Official Languages Committee on Dec. 4th, 2006

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I'd like to welcome you to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. We're happy to be with you today here in Vancouver.

My name is Yvon Godin. I'm the member for northeastern New Brunswick, and I'll be chairing the meeting today.

As you're no doubt aware, the Standing Committee on Official Languages has been in existence for 25 years. So we decided to do a national tour to meet with people in the field, to see what's going on in the area of official languages. We want to know whether the action plan that was introduced in 2003 is working well, if there's been any impact in the communities.

I'd like to introduce, on my right, the government members: Sylvie Boucher, parliamentary secretary, and Pierre Lemieux and Steven Blaney, committee members. On my left, we have Brian Murphy, from the official opposition, and Paule Brunelle, from the Bloc québécois. As I always mention, normally, being an NDP member, I take my place beside Ms. Brunelle.

We're going to begin with five-minute presentations. You may say that's not a lot, but, as you'll see, we'll be able to talk for two hours during the question period. So we ask you to make quite brief speeches, but then we'll be asking you questions. The members will have five minutes each to ask questions.

We'll begin with Mr. Donald Cyr.

[Donald Cyr, Executive Director, Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique]

Thank you very much, Mr. Godin.

I'm from northwestern New Brunswick—a beautiful province—but I've been living in Vancouver for a long time. I'd like to talk to you a little, if you will, about the success of the program in the context of things that the union is doing at SDE, the Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique, rather than talk about la Francophonie, which I believe will be the subject addressed by the federation.

So SDE is responsible for creating an economic area for the Francophone community in British Columbia. Our purpose is to try to help Francophones start up businesses in British Columbia. For that purpose, we engage in strategic planning to help Francophones start out in business in British Columbia. Here's a brochure on this matter.

We're also working with our Anglophone counterparts who are doing more or less the same thing. These are the SADCs, the equivalent of the Community Futures Development Corporations. This is a promotion that we're doing jointly to show that we're working and that there's no overlap: Anglophones and Francophones are working together to ensure that the Francophone community is well served everywhere.

We also have a project designed to attract tourists from France and Quebec to visit our beautiful province. I hope you've had a chance to see the city and that you've seen it's worth the trouble; we also boast about our beautiful city. We send out 50,000 brochures a year in which we talk about the Francophone products that can be found here in British Columbia. We're doing the same thing in the four western provinces. We often work together to obtain economies of scale, and we've sent 660,000 brochures like this to Quebec City in recent years to ensure that Quebeckers know we exist and to invite them to come and see us.

The economic impact for a single province, for an investment of $400,000, is more than $25 million. So that's an impact that's really worth the trouble. That's a conservative assessment. Generally, when they travel, Quebeckers stay here for 21 days. So I did my evaluation on the basis of 14-day stays. All that to say that your investment is really worth it because the impact of spending in the order of $400,000 has been $25 million for a single province. That's the case for Alberta; British Columbia gets even more tourists.

We're also working with the federal government, naturally, to ensure that an economic area is represented in British Columbia, but we're also working very closely with the province. Together we're doing promotion to encourage investment in British Columbia. We're doing advertising, called Vivre à l'étranger, in countries like France. In it, we were saying that Vancouver is a beautiful city to travel to, of course, but that it's also a beautiful city to invest in, a beautiful city for doing business in British Columbia.

Every dollar spent in New York corresponds to 69¢ spent in Vancouver. So it's less expensive than travelling to the United States. We therefore encourage people to come to British Columbia, where it costs a lot less to do business. We're working very closely with the province to encourage people to invest here. As you know, we have a labour shortage. So we're also working very closely with the province to encourage immigrants to settle in British Columbia.

Thus, in broad terms, our mandate is to create an economic area for the Francophone community. We're doing a lot of things to raise the Francophone community's visibility and to ensure that there are a lot of jobs and good businesses in British Columbia.

I'd like to thank you for your support because it really makes a difference. There really is a positive impact, and we'd like that to continue.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you very much, Mr. Cyr.

We'll now hear from the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique.

[Michelle Rakotonaivo, President, Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique]

Mr. Chair, and honourable committee members, I want to thank you for this invitation and to welcome you to British Columbia. The Action Plan for Official Languages, which you want to hear us talk about, has been the framework in which our communities have been operating since 2003.

However, we know that the government is pondering the matter, and since the plan will undergo a review between now and 2008, we would like, in the circumstances, to offer you some suggestions for reinforcing the federal policy and better responding to the needs of the official language communities.

I'm here today with Yseult Friolet, Executive Director of the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique, and Jamal Nawri, who is our Immigration Coordinator.

The Fédération des francophones is the voice of the community, and our role is to promote, represent and defend the interests of Francophones and, of course, to protect the linguistic and cultural heritage of our community.

The history of Francophones in British Columbia dates back to the very start, to 1793, when six French Canadian voyageurs accompanied Alexander Mackenzie. Today, the Francophone community is 64,000 strong, according to the 2001 census, and we know that number will be further increasing soon. As regards bilingual individuals who have joined our Francophone area in British Columbia, nearly 270,000 persons can communicate in French, 7% of the population of our province.

The Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique was founded in 1945 and represents and supports some 40 associations representing the Francophones of the various regions that operate in a number of sectors: the economy, community development, culture, social affairs, youth, seniors, justice and, of course, education.

Apart from the Action Plan for Official Languages, our community has had a federal-provincial agreement for the promotion of official languages. It thus maintains close ties with the provincial government and certain key departments, in the social field, for example. It also maintains close ties with certain municipalities such as Vancouver, Coquiltam, Nanaimo, Prince George and others, where that's also being done.

A few months ago, we signed a memorandum of understanding with VANOC and the Fédération canadienne pour le dialogue des cultures, establishing that the Francophone community of British Columbia will play its rightful crucial role in the 2010 Winter Games.

The major action areas our community has focused on are mainly those previously identified in the action plan: education, early childhood, economic development, health, immigration and justice. However, our communities determined at the outset that the federal action plan didn't give community development its rightful place in the everyday lives of Francophones in British Columbia. Furthermore, the importance of arts and culture as driving forces in the Francophone region isn't expressly recognized. These are deficiencies that should be corrected.

I'd like to speak to you briefly about each of the axes in the action plan, but I'll leave it to a number of people here to talk about the health system, the economy — we've already talked about that — and education. I'd just like to say a brief word on that.

As you know, our schools help to reinforce the network formed by our community centres. We've managed to create a structured, inclusive environment conducive to the vitality of the French language and culture.

Our young people are forging a Franco-Columbian identity that won't resemble that of previous generations. Parents and the schools are also focusing on the needs of the very young: a joint strategy on early childhood will enable us to work in cooperation with the provincial government. We need to provide future parents with a broad range of services and resources in French. Our community naturally needs French-language child care centres, but also, for example, resources to help us better understand the at times complex linguistic development of our children living in minority or exogamous situations.

Postsecondary education is also developing quickly. Simon Fraser University, through the Bureau des affaires francophones et francophiles, is increasingly offering courses, including a bachelor's degree in public administration and community services and on-the-job training for the future teachers that the school boards schools and immersion schools need.

We've also recognized that college education and continuing training are also essential to the development of our community. That's why the Collège Éducacentre is constantly growing and offers a very broad range of programs, running from palliative care to the training required to work in child care centres and to work with autistic individuals.

The Association des juristes de langue française de la Colombie-Britannique will discuss justice later on.

Immigration, which you asked us to talk about, is very definitely one of our priorities. Our province is, by definition, a province of immigration, and has been for some years. Some 72.5% of Francophones here come from other provinces, and 14% come from outside the country. The federal government made an announcement on its policy on Francophone immigration outside Quebec only a few months ago. Ministers Monte Solberg and Josée Verner announced in Winnipeg that the government was going to increase numbers and provide financial assistance to the province and the community to provide these people with a better reception and promote their social and economic integration.

So our community has become very multicultural. The children in our schools speak some 40 languages, and our community centres are putting on more and more shows based on the traditions of Francophones from outside Canada.

The Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique has been working on this issue since 2002. We're taking part in all the projects developed by the FCFA du Canada. We've conducted a study on the reception, settlement and integration of Francophones in the Greater Vancouver region, and we've put a regional committee in place. That committee has developed an action plan to promote Francophone immigration in British Columbia.

Since 2004...

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Your five minutes are up.

[Michelle Rakotonaivo]

In any case, we've given you some documentation. It's a bit difficult to talk about the Francophone community in general in five minutes. So you've received that.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I know that five minutes is very short, but our time is limited.

[Michelle Rakotonaivo]

May I take one more minute?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

No, you've already taken five minutes. When we move on to the question period, perhaps you'll be able to elaborate on the subject further.

[Michelle Rakotonaivo]

Perhaps, because we also would have liked to talk a little about the Olympic Games and other subjects.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

All right.

Mr. Pierre Gagnon.

[Pierre Gagnon, Chairman of the Board, Association des juristes d'expression française de la Colombie-Britannique]

I'm the Chairman of the Association des juristes d'expression française de la Colombie-Britannique. The purpose of the association, which has been in existence for a little more than five years, is to facilitate and promote access to justice in French in British Columbia.

Apart from all the federal legal bodies, such as the Tax Court of Canada and employment insurance cases, the only access to justice in French in British Columbia is provided by section 530 of the Criminal Code. That section provides that an accused may elect to be tried in the official language of his choice, in the language that most suits him: English or French.

Consequently, there have to be judges, prosecutors and defence counsel capable of speaking the language chosen by the accused. We will therefore have to ensure the succession of all justice professionals who must work in French and English, the two official languages.

On this point, one of British Columbia's problems is that education in French is offered up to grade 12, in the French-language and immersion schools. There are also colleges enabling students in eastern Canada to get a college education or even to complete the first year of university. However, there are few job opportunities in law or related fields. Students finish their high school or college educations and, if they want to study law, have to go to Ottawa, Montreal or Moncton. Do they come back? We'll see.

One of the challenges facing British Columbia is to ensure a succession in the justice field, not only among lawyers, but also among support staff. We need clerks, court reporters and probation officers who can write reports in both official languages.

A report was submitted to you. I want to congratulate the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund because, without it, the Francophone jurors study that was prepared, a copy of which was submitted to you, would not have been possible. That study shows that, in a minority setting, it is difficult to identify which people are bilingual, Francophone or Anglophone. To date, there's been no mechanism under provincial law for that purpose.

To provide a brief summary, in virtually all the provinces, a list of potential jurors is prepared based on the voter list. That's the way it is in virtually all the provinces. That's also the case in British Columbia, except that the way people are selected, using the voters list, doesn't enable us to identify whether they are Francophone, Anglophone or bilingual, because they can be of another nationality or speak either official language.

This is generally a provincial jurisdiction. We called upon your provincial counterparts. We would emphasize, however, that this is also a matter of national interest. Section 530 of the Criminal Code, which is a federal statute, applies across Canada, and the criminal justice system cannot operate if one day there's a shortage of jurors. So ways have to be found to identify jurors.

We suggest two. First, we suggest using the federal voters list. When the federal voters list is prepared, could we have mechanisms for identifying persons among voters who are Francophone, Anglophone or bilingual, across Canada? Then that information would be forwarded to the provinces so that they could use it to establish lists of prospective jurors.

We're making a second suggestion. We've seen from our analysis of the Statistics Act that this is probably the best current survey of official languages. The questions that are put to Canadian citizens are such that, based on the statistics, and if people have answered the questions honestly—we assume so—we can identify segments of the population that have linguistic ability in French, English and both official languages.

We suggest that this information be available to the provinces at the time a list of prospective jurors is prepared.

In the reports that we've submitted—the summaries—on page 10, for example, one suggested question could be included in the questionnaire submitted under the Statistics Act or in a questionnaire submitted under the Canada Elections Act. That question reads as follows:

Do you agree that the information collected with respect to the official language(s) learned and still understood by you be used to compile lists of prospective jurors pursuant to section 530 of the Criminal Code which provides that persons accused of a criminal offence in Canada have the right to be tried in the official language of their choice?

I'll close by adding that it is in everyone's interest that the justice system works well. Consequently, it's in the interest of an accused to be able to defend himself in the language of his choice, and it's also in the interest of the prosecution to be able to prosecute an accused in either official language.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Gagnon.

We'll now hear from the Association franco-yukonnaise. Ms. Marianne Théorêt-Poupart, I turn the floor over to you.

[Marianne Théorêt-Poupart, Communication Coordinator, Association franco-yukonnaise]

Thank you.

Good morning. I represent the Association franco-yukonnaise, which is more commonly called the AFY. I'm going to give you a few details, to clarify a little the background of the association, which isn't always known outside its area.

The Association franco-yukonnaise is the voice of the 1,200 Francophones in the Yukon. It's also one of the youngest Francophone communities in Canada. In 2007, we'll be celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of AFY, which is central to the community's development. It's often said in the rest of the country that we're an exemplary, innovative and responsible community. One of the best examples that I can give you is the following. We're now champions of funding diversification. In 1991, 70% of our funding came from Canadian Heritage, whereas that department now provides only 20%.

The association operates somewhat like a federation. It has a number of sectors, a cultural sector, a youth sector, which we call the Youth Hope Committee, and the Adult Orientation and Training Service, in the area of continuing education. There's also the Yukon RDÉE, the Regroupement de développement économique et d'employabilité, which operates in economic development, and the Carrefour d'immigration rurale, our latest program. In fact, it was created in the wake of the Action Plan for Official Languages, which encouraged immigration. So we've only very recently acquired an immigration sector.

Some organizations created over the years also support community development. The oldest of them is Aurore boréale, a bimonthly newspaper founded in 1983. It thus had its twentieth anniversary in 2003. There's also an organization representing Francophone women of the Yukon, the Partenariat communauté en santé, which aims to facilitate access for Francophones to French-language services, and the Comité francophone catholique. We also have a child care centre and Émilie-Tremblay school for students from junior kindergarten to grade 12. Lastly, there's the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon. A lot of these organizations are housed under the same roof, the Centre de la francophonie. The centre is, in a way, the heart of community development. People who go there are almost certain to find what they're looking for. If they can't, we tell them where to go.

Having said that, we have done everything possible with the financial and material resources at our disposal to pursue the development of the Francophone community.

Now I'll get to the heart of the matter. You've asked us to tell you about our community's challenges and expectations with regard to the Action Plan for Official Languages. The plan is closely linked to the Northern Strategy that was implemented in the Yukon during the year.

Under that strategy, the Franco-Yukon community was virtually disregarded. When it implemented the strategy, the Canadian government didn't require the territorial governments to support the Francophone communities. The Northern Strategy contains no provision for the territorial government to be required to provide services in French. Furthermore, it defines a new parameter that is really unfavourable to the Francophone community.

Under this strategy, which is mainly designed to promote economic development, only the territorial and First Nations governments can file project funding applications. If the Franco-Yukon community wants to file a project, it has to go through the First Nations government, which is excluded, or through the territorial government. This isn't at all advantageous. It undermines more than helps the community's development.

The Dion Plan has had promising consequences for the Franco-Yukon community, mainly in two areas. In immigration, as I told you earlier, one sector was created under at the AFY. In education, a bilateral agreement was signed and funding allocated for family literacy. Except for these two sectors, this action plan hasn't had any effect in the Yukon.

We're still having as much trouble getting services in French from the federal and territorial governments. In fact, the two federal departments with which we can work in French are Service Canada and Justice Canada. Apart from those two departments, we're not offered services in both official languages, even though it is the government's responsibility to do so. People no longer even ask to be served in French because, in some cases, if the person who speaks French is on a break or gone to lunch, you have to wait for him or her to come back. The chairman recently told me that he no longer even asked to be served in French, whereas he's the chairman of the board of AFY.

I simply want to say that health is a sensitive sector in the Yukon, as it is in the rest of the country. On December 14, in Ottawa, you'll be hearing from Sandra St-Laurent, the coordinator of Partenariat communauté en santé, as well as two people from the other two territories. The health issue will be on the agenda. Sandra will be in a much better position than I to answer health questions.

Whatever the case may be, I'll be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Bourgeois.

[Marie Bourgeois, Executive Director, Société Maison de la francophonie de Vancouver]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm proud to be here today on behalf of the 4,000 learners enrolled in the Francophone program across this province. We're happy to identify certain aspects of the Action Plan for Official Languages that are priorities for us.

The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, or CSF, is convinced that, under its mandate to contribute to the development and linguistic and cultural vitality of the Francophone population of this province, it is providing for the education of our province's Francophones and strengthening linguistic duality in the country.

It's important to emphasize that CSF stands out at the national level, since it's considered the most culturally diversified board in French Canada. The board serves a mixed population that comes from 72 countries and speaks a total of 58 languages. Another essential point to bear in mind is that more than 80% of our children come from exogamous families, including my own two children.

Through our activities and strategic orientations, we directly reach two or your three targets: education and development of the community aspect in our schools. In addition, by promoting Francophone education, we're providing the federal government with the next generation that will provide the federal public service with bilingual staff in this province.

I can definitely cite the example of the daughter of one of the former chairs of the Conseil scolaire francophone, Ms. JoAnne Hennessey. She now works for the federal government in British Columbia, after going through the Francophone system in this province.

We support this major initiative by the federal government since it provides the school board with access to essential tools and funding enabling it to achieve its objectives as identified in our strategic orientations.

If we want to continue growing and providing a French-language education to the largest possible number of Francophone rights holders, it's important that we be able to provide the Francophone community of our province with high-quality schools. On the one hand, we have to establish new structures in certain communities where French-language instruction has never been provided and build new schools where the facilities that have been leased to us are inadequate. On the other hand, as a result of our growth in certain centres, it is essential that we be able to expand our facilities or build new schools, in order to meet the constantly increasing demand and ensure our institutions are visible by providing them with a strategic location. Let's not forget that we have experienced the highest growth rate of any provincial school board and that it is important that this growth not be halted by non-existent school infrastructure.

Unless we receive federal government support for the construction or acquisition of certain schools, as has been the case in recent years in Surrey, Kelowna, Victoria and North Vancouver, and the upcoming construction of the first French-language secondary school in Vancouver, our growth could well be slowed, and we may not be able to meet the expectations of a growing Francophone community that at least has a French-language school system. Since census data suggest to us that we're only reaching a fraction of eligible Francophone students, we think it is important to afford Francophone students the opportunity to study in French. If the Government of Canada still hopes to increase the percentage of eligible students enrolled at Francophone schools outside Quebec, it is essential that that population be provided with a system of high-quality schools that can serve that population.

The creation of the Conseil scolaire francophone has been made possible by parents' desire to educate their children in French. Our parents and community partners feel that strengthening our community and preparing our children for school call for the creation of a system of French-language child care centres and community spaces. You've already heard that today, and you'll be hearing it again a number of times.

Since the Conseil scolaire francophone is established in the various regions of the province, we feel that our schools have a role to play in our communities. These institutions must become community spaces, community schools capable of serving the Francophone community and of providing essential services for the development of our community and reinforcement of the Francophone community. Child care centres and preschool programs are still an essential component of francization.

For our school establishments to become community schools and provide essential services, it is important that the CSF and the Francophone community have access to a funding program that promotes and facilitates the creation of Francophone community spaces and child care centres.

Today, we see that schools that have Francophone child care are guaranteed of being able to recruit student rights holders, and our kindergarten classes are overflowing. However, this essential service is not offered in all our communities. To that end, the CSF is working in close cooperation with the Fédération des parents francophones de la Colombie-Britannique.

We believe that the future of our Francophone community depends on our ability to reach our children, from the cradle, and that francization must occur as soon as possible, since everything in child development occurs before the age of five.

The school board wishes to conclude its presentation by emphasizing its support for the government's action plan for official languages, since it recognizes how important it is to support Canada's Francophone communities and recognize the importance of linguistic duality.

We recently celebrated our tenth anniversary and are constantly expanding our school system throughout the province thanks in large part to the federal government's support. We therefore take this opportunity to thank you for your past support and emphasize how important it is to continue further strengthening and developing our Francophone community in this province.

My colleagues, Jean Watters, director general of the school board, and Paul de la Riva, the board's director of communications, will no doubt be speaking during the question period.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you very much, Ms. Bourgeois.

We'll now move on to the question period.

Mr. Murphy, go ahead.

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

After discussing this with the Liberal team here, we decided that I would start asking questions.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Was that the Dion plan?

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

He always teases me because I come from New Brunswick too.

I'd like to say a big thanks to the witnesses. I come from Moncton, New Brunswick, and I'm the member for the riding of Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. The city of Moncton has a bilingual population: more than one-third of our citizens are Acadian Francophones.

It's interesting to note that the City of Moncton previously had a councillor called Mr. Cyr. At the time, Mayor Jones was completely opposed to bilingualism. This created strong opposition. In 2002, when I was mayor of the city, we passed a motion declaring the city bilingual, which was supported by another councillor by the name of Cyr. So I have a lot of respect for the people who bear that name.

Mr. Cyr, it's very important that our region at least have a bilingualism policy in order to promote a certain level of service in French and to show Anglophones that an official policy on bilingualism is a good thing. I know that the situation is different in British Columbia, because the percentage of people who speak French there is lower than in New Brunswick.

All the members of this committee and in the House of Commons agree that the issue of the rights of Francophones outside Quebec and Anglophones in Quebec is fundamentally important. In addition, the role that you play in promoting minority languages, bilingualism and French-language services has an economic impact in all regions of the province and country. Having a Francophone population and providing it with French-language services is a good thing for immigration and tourism.

Am I right in saying it's a good thing for your career?

[Donald Cyr]

Mr. Murphy, first, I'm pleased to see that someone named Cyr strongly opposed that mayor of Moncton. I remember that time, which somewhat betrays my age. I was in Edmundston.

I'm going to answer your question in the affirmative. Absolutely, we have the role of showing that the Francophone population's presence does in fact have an economic impact. That's one of the things I very often say to our funding agencies. In our case, that's Western Economic Diversification Canada. They see us as a Community Futures organization. They recognize our Francophone community and the Francophone communities of Nelson and Nanaimo. They see the positive side in that.

When I meet our funding agencies and all our Anglophone counterparts, I remind them that we're lucky in Canada because we have two official languages, English and French. According to the polls and surveys, Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world, and English is in second place. There are a lot of countries where English is the first language spoken, followed by French. English is the language of economic power, publishing power and political power. I note that that's what's revealed by the findings of the study that was conducted by some Americans, because a Quebecker might believe it's biased. So English and French are respectively the first and second languages of the world in terms of political and economic power.

There's something else that I always tell my Anglophone counterparts, and that's that, if we work together, we speak the two most powerful languages in the world in economic and political terms. So it's worth the trouble for us to work together: if there's one thing that Anglophones understand, it's the economy. So when we're able to show that our presence has an economic impact, suddenly we're accepted, not only because it's the law, but because we contribute something.

I agree with you: we have a duty to demonstrate that our presence has an impact. That's why I talked about impact in that sense in my presentation.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I should remind witnesses and members that I will warn them one minute before the end of the five minutes allocated to them that that's all the time they have left.

Ms. Brunelle, go ahead, please.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Chair. Based on your vast experience, will we have the time to do one more round?

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

Yes.