Official Languages Committee on Dec. 6th, 2006

[Ibrahima Diallo, Vice-President, Administrative council, Société franco-manitobaine]

Thank you very much.

I must say that I'm not a newcomer, because I've been living here for 22 years. I've been a professor at the university and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science and Business Administration for six years. Since my arrival in 1984, I've seen the make-up of this community change, and in an extremely positive way, because the identity markers of 25 years ago have changed. I think that's as a result of the contribution of the people that come from various backgrounds and have chosen to settle in Manitoba.

Manitoba has become a land of attraction. Francophones who come from elsewhere also want to settle in this kind of region to ensure a future for their children. That was my selling argument when I went overseas to sell my institution, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. I told people to come to Manitoba because they could continue studying in French and, at the same time, live in an Anglophone setting, which would make them perfectly bilingual. In many cases, people want to settle in Manitoba because they want their children to become bilingual.

Immigrants have understood that linguistic duality is an extraordinary asset. Moreover, immigrants have changed the linguistic dynamic of our institutions. It's thanks to immigrants that we increasingly hear French spoken in the corridors of the university college. There are also people who come from the immersion system. That creates a new dynamic and a new type of wealth. The initiatives taken by the communities should be supported.

First there has to be a change in attitude before we get there, and I think that's on the right track. It's not for no reason that I'm here today: I may be the tree that hides the forest. There are lots of talented people asking only to serve Canada, to settle here, to raise their families here and to find niches in order to provide the required assets in this environment.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I've only recently become a member of this committee, and I may not have spoken clearly.

[Ibrahima Diallo]

I was very recently appointed chair of the board of directors of the Société franco-manitobaine, this past October. I was previously a member of the board in 1988-1989, during the great debate on Meech Lake, and I've come back to my first love.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I sense that the Franco-Manitoban community has achieved a degree of maturity. It still has to fight, of course, but are there still threats and has there been progress? You seem to have a certain confidence in the future. Can you tell us about that?

[Ibrahima Diallo]

I have confidence in the future because, if you look at what's happening in all the communities outside Quebec, you'll see that Manitoba is well positioned.

In the document that you have, we talk about openness and expanding the space. That doesn't simply mean bringing in immigrants; it's also other things, but the immigration component is part of that. We have to go after people in the immersion schools. At the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface, 30 percent of students come from the immersion schools and want to continue working in French.

There are francophiles, and we also have to recruit them. There are Anglophone francophiles who like speaking French: that's an asset. There are unilingual Anglophones who are sympathetic to Francophones: that's another asset. I'm saying we have to work all the angles. That's the spirit behind this idea of expanding the Francophone space. It's an asset for Canada.

We're talking about a bilingual country. I come from a country where they speak five, six, seven or 10 languages. I speak five. We're talking about bilingualism and the fact that we're unable to live in one language and understand the other. I think we also have a lot to contribute in this regard.

Incidentally, I would point out that French isn't my mother tongue; I learned it at school along with many others. However, we understand this duality, this dimension that enables us to live in this atmosphere in which we can understand each other. It's an asset that we're providing. In the corridors of the college, I hear Bambara being spoken, but I figure the common denominator in all that is La Francophonie. Everyone has that in common.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Thank you very much.

Let's take immigration to Manitoba, for example. I know that we're trying to do the same thing in New Brunswick, but, if we recruited 10,000 persons, we'd have to give them jobs. In northeastern New Brunswick, in part of the Acadian region, 7,000 persons are native to Mr. Murphy's region. If we want to recruit immigrants, we'll have to bring them in from Moncton and take them back home. There's a demand and that helps us attract people.

[Daniel Boucher]

I think that's part of the provincial strategy. They've targeted markets and this strategy is very much based on employment for immigrants.

Jobs are obviously a concern for us. One of our challenges is that a lot of Francophone immigrants who come here don't speak English. One of the first things that we have to do—and this is a bit ironic—is to ensure that they learn English so that they can work, in some cases. However, we're trying to put a welcoming structure in place that will ensure they choose to live in the community and send their children to French school, and so on. A lot of Francophones work in English: that's a fact.

If we stopped at the obstacles, challenges and all those things, we wouldn't increase immigration. Our task is to address these issues, to ensure that we make the right choices, to ensure that these people have jobs in one of the official languages, that they make the right choices in order to live in the community and that they stay there.

One of our biggest challenges is housing. We want to work with the federal government on this issue as well. Housing is a very big problem in Saint-Boniface, where most of the Francophones live. They have to go and live in Anglophone neighbourhoods. That's a problem we're addressing. The key to success is not to be afraid and to act.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

If we focus on Francophone immigration, we see that Quebec has made it so that Immigration-Québec is present in a lot of places in the world and seeks to attract Francophones. I accept that. It isn't Quebec's mandate to attract immigrants to Manitoba or New Brunswick. However, perhaps we're missing the boat if we want Francophones to go to the rest of the country.

[Daniel Boucher]

Absolutely. I've gone to a few embassies and I can tell you that the Francophone community outside Quebec is unknown. Even the provinces often have trouble making themselves known.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

What are you suggesting?

[Daniel Boucher]

We should be working with the embassies to ensure that Canada is promoted as it is. We should be talking about the provinces, about the realities of the Francophone communities, about New Brunswick, Manitoba, and so on.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

That's a federal responsibility.

[Daniel Boucher]

That's correct. In fact, it's a major problem.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

We should be telling the rest of the world that there are Francophones across Canada.

[Daniel Boucher]

Absolutely.

Roughly eight years ago, I went to the Canadian embassy in Rabat, Morocco, and a federal public servant asked me why a Francophone would want to go and live in Manitoba. I told him that I was 42 years old and that I was born in Manitoba. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I belong to the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association. At one time, the French who came to Quebec only went to Montreal or Quebec City. Now all association members want to go elsewhere in the country. Last year, we went to meet with the members of the British Columbia Francophone organizations in Victoria. We even observed that a lot of Asians were learning French. They now want to visit the rest of the country because they know that there are Francophones across Canada.

Are there any other questions or comments?

[Sylviane Lanthier]

Mr. Godin, I'm going to make an advertisement here.

For those who don't know, I've brought copies of La Liberté for them to read. I'm not authorized to distribute them officially because my newspaper isn't bilingual.

I'd also like to immortalize your western tour in pictures. I don't know how you'd like to go about doing that. You could stay there and I could take pictures, or I could get you together and take a group photo.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

We could do it after the committee adjourns, as a group or otherwise. I don't know any politician who doesn't like having his picture taken, except for Sylvie.

Mr. Blaney.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I'd like to thank the witnesses and take this opportunity to thank Mr. Godin, who has chaired the committee during our western tour. He's done his work with a great deal of passion. I think that his presence here isn't unrelated to our own because he's one of the people behind this tour.

On behalf of my colleagues and myself, I want to thank him for his dedication to the Francophone cause.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I'd like to tell you why I let myself go earlier.

Since this is our last meeting, we've had decided to try not to raise the question of the Court Challenges Program. But I knew it would come up again. Mr. Murphy said that, if the question wasn't raised, we'd ask it ourselves. It came up by itself.

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

You have a great sense of humour. I had to laugh at it because that's part of the business. We've done the two trips, and everyone's talked to us about it. I expected we'd talk about it here. In fact, I thought I'd be surprised if no one talked about it.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

I thought you were going to ask the question yourself.

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

I wouldn't have gone that far.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

On behalf of the committee, I'd like to thank the witnesses who agreed to change the times of their appearances. As I said in the middle of the meeting, we had changed our agenda.

I'd also like to thank the staff who have assisted us during the meetings, the interpreters, the staff at the console and on logistics, the analyst and the clerks. For the record, I'd also like to thank our Ottawa employees. Samy Agha called the people to make the program changes. He had to make some incredible efforts. I'd like to thank you, Samy. We also want to thank our interpreters, who have tolerated us. That's very much appreciated, especially on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Chairing the meetings was a pleasure for me, both in the east and western regions of the country. I've been a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages since 1998. The fact that we went to see people in the field and that we got Parliament's support to do that was very significant.

I'd also like to thank the officials who were present this evening, the official languages representatives and the officials from Canadian Heritage, as well as the lady from the Manitoba Interdepartmental Network of Official Languages Coordinators.

Our mandate for this trip ends here in Manitoba, but the mission isn't finished. On December 12 and 14, we'll be holding meetings in Ottawa. We'll draft a report and table it in the House of Commons in order to advance the cause of Canada's official languages.

And so I say to you thank you, good evening and have a good week.

The meeting is adjourned.