Yes.
Evidence of meeting #26 for Official Languages in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was training.
Evidence of meeting #26 for Official Languages in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was training.
9:50 a.m.
Executive Director, ACFO Regional, Community sector development, Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury
Yes.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Yvon Godin
And you say that the action plan has not had much impact on the ground. Yet the institutions themselves have had an impact on the ground.
9:50 a.m.
Executive Director, ACFO Regional, Community sector development, Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury
Yes, in very specific areas, although it hasn't really helped in terms of developing anything else. A lot of money has been invested in education and health.
We were very involved in developing the networks and that sort of thing. But it's another matter to develop new things.
9:50 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Yvon Godin
Could you give us some examples?
You say that the ACFO helped to develop these things and that now, it's as though you are being shunted aside.
9:50 a.m.
Executive Director, ACFO Regional, Community sector development, Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury
Yes, that is basically it. We acted as an instrument and a lever in many different cases. But there is still a great deal of work to be done, because assimilation is still occurring and things are still happening. There is no doubt that the grass roots has less recognition. And in terms of joint action on the ground, it is not really valued because we now have institutions and infrastructure in place. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get people to work in the field. We are not devoting the necessary resources to this and we are certainly not giving it the appropriate recognition. There are still many things to be done.
9:50 a.m.
Executive Director, ACFO Regional, Community sector development, Association canadienne française de l'Ontario du grand Sudbury
One of the things we have to pay attention to is immigration. There is no recognition of Francophone immigration. It was determined that Sudbury would be a good place to send Francophone immigrants. But very little has been done on the ground to provide for the appropriate structure, and there is very little recognition. Since the departure of the provincial ACFO, an institution like ACFO is now nothing more than one organization among many, but the sector has no real structure, and no longer is there a provincial alliance. There is nothing to ensure that we can work together. Some associations working on the ground have to make due with $10,000 a year. It won't be possible to do much if we don't provide the necessary resources to ensure that development is appropriate.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Yvon Godin
Mr. Hubert, I would be interested in hearing your views on that.
I only have a minute and a half left.
9:55 a.m.
President, Collège Boréal
Since about 1910, the associative movement in Ontario, which developed through our parishes, has made advances and evolved. It's important to support the associative movement in Ontario. People who have been part of it have enjoyed an exceptional level of collaboration. What was called the coalition, and what is now called the collective, has managed to mobilize and engage the population, which made it clear that it needed a Francophone college and Francophone institutions. The associative community is like the oil that keeps the gears working properly. I think we have to do whatever we can to ensure that it is healthy, without necessarily criticizing the fact that it always depends on government. In a minority situation, that is the reality.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Yvon Godin
Thank you.
I have ten seconds left, Ms. Barbot, and I'm going to give them to Mr. D'Amours.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Chairman, thank you for your generosity.
Mr. Larouche, at the beginning of your presentation, you talked about networking, which is a form of lobbying.
9:55 a.m.
Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario
Yes, partly.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Without that lobbying, what would happen? Can you answer in one minute?
9:55 a.m.
Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario
Yes, of course.
This actually gives me an opportunity to finish what I was saying earlier. Without that networking, nothing would have happened. The health care sector is a fairly technical, specific area. Had there not been networks there to act as a catalyst or foundation, a rallying point for the people actively involved in ensuring that health care services could be provided in French in Ontario, nothing would have happened. We would have services that lack oxygen, we would have health care professionals with nothing in their environment to remind them that they are Francophone, that they should be proud of being Francophone and proud to be able to provide services in French — in other words, that this is value-added.
The institutions are doing nothing to make people aware of that reality — nothing at all. In fact, as far as they are concerned, it's a problem.
But the winds of change are now blowing. If we weren't there, the situation would be really sad, because the health care sector is comparable to the mining industry, I'd say: it's Anglophone, very Anglophone. In leading sectors of the economy, such as technology and international research, everything is done in English.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
What you are basically saying, Mr. Larouche, is that had there been no lobbying, nothing would have happened, because that is your way of getting your message across and ensuring the vitality of the French language in the health care sector.
In light of that realization — if you consider the argument used to justify the recent budget cuts, which was that lobbying only wastes taxpayers' money — one can assume that had there been no lobbying, for you, no progress would have been possible and the status quo would simply have been maintained. So, it's as a result of that network and lobbying activity that you were able to make advances, look towards the future and try to improve the situation for your communities.
10 a.m.
Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario
There are several different parts to my answer. First of all, networking does include a lobbying component. Furthermore, there are different ways of lobbying. There are arguments that are political, yes, but there are also arguments that are more clinical in nature that have to do with best practices in the health care sector. So, as far as I'm concerned, lobbying is a big word, an argument, a dialogue involving arguments of different—
10 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Let me be clear: lobbying does not necessarily mean making money at someone else's expense.
10 a.m.
Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario
No, absolutely not.
10 a.m.
Director general, Réseau des services de santé en français du Moyen-Nord de l'Ontario
No. We definitely agree on that.
In the context of the reforms instituted in Ontario, without the pressure of arguments in favour of improved health care, I don't think we would have moved forward. Absolutely not.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Thank you.
How much time do I have left, Mr. Chairman?
10 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Hubert, as regards literacy, can you again tell us which Francophone coalition will be affected—
10 a.m.
Liberal
Jean-Claude D'Amours Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
What is the name of that Francophone coalition?