Official Languages Committee on Dec. 5th, 2006

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

First off, allow me to welcome you all. But perhaps I should allow you to welcome us here.

The Standing Committee on Official Languages is very pleased to travel across Canada. This allows to see the impact that the 2003 Action Plan on official languages has had on official language minority communities, in terms of health care, immigration and other sectors. We now invite you to make your presentations, and then we will move on to questions.

My name is Yvon Godin. I am a member of Parliament from the northeastern part of New Brunswick, in the Acadian Peninsula. On my right are members representing the government. We have with us Sylvie Boucher, the parliamentary secretary for official languages, Pierre Lemieux and Steven Blaney.

On my left are Raymond Simard and Brian Murphy, from the official opposition, as well as Paule Brunelle, from the Bloc Québécois.

You will each have five minutes to make your presentation. That may not seem like a very long time, but once we begin our discussions, you will find that what members are interested in is asking you questions to help us draft a report. We are quite aware of the various situations.

In order to keep to our schedule, I will give you a signal after four minutes indicating that you have one minute left to wrap up your presentations. Members will then have five minutes each to ask their questions.

We will begin with Denis Vincent, President of the Réseau santé albertain.

[Dr. Denis Vincent, President, Réseau santé albertain]

Good morning to you, honourable committee members.

I am Dr. Denis Vincent, President of the Réseau santé albertain. Allow me to introduce to you Donald Michaud, the educational sector representative on our board of directors. He is the Executive Director of the Conseil scolaire Centre-Est. I also want to introduce Luc Therrien, Director General of the Réseau santé albertain.

Our network is one of the 17 networks created in 2003, as part of the nationwide networking initiative for French-language health care. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to make this presentation.

First of all, let us consider the achievements we have made over the past two years, thanks to financial support by Health Canada. Our network was established to integrate the initiatives that contribute to the health of our community within the provincial health system. We are starting to break the isolation among our francophone communities that are scattered throughout the province. We facilitate exchanges and partnerships between those communities. We help individuals and communities to take charge of their health.

We have just completed the “Setting the Stage” project, a copy of which was handed out to you. This report is entitled “French-Language Primary Health Care in Alberta: Everyone's Business”. It is basically our action plan for the next five years. We have just completed our website. People can use it to search for a wide variety of French-speaking health care professionals. There are close to 1,000 of them, as well as 400 French language health resources.

On our site's virtual centres, you can find information about community achievements that contribute to the health and wellness of Franco-Albertans. Thanks to the website, the network is becoming an information hub where people can find out about health care issues in our province.

A new agreement was signed with Health Canada in early November. With these funds, we will organize, among other things in March 2007, three forums to promote health care in Calgary, Cold Lake and Grande Prairie. The objectives of these forums are to: raise awareness among participants about the needs of francophones with regard to health promotion; inform them of the mandate of the Réseau santé albertain; improve participants' knowledge of health promotion issues; and promote the individual and collective commitment of Franco-Albertans to health promotion projects. As we prepare for those forums, we are also sensitizing a large number of anglophone health organizations. That bodes well for the future.

Let us now talk about our challenges. One of the major challenges is to strengthen the ties with the regional health authorities. There are nine of them in Alberta, and therefore nine doors to knock on. There is at least one regional health authority that refuses to get involved. One of the reasons that is given is the fear of reprisals from the community in the event that the funding dries up. On-going, and stable funding from the federal government would address that concern.

Another concern is that if a regional health authority improves primary health care services in French, then other ethno-cultural communities would also demand that their services be improved. We have to convince people that it not only makes sense to provide services that meet language and cultural requirements, it is also profitable to do so. Health care in French costs less.

We would eventually like to have a language clause in health care funding arrangements, so that minority official language communities can receive adequate health care services. We account for approximately 2% of the population. If we received 2% of all federal health care funds that are transferred to Alberta, we could noticeably improve the health of francophones.

Another major challenge is to operate as an effective community development agency, despite the complicated management mechanisms that are required under the department's funding programs. We understand that we have to follow the rules regarding the administration of public funds, but our team is too small, the project application process too complex and the assessment framework too cumbersome. We spend more time filling out paperwork than working on the ground.

As well, funding is allocated irregularly throughout the year. That causes stress that is often hard to bear. We would like to see some adjustments in the way things are done to lessen the administrative workload. That would allow us to do the work that is expected of us.

That is a brief overview of our role within the Franco-Albertan community as well as our achievements, current activities and challenges. Knowing that you have no doubt met with other networks similar to ours, we have tried to avoid repeating the themes and messages you have already received and understood.

We again invite you to read our report and to get a better understanding of our community and the issues we face.

We are now ready to answer your questions. We sincerely thank you for having given us this unique opportunity.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Vincent.

We now move on to the French Canadian Association of Alberta and its Director General, Joël Lavoie.

[Jean Johnson, President, French Canadian Association of Alberta]

In fact, I am Jean Johnson and I am the President of the French Canadian Association of Alberta. I am pleased to fill in for my director general, if you would allow me to.

First of all, welcome to Alberta. On behalf of the francophone community, I want to wish you a warm welcome among us. We are pleased to have you here.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Despite the snow and the cold.

[Jean Johnson]

We pulled out all the stops to welcome you!

[Some Hon. members]

Ah, ah!

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

That is in keeping with the spirit of Christmas. You can proceed, I will not take away any of your time.

[Jean Johnson]

I will talk about two major issues. I will say a few words about our association, the ACFA, and then I will speak about the measures that are needed for the vitality of the Alberta francophone community.

Since 1926, the ACFA has been an institution that speaks on behalf of and defends all of the interests of the francophone community. Our organization is a leader in the development of our community. Regarding its democratic structure and consultative model, the ACFA represents the general interests of over 60 community organizations that work to develop the francophone community in Alberta.

The ACFA channels the efforts of organizations, institutions, agencies and governments—in cooperation with the latter—to achieve four major objectives of the community's comprehensive development plan. The ACFA works in very close cooperation with its institutional and organizational partners, especially with such leaders as the Regroupement artistique francophone de l'Alberta, the RAFA, in the arts and culture sector; the Conseil de développement économique de l'Alberta, in the economic network; the Réseau santé albertain, which you were introduced to earlier; and the Fédération du sport francophone de l'Alberta, the FSFA, in the sports and recreation sector. We also cooperate regularly and closely with the Campus Saint-Jean, in the post-secondary education sector, as well as with five francophone school boards in Alberta. That is a brief overview of the francophonie, or the ACFA.

With regard to the measures to be taken for the vitality of our communities, we believe cooperation is essential between the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner, the Ministerial Council of Francophone Affairs, Canadian Heritage, the Council of Senior Federal Officials and minority official language communities, to develop vitality indicators. With a common definition of the indicators of community vitality, all stakeholders could work on the comprehensive development plans, policies and government programs as well as other partnership and funding mechanisms to achieve shared goals.

The other major issue has to do with establishing measures for the development of minority official language communities in all the federal and provincial agreements that are signed and negotiated. In my view, that is an essential and crucial element for the survival and the vitality of the francophonie. We can look at a number of examples of agreements dealing with education, immigration and early childhood as excellent means to ensure the delivery of services in French.

In Alberta, some measures have helped establish action plans, relationships with provincial public servants and ties to Albertan society. This could not have been done so easily if it had not been mandated. Today's most significant and pressing needs are in infrastructure and health. In fact, if the federal government insists on accommodating the francophonie, provincial government officials, by interpreting the will of the provincial government, will respect the agreements. Without that, it would be impossible to make ourselves heard.

Another key issue is respecting communities that want to take charge of their own development. The ACFA believes that the new Official Languages Act is a means to respect communities. I am referring to changes to the act brought about by Bill S-3.

Without getting into too many details, the ACFA finds that the federal government's duty to take positive measures for the development of minority official language communities will translate into concrete, affirmative, reasoned and practical steps to protect and maintain their rights. In other words, the federal government is bound to prepare its policies together with the communities, while respecting their needs and priorities.

In conclusion, Alberta is experiencing economic, social and political expansion. This human and cultural wealth provides the francophone community with a rare opportunity. With the right tools and good relations between the federal and provincial governments, Alberta can lay the groundwork for francophone vitality for generations to come.

We hope that the Government of Canada and the communities find ways to better work together and achieve their common goal, while respecting their areas of jurisdiction. Ensuring the vitality and the development of francophones across Canada is what we are all about.

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Johnson. We will now continue with Marc Arnal, Dean of the St-Jean Campus at the University of Alberta.

[Marc Arnal, Dean, St-Jean Campus, University of Alberta]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

I would like to start by expressing our moral and spiritual support to your colleague Daniel Petit, who is absent today, in light of the trying times he is currently going through. His daughter-in-law works with us and his son used to be a student at the campus. We share a certain emotional bond with him.

Yesterday, I received a call from my friend Jean Watters, who you met in Vancouver. He told me that you had asked many questions about the participation of francophones in the Olympic Games to be held in Vancouver. I am the President of the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue, which is responsible for ensuring francophone content at the Games. I would be pleased, together with our Director General, Guy Matte, to come meet with you in Ottawa and talk more specifically about the Olympic Games, if you wish. I would also like to indicate that the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, is the honorary president of this foundation, which few people have heard about, but which is very active. This is sort of an invisible organization.

I will now talk to you as a Franco-Manitoban living in Alberta. I am very pleased to welcome you to one of the most dynamic francophone areas in Canada. You have heard from witnesses about the vitality of communities. In my view, vitality depends on a number of factors. Interesting and promising studies are currently being done in Acadia, particularly by Rodrigue Landry and his research centre. They deal with such issues as institutional completeness and its impact on vitality. Some of our researchers are taking part in those studies.

Furthermore, I think that service delivery models need to be re-examined. Who has not had the experience of going up to a counter at federal office where a sign indicates that services are in both English and French and being told by the person behind the sign that he or she did not speak French? That should warrant a jail term. That completely undermines all the efforts made by the Government of Canada. And yet, we see that happening every day. That is unacceptable.

With regard to the legal and regulatory framework, I think that there has been constant progress since 1969, with the latest provisions enacted under Bill S-3, I think. There has also been an evolution in thinking. I will get back to that later.

The thought patterning in society at large and in minority communities is the last but not the least factor. We become what we perceive ourselves to be, and that is especially true in the case of our minority groups. At the St-Jean Campus, to come back to the issue of institutional completeness, 650 students are receiving their education in French. You are perhaps not aware that the University of Alberta is one of the five largest universities in Canada. I believe it was ranked 37^th in the world by Newsweek. It is a renowned institution. Our students, some 70% of whom are immersion program graduates, are native English speakers. Our challenge is to turn these students, who are linguistic bilinguals, into complete bilinguals within two or four years, depending on their programs of study. In other words, they are asked to acquire French and English as both individual and common languages.

The process is a long and difficult one, but we will achieve our ends in large part thanks to the support we receive from the Government of Canada through bilateral agreements.

Some people, including the husband of the former Governor General, advocated the idea of “sowing” French-language courses in all Canadian post-secondary institutions. That is very noble and advisable, but it should not be done at the expense of institutions that are equipped to lead students who are theoretically bilingual to become functional bilinguals. I am not sure that this has been thought out in the Department of Canadian Heritage, and elsewhere. I would like to point out that a community college is being established in Alberta. We are expecting to receive the authorization from the university and the province very shortly.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about Bill S-3. This is a wonderful bill, and I commend Parliament for having passed it. My wife, who is a public servant, told me however

that they get lectured at all the time about what it means, but nothing changes.

According to her, departments do not have strong enough accountability mechanisms to ensure that the bill's provisions can be turned into concrete measures, whether in the public service or society at large. Over 50 % of Albertans support official languages. Imagine: we are talking about approximately 59 % of Albertans.

So what are we waiting for to implement a vision and proclaim the importance of our linguistic duality, which I continue to call Canada's common languages? We have to promote linguistic duality as something that unites our country, one of the cornerstones on which today's Canadian citizenship and civic spirit have been established.

I could talk to you for days, but I will stop here.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

We will schedule a day just for you, Mr. Arnal.

[Marc Arnal]

Thank you, monsieur Godin, you are ever so special.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Marc.

We will now move on to questions.

Mr. Raymond Simard.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My first question is for Mr. Arnal.

In committee, we talk about the vitality of communities, but also about the effectiveness of the Action Plan on Official Languages. Some of us would like to see it renewed and improved, but we first have to consider the positive elements and the not so positive elements. I seem to recall that some $360 million was invested in education, whether in immersion or French as a second language programs.

You come from the post-secondary education sector. That is why I would like to ask you whether, in your view, there is sufficient information to determine if the investment bore fruit.

[Marc Arnal]

I think results have been very significant from kindergarten to grade 12 as well as in post-secondary education. The funding has helped to develop a considerable number of programs and create, among other things, the Canadian association of francophone universities, or AUFC. I am sure that you met a number of their representatives. The current president, Raymonde Gagné, comes from your part of the country, more specifically from the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. As well, the Consortium national de formation en santé received funding to establish health care training programs across Canada. I would be lying if I said that there had not been any very significant results.

Concerning immigration, however, I think that the plan provided for an $11.2 million investment. Some people, including journalists, have told me that that was not a whole lot. I am the co-chair of the immigration steering committee and I have said that the amount was not very significant, indeed. When you don't have a plan, $11 million is not so bad. However, we do have one now. As to whether it should be improved, I would say that the plan will entail costs and that $11 million over five years is not enough, especially when most of that amount was used to provide government with the tools to deliver services in both official languages.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

You recently submitted a new plan. How much do you think it will cost?

[Marc Arnal]

According to the planned rate of implementation, it should amount to approximately $50 million.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

Is that over five years?

[Marc Arnal]

Yes, that is over five years, but it is not excessive, when you think of what is happening in Manitoba, for example. I apologize for thinking back to Manitoba, but that is where my heart lies. Extraordinary things are happening there. The provincial government has set a francophone immigration target of 7% for a population of 4%, recognizing that it had to make up for past mistakes.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

We see that the plan has also worked very well in such sectors as immigration. From what we have seen, there have been very positive developments in the health sector.

Do you see some sectors as having been neglected? We have heard people in the cultural sector say that they have been overlooked. If the plan were to be renewed, are there sectors that would have to be added?

Whoever wishes to answer may do so.

[Jean Johnson]

Well, if representatives from the arts and culture sector were here with us, they would be able to address the issue.

Personally, I think investments would need to be made. The sectors that are truly developing and experiencing growth in the communities are the ones you invested in, especially the health sector, which, by the way, will need significant funding to pursue its growth. The education sector, for example, also needs support, but investments are bearing fruit. But there is also the arts and culture sector and the youth sector, which encompass a number of sectors.

We believe that there should be nine different development sectors within a comprehensive development plan. We were given the responsibility for developing such plans. We would now need to have the tools to further develop those plans and implement them.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

You therefore want to move on to the second phase.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Simard.

Ms. Brunelle, you have the floor.

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

Good morning, gentlemen.

I am pleased to meet with you this morning. I would first like to ask a question of Mr. Vincent and Mr. Johnson.

You said two things that caught my attention. Mr. Vincent, you said that one of your challenges was to build stronger relationships with provincial authorities. It seemed that there were relational problems with an organization. You did not indicate which one, but that is okay.

Mr. Johnson, you said that it is important to establish provisions in all federal-provincial agreements to ensure they function properly. I think those two statements are linked.

I would like for you to clarify those provisions.