Finance Committee on Oct. 23rd, 2012

[Elizabeth Aquin]

Those are the two that first come to mind.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Gratton, would you comment?

[Pierre Gratton]

I have a different one, just so we have more variety.

We're working, through our sector council, on a mineworker certification initiative. Basic mining skills for mineworkers—underground mineworkers, open-pit workers—are not skills that are recognized. Historically, you don't have a degree or certificate in that. Through the sector council, we have been working across the country, at the pilot stage, to actually develop that certification so that a worker—

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

It would be like a Red Seal program.

[Pierre Gratton]

It is somewhat like that, except that it's within each province. We're developing something that's national so that when a worker at the Bathurst mine in New Brunswick, which is closing, wants to go work for a mine in British Columbia—

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

I understand.

[Pierre Gratton]

—they can give the worker a certificate. It's beneficial for workers. It's also good for the companies to know what they are hiring.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Gratton, I only have one minute left. I agree with you. I think that's a great initiative. Are there any others?

[Pierre Gratton]

No, I will stop there.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

I like it.

Go ahead, Mr. Everson, please.

[Warren Everson]

Thank you.

We call for a leveling of the benefits environment over time. You can't make it a better deal to be unemployed in one area than to be employed in another area.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

The EI system, in particular, you are saying, punishes—

[Warren Everson]

EI generally needs reform. We're not fighting tooth and claw. We agree that this is going to take a long time to not create victims.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

What do you think of our moves so far, the initiatives we've undertaken?

[Warren Everson]

I think they were well calibrated.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Do you agree?

[Elizabeth Aquin]

I would totally agree. I think the employment system needs to be looked at to encourage people to work and not to not work.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Everson, you said, specifically on EI, that we're punishing people in one part of the country and making them not go to work in other parts of the country.

[Warren Everson]

No.

I don't know how many times you have heard this yourself. People will say to you that if they succeed this much, they will lose their access to housing. If they are aboriginal, they will lose access to a tax benefit. They are not incented to go the next step in their personal lives. We keep encountering that in different ways. It's heartbreaking, so that would be a high priority.

The other one I like is information for people, because it is singularly difficult for someone who is unemployed to know what actually exists elsewhere, far away. The more they know, the more likely they are to go. I commend the government for the efforts it's starting to make there.

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB]

So when I say, “Come to Fort McMurray,” I should just say it a lot.

[Warren Everson]

Just keep saying it.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you, Mr. Jean.

I want to thank our witnesses. We are going to suspend the meeting. The voting, I assume, will take about 35 minutes, and the committee will come back after that.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

I'll call this meeting back to order.

Again I want to thank our witnesses very much for their patience in waiting while we completed our voting. We will start—

I will first yield the floor to Mr. Mai for five minutes.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank our witnesses for being so patient while we were voting.

My question is for Ms. Kenny, from the Fédération des communautés francophones and acadienne du Canada.

In Quebec, great efforts are being invested into protecting the French language, but across Canada, that must not be an easy task either, especially when it comes to bilingualism issues.

You really insisted on the roadmap. You made that request last year before the Standing Committee on Finance, and you have repeated it. Can you tell us how important it is for the Standing Committee on Finance to keep that in mind for next year?

[Marie-France Kenny]

In terms of linguistic duality and the available services, the roadmap goes beyond investments. It provides funding for various sectors, and it really does a lot of good. We are talking about investments totalling over $1 billion.

As for the showcase for cultural organizations, the roadmap contributes not only to culture, but also to the Canadian economy, and to our francophone artists. The francophone industry contributes significantly to the GDP. People shouldn't think that the investments are funds allocated only for French-speaking people. We are full-fledged citizens. We work in areas such as health care. I was just talking to this gentleman about how necessary it is to have access to francophone doctors and nurses across the country. It is not just about the fact that we contribute to the economy, but also the fact that, if someone like me is in a panic when dialing 911, they will want to speak French, no matter how bilingual they are.

Funds were invested in the cultural showcase, youth, and immigration in the case of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Those funds are combined with those provided by the Official Languages Support Programs Branch. That is significant. We are talking about a $1-billion investment. Without the roadmap, many programs and communities would struggle. Some of the smallest communities may disappear.