Official Languages Committee on Oct. 3rd, 2006

[Marc Arnal]

We do not claim to have all the answers. However, one of the things we did regularly was to consult with Quebec, which has made great efforts to integrate people into rural communities. The government of Quebec is cooperating with us in this area. There are a series of factors we don't know about and which vary from one population to another. We might ask ourselves, for example, whether the availability of health services in French is a factor. We do know, however, that the attitude of people in host communities is a factor.

There is a research component in our application. We need to ensure that this research is carried out, that researchers examine these questions and that in two, three, four or five years, we have a clearer understanding of the factors that might affect integration and retention.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Mr. Arnal.

Mr. Bouchard, you have two minutes.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief.

You said that you did a tour of South America were surprised by the fact that, when asked about Canada, people associated the French fact only with Quebec. I would like to know whether your strategic plan includes measures to change this perception among immigrants. In fact, I believe that in many embassies around the world, Canada is perceived as a purely Anglophone country.

[Daniel Jean]

First, in recent years, we have been using material dealing with Francophone communities in minority situations. We have made it available to our embassies abroad. We are currently developing a Web portal, which will be a gateway for immigrants looking for information. There is an enormous number of people who visit our Web site for that purpose. It is a good tool to promote French communities across Canada and provide information on host communities. Furthermore, we will definitely continue to raise our staff awareness.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you very much.

We will now move on to Mr. Godin.

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

Given that French and English are Canada's two official languages, I was wondering, when immigrants are invited to come here, whether they are offered training on our laws. Are they told that Francophones can live and work in their own language? Is there a program to inform immigrants that they can feel comfortable living in French, and that Canada is a great country where the French fact is not only used for promotional purposes?

[Daniel Jean]

I would like to say two things. First, regarding integration programs, there is an orientation program that deals with institutions and those kinds of things.

Second—and this is where there is a specific need—there are Francophone reception centres and arrangements such as those described by Mr. Arnal a little earlier when he spoke about the city of Moncton, where there is an arrangement between Francophone communities and our integration service providers, whereby this kind of information is given to immigrants.

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

And yet, if there are no French brochures in an embassy, it will be difficult to convince people to come to Canada by telling them about our Official Languages Act, that they will be served in French, that they will be able to stand up for their rights in French and, if they have any problems with that , that they will even be given money to challenge the government in court.

[Marc Arnal]

We have invited people from Foreign Affairs to sit at our table, in order to raise their awareness of this issue. We cannot hide the fact that there were two types of disinformation. There were people who came to Canada and who believed that they would be able to speak in French to all passersby on Main Street in downtown Edmonton. Imagine their disappointment!

Then, there are people who believe that the Francophonie stops at the Ottawa River. It just doesn't work that way.

We are working with people from Foreign Affairs and CIC to better represent Canada abroad. The fact that we had an ambassador to Morocco who was from Alberta has also greatly helped us. She worked hard with her colleagues to raise their awareness of Canada's makeup.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

This concludes our session. I would like to thank all my colleagues, as well as Messrs. Jean and Arnal.

We will suspend the meeting for two minutes.

[The meeting continues in camera]