Evidence of meeting #33 for Official Languages in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was heritage.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
According to the normal procedure, I need unanimous consent by committee members to continue the proceedings. The vote will be held in 30 minutes. Our meeting must end at 11 o'clock, and the vote is scheduled, if I'm not mistaken, for between 11:10 and 11:15.
Do I have unanimous consent to continue? I'm going to check.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Chairman, that's not the agreement. Being the whip of a party—
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I have a point of order. We have to agree to stay here during the vote or to leave.
A vote will be held in half an hour. If members can't get to the other building in less than 15 minutes, that's because they have problems with their legs or they don't want to hear the witnesses.
I recommend we continue until 11 o'clock, when we must stop the meeting.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
So you're proposing that the meeting continue until 11 o'clock and that we then adjourn. To do that, I need unanimous consent.
Conservative
An hon. member
We're stopping at 11 o'clock. We don't want to fight in front of the witnesses.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Chairman, I have a point of order.
You don't need to request unanimous consent: we'll be there in time to vote. You're mistaken, Mr. Chairman.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Mr. Godin, I have to get unanimous consent. Do I have unanimous consent?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Perfect. We'll continue, and we'll hurry because we have to adjourn the meeting at 11:00 a.m., and I'd like us to have a third round. There are people who haven't yet asked any questions. Let's go ahead.
Mr. Godin.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'm going back to the agreements because that's why we invited you here. On Tuesday, representatives from Canadian Heritage told the committee that the organizations should be satisfied with the 25% that department is giving them.
Are you satisfied with that amount, pending the agreements, or does that hurt the communities?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
We can't be satisfied when we only get 25% of the annual budget. We're told to start the year with that money. We aren't given the total budget planned. We don't know where we're headed. In six months, the $150,000 budgeted may only be $100,000, and we'll have hired people when we shouldn't have done so.
Executive Director, Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique
Some of our communities receive confirmation in October. So 25% is distinctly inadequate.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Now let's talk about the action plan. You said you met with Mr. Lord. In his report, Mr. Lord recommended that $1 billion be reinvested. Both that report and Recommendation 32 or 34 of our report on official languages propose that the arts and culture be added to the action plan.
Considering the $810 million that was given to the communities and the addition of arts and culture, the new action plan makes no provision for increased funding if the minister decides to head in that direction. Is that correct?
I'm putting the question to Ms. Côté.
Director, Community and Government Liaison, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
I don't know. I can't foresee what the government will propose. We requested increases for community development, but we don't have any indication.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I'm not talking about what the minister will do. The minister's messenger, Mr. Lord, who went and did a little in camera tour, recommends $1 billion.
If the minister decided to recommend the same thing as Mr. Lord, that is $1 billion, would that be enough, especially if we had arts and culture, which we have promoted as well?
Executive Director, Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique
That wouldn't be sufficient or acceptable. I can tell you about communities located in the northwestern part of the province, such as Campbell River, Nelson, Comox and Kitimat. They have branches. For your information, if you're interested, there are jobs in branches that offer $15 to $18 an hour. You have to be an expert in the management of non-profit organizations, planning and financial management. You have to be able to take charge of accounting records, do a little maintenance in the building, do cultural integration and be a librarian. You have to take over the management of a mobile library and its computer system.
People are exhausted. Some who are on the job now want to retire, but can't. They know that the day they leave, no one else will agree to replace them, to do all that for $15 an hour. I'm very concerned. If there isn't any new money, it will be like in Saskatchewan and elsewhere in the country: a large number of communities will lose their one and only employee, and some will disappear. That would be tragic.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
You lost an association in Sault Ste. Marie and elsewhere as well because of deficiencies of that kind. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Vice-President, Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario
I obviously agree with Stéphane. I represent Ontario, and it's far from enough in the case of that province. It doesn't guarantee that we'll be able to continue supporting the organizations that we fund. Organizations have to close their doors because of a lack of funding. The fact that 25% of funding is allocated to the organizations and that they don't know how much they'll have left for the rest of the year is a fundamental problem. The organizations can't operate that way. People ultimately get discouraged. They are burnt out and can no longer function. This then has a revolving door effect: people stay for a year, then leave. In those conditions, how can we ensure continuity in the organizations so that they can plan and meet the needs of the community over the long term?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you very much, Mr. Godin.
Now we'll go to Ms. Jennings. Then if there are no other speakers, we can adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Jennings.
