hear from all these francophones from Quebec, northern New Brunswick, Ontario or other places. It's great to hear from all these French speakers from across Canada.
We have a great country and much reason to be proud.
I want to remind committee members that there won't be any meeting on Wednesday this week for the reasons discussed last week.
On behalf of the committee, I would also like to thank our support staff and our assistants, who often come up with good questions. We frequently don't have time to write them down ourselves.
I want to thank all the information technology technicians; the interpreters, who work remotely and who do an outstanding job; the clerk and the analyst, who are incredibly helpful; and above all, the next generation.
The meeting is adjourned.
