Official Languages Committee on Nov. 9th, 2006

[Monika Ferenczy]

We want to suggest that students, particularly those between the ages of 9 and 11, be offered the opportunity to explore and use French, at an age when they are beginning to think about their learning. For example, ideally speaking, if every 5^th Grade student in Canada could come to Ottawa, see Parliament and hear people speaking in both official languages in the same city, it would be an extraordinary trip that would allow them to discover a community where people speak both languages.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

We used to have the Terry Fox Program. I remember it, because there were some members of Parliament who did not participate. Within this program, we would send five students from our riding to stay with another family. For example, a francophone student would go and spend the summer living with an anglophone family, and the child of the anglophone family would go spend the summer with the parents of the francophone student. It was a good program.

There were even some years where we invited 10 students. However, some people did not wish to participate because they found it was too complicated. I felt it was a very good program that gave our young people an opportunity.

[Monika Ferenczy]

We have some similar exchange programs, but there are some families that prefer not to host a child. There are also summer camps that children can go to. Another example is the Quebec program, that gives a good opportunity to a child that has all the necessary assets to be successful.

If there were programs for French as a second language, whereby students could receive a scholarship to pay for all the materials and that would provide all the necessary opportunity to support their motivation, regardless of the economic status of the family, we would see their success.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I would like to come back to the issue of responsibility. It is true that education is a provincial area of responsibility. As far as the action plan and the extra funds to help communities are concerned, if I understand correctly—and I do not want to put words in your mouth—when the government negotiates with the provinces, you say that since the money to do something specific comes from elsewhere, you do not really want them to become involved in education at the provincial level, because it truly is a provincial area of responsibility. You would like there to be an agreement under which federal funding would not serve only to...

In one province—it was not Quebec—the federal government had given money for French-language education. We realized that the money had not been spent in the right area because no one had really said where it should be used. It was simply said that because it was not in their area of jurisdiction, the federal government should not have become involved. They were asking for money and expected to use it as they wished.

[Monika Ferenczy]

The money must be specifically earmarked.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

On that note, on behalf of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, I would like to thank you. This meeting was important to us. It will allow us to draft a report that we will table in Parliament and that may influence the government in its decision-making.

I would like to thank you sincerely. It was an honour for us to be here in Toronto, to meet with groups from the region. This afternoon, we will be visiting the Centre francophone de Toronto. It will be very interesting. We do not simply hold meetings; we also visit establishments in order to see what is happening on the front lines. Tonight, we will leave for Sudbury, where we will be holding meetings tomorrow.

And so, I thank you once again. I wish you a good day and a good week.

The meeting is adjourned.