Official Languages Committee on Dec. 12th, 2006

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I simply want to reiterate a number of facts for Mr. Lemieux's benefit.

Some cuts made during the 1990s were the result of the $42.5 billion-deficit inherited from the Conservatives. It was unfortunate, but it stemmed from the economic circumstances. After that, we more than caught up by allocating the largest amount ever spent, $850 million, under the Action Plan for Official Languages.

Mr. Chairman, I will describe the context, which is very useful. On the very day that it announced a $16 billion-surplus, the Conservative government made drastic cuts in some sectors of our society. This shows one thing: these cuts are unrelated to financial needs but are rather ideological in nature. That is the problem. I am firmly convinced that people go into politics to strengthen the social fabric, and not to destroy it.

That said, some things are clearer. Repeatedly in the course of our consultations, witnesses told us that the action plan needed to be enhanced and reviewed as quickly as possible, so that people would know what to expect, and that it was necessary to spend more, including on arts and culture. I don't know how you see it. If I have understood properly, you spoke earlier of a framework agreement. Is that correct?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

That is one of the components. There are several parts to the current action plan, which includes health, economic development and education. We suggest adding arts and culture. This would bring the total number of components to four. There needs to be an official languages program in the cultural field. We suggest that a strategic action fund be established, along with a framework agreement. For this fourth component, we suggest that the role of the arts and culture be taken into consideration under the existing components of the plan, namely education, economic development, immigration, and health.

It is urgent to begin thinking about it now, because the action plan comes to term at the end of March 2008. There is barely a year and three months remaining. Once this time has gone by, it will be essential to quickly evaluate the existing plan and make projections for the next five years. The plan's objectives were very ambitious. It had been understood at the outset that they could not be achieved within 5 years, but rather 10 or 15 years.

We are now back again to emphasize the fact that the arts and culture are unfortunately still missing from the plan. The development of francophone and Acadian communities cannot be considered without including the artistic and cultural dimension. In our view, it is just as important as education.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

We are aware of this and that is why I asked the question. We would like to extend and enhance the Action Plan for Official Languages by including an arts and culture component.

[Pierre Bourbeau]

I feel that it would definitely be logical to enhance the plan by adding the arts and culture component. The aspects that we have been suggesting could be progressive. It definitely requires some thought. The celebrated official languages program, for example, requires some thought from the cultural standpoint. We feel that these basic features, which we presented in March 2003, are still applicable. They deserve to be looked into in greater detail and improved.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I remember that last year, when we passed Bill S-3, people were optimistic. Mr. D'Amours was there, as was Mr. Lauzon. People were very happy and it had also been possible to do it before the election. There was the impression of finally succeeding in giving more teeth to Part VII of the Official Languages Act.

Today, I don't have the impression that things are moving forward. Is there progress being made in the field?

[Francine Brisebois]

As a member of the francophone community, I definitely have high expectations of the act. When I read in the papers that it would take two years to implement it, I said to myself that after all this time, there would perhaps be no francophone culture or vitality left in our communities.

We are part of a country that has two official languages. This is deficient in the minority francophone communities. The vitality of francophone communities has been demonstrated over the years. If we have been able to get where we are now, if we succeeded in surviving—

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

What do you have to hang on to? If—

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Excuse me, Mr. Rodriguez, but your time is up.

We will now move on to Ms. Boucher.

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

Good morning everyone.

It has been very interesting to hear everything you have had to say. A great deal has been said about the challenges that the communities must meet and the expectations they have of our government.

On the other hand, I would like to hear about some of the accomplishments you are proud of. Mr. Bourbeau, if you were asked to mention one accomplishment that you are proud of, which would it be? Could it constitute a potential avenue for another program?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

The achievement that comes immediately to mind is what French-Canadian producers have been able to do with the Canadian Television Fund. They obtained an agreement that guaranteed that 10% of the $100 million for Canadian production would really be dedicated to French-Canadian production. Excuse me for having said that it was $100 million; it is now only $89 million.

It began as a basic principle, but it is now an integral part of the agreement with Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Television Fund. This 10% constitutes a floor and not a ceiling under the agreement.

I think that is an achievement because it currently guarantees $8.9 million for French-Canadian producers. It gives them an opportunity to create cultural products that reflect our reality and that will be aired on different networks, because the producers are no longer dealing only with the CBC, but also with TVA, ARTV and various specialty channels.

However, as I said somewhat earlier, these products still do not have a large enough viewership. There is not enough distribution, and a way needs to be found, with the CBC among others, to ensure that these quality programs are distributed more effectively to the Canadian francophonie. Furthermore, some Acadians have said that they were not very much aware of what was happening in the West, and I would say that some Quebeckers are not very much aware of what is happening in the Canadian francophonie. So these are examples of successful achievements, but there are other challenges to be met; we need to be able to take things still further.

While still on this topic, producers in the film industry consider that a dollar spent by the government makes it possible to obtain $5 or $6 from other sources, and that creates jobs.

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

To make people aware of francophone vitality outside Quebec, you need a broadcaster. The CBC was mentioned, but it could be another network that could help you—

[Pierre Bourbeau]

We need very specific clauses that would require the cultural agencies, in the same way as MUSICACTION, to factor in the special challenges of the Canadian francophonie. In addition, we are talking about the cultural industry, where very often programming criteria are developed on the basis of conditions in Quebec or English Canada.

We therefore need to demonstrate that we can develop a cultural industry that is different with the Canadian francophonie. In fact, we could develop all kinds of more interesting products to showcase all of the Canadian francophonie's diversity.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Have you finished?

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

I would like to ask Ms. Carrier-Fraser the same question.

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

Let's take the example of health. A great deal of work was done by the Société Santé en français. In Ontario, four organizations that are part of the Alliance des réseaux ontariens des services de santé en français did unbelievable work thanks to funding from the federal government. In the justice field, great advances were made in terms of the services in French as a result of collaboration between the federal and provincial governments.

Community radio stations received some funding from the Government of Canada. We need much more still. The CBC is mentioned, but I think that our community radio stations have a crucial role to play in terms of the arts, culture, communications, etc. For example, the RDÉE, the coordinating group on economic development and employability, and existing collaborations with Quebec and the province in terms of economic development have had an amazing impact, and are continuing to do so.

These are very positive things that we hope will continue. We also hope that funding will continue. This would promote the growth of the community in several sectors, including health, the arts and culture. Community radio stations, communications, and the RDÉE and the whole economic sector, whether tourism or other areas, are all part of it. These things have an impact.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Ms. Carrier-Fraser and Ms. Boucher.

We will now ask Ms. Brunelle to continue.

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

My question is for Ms. Carrier-Fraser or Mr. Bourbeau.

You were successful thanks to government grants. In the current state of things, is this still possible? Can you continue along the same path?

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

With respect to the RDÉE and economic development, the grants still appear to be there, because I feel there has been a renewal in Ontario so that the services can continue.

The alliance of health networks is perhaps less stable at this time because the funding will stop at the end of March. There is therefore some concern because the Ontario French Language Services Act has been amended. At the moment, we are not at all certain about what will happen to our networks at the end of March. God knows.

As for community radio stations, there is still some work to be done. Today in fact someone is meeting the Canadian Heritage representatives to determine whether we will be receiving some funding for a community radio station in the Gatineau-Ottawa region.

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

Mr. Bourbeau, you said something that I found intriguing. We know how important it is to preserve language and culture. You painted an interesting picture for us by speaking to us about various language-related aspects. Studies in Japan have even shown that people should continue to work in their mother tongue. Indeed, even from the business standpoint, it generates people's creativity and develops their full potential. That being the case, the language must indeed be preserved, and culture is a part of it. It is intrinsically bound up with it.

You spoke to us about a framework agreement for arts and culture. I believe there is a Culture Department in Ontario. Is this not a field of provincial jurisdiction and are you not duplicating things that are already being done?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

I don't think that there is any duplication. We are supporting what is already being done. That is why we drew the analogy with what was happening in the education field. Education is another area of provincial jurisdiction, except that, to ensure that people living in official language minority communities rights are respected, the federal government injected some money for education in the mother tongue.

Currently, the federal government spends $135 million every year—a significant figure—only on people whose mother tongue is French. Furthermore, a great deal of money has been spent on French as a second language. Thanks to this model, the federal government has become a leader and a catalyst in encouraging the provinces to spend more on official languages and education. We would like to draw inspiration from this model and try to do something similar in the field of culture. Thus there could be agreements signed with the culture ministries, for example to encourage the provinces to spend more on arts and culture, and specifically on the official languages environment.

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

Does the Ontario Ministry of Culture specifically recognize and support a francophone community in Ontario?

[Pierre Bourbeau]

Yes, absolutely. I will ask Ms. Carrier-Fraser to speak about it, because she is the expert in this field.

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

The answer is yes, definitely. The Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs was also the Minister of Culture. There is therefore recognition that it exists.

As for grants, there are not that many in Ontario. Grants are not paid out to various organizations. That is something we would like to undertake to ensure that the Ontario government is made accountable to francophones. We are nevertheless a large community of over 500,000 people in Ontario. There should therefore be programs specifically for Ontario's francophone communities.

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

We were speaking earlier of television. When you look at the Quebec model, you can definitely see typical Quebec téléromans (serial drama programming). It provides a great deal of work for people, our actors and our artists. It is really invaluable for the promotion of our culture because it's about us.

[Mariette Carrier-Fraser]

Let's look at TFO, for example—