Official Languages Committee on Dec. 6th, 2006

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Mr. Simard.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

No, it's very important. Perhaps it's the same elsewhere, but we are particularly privileged here.

In Saskatchewan, this morning, one of the witnesses said that French was not a national language, a Canadian language. The Fransaskois are lost in the midst of all the other languages. French is only one of the 30 languages spoken in Saskatchewan.

Even though 85 percent of Canadians think that bilingualism is a distinctive feature of Canada and 79 percent of people outside Canada find that makes our country appealing, we don't promote bilingualism a great deal.

You asked that you be considered as allies, because you know that bilingualism is an issue. The government doesn't talk a lot about bilingualism and doesn't really promote it. Could you comment on that state of affairs? Have you seen the advertisement on television that talks about the benefit of knowing two languages in Canada? We don't talk about it and we're guilty of that because we've been in government for 13 years. This isn't a subject we discuss a lot.

[Léo Robert]

I'm going to make a comment, if I may. Saskatchewan has two characteristics that distinguish it from Manitoba. Fortunately, our Francophone community is relatively grouped together. As you very well know, Mr. Simard, there are two major Francophone centres in the southeast and in Saint-Boniface. Saint-Lazare, for example, is a remote and isolated village, but the people there stick together. In Saskatchewan, Francophones are somewhat scattered across the province and have trouble grouping together, so that pride in the language is declining. They're starting to take the easy road, the less complicated road. That's partly because of the fact that they're scattered and because they haven't found ways to network, as we've done in our remote communities.

A little earlier we talked about health services and three pilot projects, three service delivery models that we've established. We've started working with Saskatchewan to export and apply those models to the Francophone communities of that province. We're only just started talks, but these projects could make a major contribution to restoring the Francophones' pride in their language. There are few opportunities to get together and speak French in Saskatchewan. I've worked with the school board there. So I know a little about what a village school with 12 students is. There aren't a lot of Francophones in the village.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you. Witnesses have often told us that they wear two or three hats and that volunteers are exhausted.

We haven't talked about succession, which is an important factor. I hope the Action Plan for Official Languages will be renewed. The plan could provide for succession funding because there aren't a lot of young people at our meetings. In fact, we've seen no young people during our tour. We invited some, but they didn't come. Can you comment?

We see you have incredible turnover in all sectors, in the administration of justice and health care, for example. Could funding be provided to ensure a succession in the communities?

[Sylviane Lanthier]

This is an example in the communications field. Most of the papers in the APF network, the Agence de presse francophone, are in the same situation, that is to say that there's significant staff turnover. In the communications field, we're experiencing exactly what the health people described earlier, that is to say problems training people here and recruiting them in their community so that they can work there. Currently, there isn't a French-language communications training program in Manitoba at the post-college level. There isn't any in the west, which means that all journalists recruited by La Liberté or other media are often people who come from Quebec, or are people who don't know the community. Or else they have to be trained when they come here.

So we've taken the bull by the horns, in cooperation with the community radio station and an organization called the Cercle de presse francophone. We've introduced an initiative called Action média, which is designed to train young people in communications, young people at the secondary level, as well as college and university students. We've organized journalism camps. We help the young people who produce the student newspaper and who work at the student radio station at the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface to acquire tools so that they can do the work in a more professional manner and understand what that consists of.

One of our main mandates is to train Francophone leaders, since young journalists are people who are more interested in their community. Our mission isn't to train them at school, but rather outside school. We ask them to cover actual events, we publish their reports and we broadcast them on radio. We train young people and we publish their writings in La Liberté, telling them that it has to be good in order for it to be published.

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

How do you pay for that?

[Sylviane Lanthier]

Right now, we're taking the money out of the Francofonds initiative funding, the Canadian Heritage funding that was invested in the communities...

[Raymond Simard, Liberal, Saint Boniface, MB]

A foundation.

[Sylviane Lanthier]

...for youth initiatives. We also get money under the Dion Plan which is paid to the province for the education sector. One of the things limiting us in the Dion Plan right now is that, in education, the emphasis is largely placed on immersion schools. These programs are presented in the immersion schools, but we're given no grants to do it in the French schools. That's a bit of a problem. If we had something in the communications field that could enable us to develop a succession training component as well, perhaps we could avoid having to go through the education sector and thus have greater flexibility.

Our program is important, and we're implementing it across the west right now, with very few resources. That's one of the solutions we've found to meet our own needs and to create leadership.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you. Now we'll hear from Ms. Boucher.

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

There's a lot of talk about challenges. We've heard a lot about that during the trip. I've had the opportunity to make both trips, to meet the people in the east and the people in the west, and I've learned a lot during these trips. All witnesses have talked about the challenges facing them in their various areas of activity. I'd like to know your achievements. You've carried out projects, you've built an entire world with virtually nothing, and I tip my hat to you because it's been tough.

I'd like to know what your greatest achievement is and how we can extend it to other areas of activity in the Francophone community. What has been your greatest achievement and what solutions would you propose in order to build on those achievements? Mr. Robert.

[Léo Robert]

I'm biased because I have training in education and I'm a former executive director of a school board here in Manitoba.

I think our greatest achievements are our school system and the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. To build on that, we'd like to start sooner, before students even enter our school system, because, when they do, sometimes it's already too late. If it's already too late, a lot of our Francophones don't choose our system because of that. Our greatest achievements, in my view, are the Franco-Manitoban education sector, the university college, the occupational technical school and everything related to the college. To build on that, we have to start sooner. I think you build a society based on education and at the grassroots level. In my opinion, it would be that. I don't know whether other people have different opinions.

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

Mr. Gagné, can you also answer the question?

[Charles Gagné]

In health, despite the challenges, people are definitely much more accepting and find it more normal that health services are delivered in French. I'd even go so far as to say that the community's expectations exceed our ability to meet them. That may be caused by a lack of a labour force or by a labour force that's poorly distributed over the positions where it's required. It may also be as a result of the importance the community attaches to health services in French as a result of the aging population and to youth, particularly where a mother or father are involved.

Circumstances nevertheless show that what we're currently doing won't be enough. However, our organization will definitely be able to achieve the desired level, so that, in 10 years, we'll also be able to mention the health system as one of our major achievements, as Mr. Robert did for the DSFM.

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

Do I have any time left?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

: Yes, you have some left.

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

: Ms. Aucoin, would you like to answer as well?

[Louise Aucoin]

We now have two Francophone law schools, one at the University of Moncton and the other at the University of Ottawa. There are now jurists who have studied common law in French. Now we're at the stage where all the networking goes through FAJEF and the associations of jurists. I think that's extremely important. So training is now available, and we are networked. So I believe we need tools.

As for young people, every summer, a law camp is organized for high school students at the University of Moncton. In recent summers, young people from other provinces have attended the camp. So we're engaged in popularization with youths of 13 and 14. It's fascinating to hear them debate language rights.

We've achieved great things. Much remains to be done, but these are solid achievements.

[Sylviane Lanthier]

I come from Quebec, and I arrived in Manitoba in 1990. I've been here for 17 years, and I work in journalism and community development, in one way or another. In my opinion, the greatest achievement I've seen in the past 17 years is that so many things and so many projects have been carried out in all areas that Manitoba Francophones are now seen as a value-added. The majority no longer sees them as tiresome troublemakers that they especially don't want to hear about because when they talk, it's to complain.

So I believe that Francophones are now seen as people who are achieving success and who have a contribution to make. That's perhaps one of the biggest achievements I've observed in 17 years. In 1990, when I arrived, Francophones were still experiencing the after-effects of the language crisis of the early 1980s. We're no longer feeling those after-effects, and I believe that view is really out of date. Léo may not agree with me.

Do you agree with me? If Léo agrees with me, then it's right.

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

Someone told us — and I also told the committee about this — that we had changed their attitude.

[Sylviane Lanthier]

Yes, that's true. The attitude has changed. I believe that, for someone who comes from elsewhere...

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

[Sylviane Lanthier]

What I'm going to say is important.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you.

[Sylviane Lanthier]

All right. Thank you, Mr. Godin.