Official Languages Committee on June 8th, 2006

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

... a yearly deficit that was left by the government that was in power before 1993.

I believe that it is high time to stop saying to people that it was the previous government that was responsible for this or that. This government came to power four months ago, and we are still waiting for it to make decisions and give new directions. As the saying goes, it's about time the government got down to business.

As for Mr. Diouf, I believe that his beautiful letter speaks very highly of him. The letter that you read before us at this committee is entirely in keeping with African etiquette, which is the least that can be said in Mr. Diouf's case. He was very honourable, whereas our government was not.

Your 18-page presentation in French was a huge disappointment for me, Madam Minister. You talked about your responsibilities, which we are all aware of, as Minister responsible for the Francophonie and Official Languages. What we are expecting of you, Ms. Verner, is that you make us aware of how you intend to guide your department, and of your ideas, in your capacity as Minister Responsible for Official Languages, appointed as such by the Prime Minister.

Unless I do not understand the French language, I noticed that after four months of being in power, nothing is new aside from what was established by the previous government. I do not want to talk about politics here, that is of no interest to me. What is of interest, however, is knowing whether or not you want to change things. It is up to you to tell us so. I, for one, haven't heard anything of the kind.

My following question is on the Action Plan for Official Languages. The Commissioner, Ms. Adam, took note of delays in allocating the funds that were earmarked.

Of the $381 million set aside, how much has been transferred to the provinces, and which ones have received these transfers? When will the sums be made available, particularly to the province of Quebec? How much will be allocated to educational programs for the anglophone minority in Quebec?

Minister Verner, I am looking for a clear, specific and straightforward answer.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

That is a shame, Minister Verner, because Ms. Folco took up more than four minutes to ask her question.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

The minister has one minute to reply if you do not interrupt her.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Please keep your answer brief.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

The honourable member made a certain number of statements. She said that budget cutbacks were made because the Conservative government had left behind a deficit. That is unfortunate, because given the Liberal government's priorities, linguistic communities have had to bear the brunt of those cutbacks.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

The entire Canadian population has had to bear the brunt.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Ms. Folco...

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

I believe that given the fact that those communities were living in a minority situation, they should have been given particular attention. However, during the last 13 years, the government set up extremely expensive programs that became wasteful and made the headlines many times.

As to Mr. Diouf, he publicly said several times that he was satisfied with the interventions made by myself and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. MacKay, in addition to the conversation he had with the Prime Minister. In my opinion, the matter is closed. Given his stature, we must be respectful of his wishes, and consider the events a thing of the past.

As for our major orientations, I will not elaborate on them until we finish consulting communities. Regardless of what the honourable member for St. Boniface says, communities do not appear to be at all fed up with consultations. I believe that they are extremely enthusiastic with the idea of being heard through this new approach.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Minister Verner.

Ms. Barbot, you have the floor for a second question.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Perhaps I have time to read to the minister article 29 of the Vienna Convention, which Canada signed. The article clearly stipulates that:

The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.

In 1988, Canada designated the Francophonie as an organization whose diplomatic representatives would enjoy the privileges provided for in the Vienna Convention.

Madam Minister, I simply want to say that we ask our question on behalf of all Canadians. Mr. Diouf is free to say what he thinks, that is only one aspect of the issue. However, we would like to know what the government thinks on this matter.

I would like to know if you're satisfied with what happened and if you believe that it was appropriate.

Another point I would like to raise is the quality of the French that we speak on the international stage. Would it be possible to make sure that when a spokesperson speaks on behalf of the government in international fora, that that person fully understands French and is able to read French text in a way that is intelligle.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

In response to your first question, I will remind you that we expressed our regrets, both in private and in public. I spoke, in my capacity as Minister responsible for the Francophonie, as did my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Prime Minister. We all expressed our regrets over the unfortunate incident that took place in Toronto. In no way whatsoever is this practice considered appropriate. What I am telling you, is that the Secretary General of the Francophonie has said that he is satisfied with the outcome of his visit to Canada.

As for your second question, I don't know if you were referring to something specific. What are you alluding to exactly?

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

It is directly related to the speech read by Mr. MacKay in Winnipeg, which was completely unintelligible. I would have preferred not to have to mention his name, because I respect the minister and I appreciate the efforts he has made to speak French correctly. However, I think that in an international forum, specifically the Francophonie, it may have been preferable to find someone who could read French texts to the assembly in a way in which people could understand them. Clearly that was not the case at this meeting.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam, on behalf of my colleague, I feel extremely embarrassed by your comments. You attended various events with Mr. Diouf, namely a cocktail during which my colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke to Mr. Diouf and to the people who were there. I can only reiterate the efforts made by my colleagues to learn French and I believe one must be a spoilsport to judge the quality of the results when someone is making an effort to speak our language.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

Do I still have a bit of time?

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

You have about 30 seconds.

[Vivian Barbot, Bloc, Papineau, QC]

I did not mean to judge. I expressly said that I was very sorry to have to make that comment. I'm simply saying that when an official document is to be read in French in the name of Canada, I would expect it to be read just as well as an English text would be read, in other words very well. That's all I have to say.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam, I think your comments speak for themselves, and to be frank, I am speechless.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you.

Mr. Blaney has a very important question to ask.

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

In fact, it is more of an invitation. I thought you were referring to the party we are organizing today for our friends from other parts of Canada.

We had a meeting this morning. I want to thank you for meeting with us and agreeing to be in the spotlight, if I may say so, Minister. There are members from various parties here, which is normal. Our institution is political in nature and members defend the interests of their respective parties.

Beyond that, the committee seeks to find ways to promote linguistic duality. In your speech, you referred to two main thrusts. It may be slightly administrative terminology, but I think it is referred to as horizontal coordination.

If I'm not mistaken, you would like the French language to be welcomed throughout government, in all departments and all agencies. Moreover, we have to promote duality in communities. In fact, we have representatives from these communities within our committee. I think that that is also an asset.

You will also note that much of the work done in this committee is done in French. Even if we seek to promote linguistic duality, we have to face reality and focus specifically on the French language in a minority setting, as well as on the English language in a minority setting, as is the case in Quebec. Three per cent of the people in my riding are anglophones.

You are listening to communities, and I think that's important. You want to express a vision stemming from a solid base. It is important to take the time to do that. Also, we sense that you are committed and that your government is committed to establishing a real partnership with linguistic communities. I think that above and beyond everything else, that is what transpires from your comments. It's a step in the right direction.

I referred to one issue. The previous bill did not seem to address the need for Air Canada to offer services worthy of a former crown corporation.

I think the committee will be vigilant in that regard and that we will be issuing recommendations to the government.

I thank you for your visit. If you would like to come back—

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

Are you good, very good or...?

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

Do you think it may be useful for you to reappear before our committee once you have other things to discuss, be it projects or initiatives you would like to undertake?

It's an open invitation and I would like you to tell us how you feel about that.

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you, dear colleague, for your comments. Obviously, I intend to exercise my duties in the most transparent way possible. If there's any further information I can share with the committee, I would be pleased to do so.

[The Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

I thank my colleagues. Mr. Godin will have the honour of asking the last question.

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

I wouldn't say that if I were you, given what I'm about to ask.

We can't forget the past. First, there is the precedent and then there is the future. We can look at what happened and what is happening today. Some say that the Liberal government inherited a $42-billion deficit. In actual fact, workers now have to shoulder a $49-billion deficit. That's more than 42. Because of changes to employment insurance, $49 billion was taken from workers, which has led to a great deal of poverty. Moreover, although there was a $42-billion deficit, that did not justify additional cutbacks for communities. I feel they went too far.

Each year, the Minister of Canadian Heritage reports to Parliament on issues relating to the official languages mission. Total expenditures for the Official Languages Support Programs Branch were $264,550,000 for 2003-2004 compared to $302,200 in 2001-2002.

There has been no report since then. Mention is made of the official languages mission, but we know that the report was from Canadian Heritage. There is now a new department for la Francophonie and Official Languages.

Who will report to Parliament and tell us where things stand? There was a $100-million cut. What is the status of things now?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you for your question, sir.

You mentioned a report produced by the previous government. I will be presenting the next report.