Official Languages Committee on Nov. 10th, 2006

[Denis Hubert]

It's called the Coalition francophone pour l'alphabétisation et la formation de base en Ontario and for a number of years now, it has been requesting funding for basic education.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

You are part of a community that has problems. It is a well known fact that many Francophones living outside Quebec are illiterate.

[Denis Hubert]

That's correct.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So, progress has to be made in that regard. For the last month and a half, we have been trying to get the Minister of Human Resources to tell us where exactly the cuts were made and who will suffer, but we haven't received an answer. I am glad to hear you say that your organization is feeling the negative impact of that decision.

We may finally have uncovered the secret. At last we are getting our own answers, without the government having to provide them.

I realize that my time is up; I'll come back on the third round.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You have the floor, Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good morning everyone, and thank you for being here today. I am happy to share this time with you in order to move things forward. I am the Parliamentary Secretary for Francophonie and Official Languages. It is important for me to be here. I am the link between Parliament, the Minister and the communities, and as a government, it is very important for us that that linkage be made.

Having said that, Mr. Hubert, I have a question. I am an eternal optimist, and I like finding solutions to problems. I think that's the best way to operate. If you were able to make suggestions to the Committee today as to the best way of ensuring the most effective cooperation between the different levels of government, be they provincial or federal, and the communities, what would you suggest?

[Denis Hubert]

The solution is to provide the means to facilitate communication. I'd like to give you two examples.

The government has just finalized the Labour Market Development Agreements, or LMDAs, which were anxiously awaited. We are very grateful. Approximately $523 million will be transferred to Ontario. Congratulations! I take my hat off to you.

However, a second agreement — the Labour Market Partnership Agreement, or LMPA — which represents $323 million, is still pending. That delay is hurting us, because the second part of the agreement allows us to mentor people who are subject to Part II of the Employment Insurance Act and end up jobless. That $323 million has yet to be paid out, and the same applies to the $900 million earmarked for immigrants and facilitating their integration in Ontario.

Some $900 million are still pending; that amount is part of the strategic plan that Mr. Solberg has just tabled. I am not criticizing, but we have been talking about funding for a long time — funding that the government sees as a priority. For our part, we have been working for almost three years with all kinds of task forces, lobbyists and other individuals to ensure that money can be distributed more quickly.

I'm afraid that people may be beginning to lose hope. We're having trouble maintaining people's optimism. Things have to start moving. Whether we're talking about $800 million, $900 million or $1 billion, that is not the point. We need to access that $900 million and the team that works with the Minister on developing the strategic plan, if we want to facilitate settlement for immigrants coming to Ontario.

I realize that the situation may be quite complex, but we have been waiting for news of that $900 million for a very long time. That funding would allow me to fully play my role, including in Toronto, where 80% of my students are first or second generation Canadians.

In two weeks, we will actually be awarded the provincial prize for the best fast-track immigration settlement program in Ontario. We set that program up with practically no money and we have been extraordinarily successful in hosting new families here in Ontario and helping them to succeed; after settlement, these families still have to complete the program and the course.

But I can't do that alone. Since I'm not receiving any money directly from my own government to carry out this kind of project, I need your support. I'm optimistic.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I understand.

[Denis Hubert]

And we have to continue to lobby, because it's important.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Do I have any time left?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Just one minute.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Ms. Roy, I'd like to know what your greatest success has been thus far. And what potential solutions are you proposing to the government?

[Suzanne Roy]

Thanks to the ACFO associative movement, Ontario now has a good infrastructure. If colleges have been established, it's because of the work carried out at the grass roots. All of our institutions flow from the grass roots. However, people now seem to be saying that because the infrastructure is already in place, it is no longer necessary to carry out that work at the grass roots level.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You have 20 seconds left.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

A whole twenty seconds!

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

You can make one comment.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Possibly, yes.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I may be strict when it comes to counting the seconds, but I don't want to take them away from you.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

That's okay, but Mr. Larouche—

[Marc-André Larouche]

Just to give you an illustration of the network, I'd say that the institutions and organizations that are gaining strength and vitality within the Francophone minority are community-based organizations and institutions. The best recent example is our network. The ACFO has been supporting us for three years, and we appreciate its assistance. That funding is obviously important, but with Treasury Board rules, we will certainly have liquidity problems at some point.

If the ACFO were not a solid partner, we would not be here. Despite that $14 million, which is great, we would not exist. It is thanks to the ACFO that we have been able to grow. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient awareness of the fact that it is organizations such as this that are involved.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

Ms. Barbot.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

I'm glad that Ms. Roy is here, and I'm especially glad that we can hear for ourselves what associations such as hers are doing. In the end, where are the real people? A sick person only exists once he is part of the health care system, and a student only exists when he is in school; otherwise, the grass-roots organizations are the ones that allow us to see what the problems and the needs really are. Having been president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, I am well aware of the extent to which women have played, and continue to play, an important role in this regard. Is it because they're women that they receive less recognition? The fact is that these groups have less recognition, even though they are absolutely critical for survival. In this case, we're talking about the survival of the French language.

When the government proposes budget cuts and these groups find themselves continually deprived of core funding, the other sectors are necessarily affected, in my opinion. This is an important issue, which is why I am making this comment. I want it to be on the record. Very few grass roots based groups have appeared before the Committee.

I now want to make a comment to Mr. Hubert.

You raised a matter that we have not heard much about, it seems to me — at least in the time that I have been around. I refer to the ability of professionals to provide services in French. We have not received much testimony about that from professional associations.

Could you give us any additional information about that?

[Denis Hubert]

The major challenge for us has been to convince the managers of certain government organizations — such as the Service Canada Centre — to assign a Franco-Ontarian to the reception desk. You will probably say that I am looking after my own interests here. But I don't believe that a Franco-Ontarian is any better than an Anglo-Ontarian. On the other hand, I know for a fact if a Francophone is not greeted in French, he will immediately switch to English, because what he is ultimately looking for is an answer. In some cases, this individual may already be partly assimilated.

That is easy to do and doesn't cost much. All I'm asking is that at all reception points, the first contact generally be handled by someone from the minority. In that way, Francophones who arrive at the reception will tend to want to express themselves in the same language. That is what I think. People often say in Ontario that French is learned but that English is caught. Don't worry about the Anglophones; they will be served in their own language. Furthermore, the rate of assimilation in the other direction is infinitesimal.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Someone talked about a nurse who wanted to work in French. Can you tell me whether that dynamic exists in a number of different areas?

[Marc-André Larouche]

Do you mean geographical areas?