Official Languages Committee on May 15th, 2008

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Is the situation of Quebec anglophones the same? Do anglophones feel threatened in Quebec?

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

In Quebec the issue is, of course, different. In Quebec it's not an issue of language. Of course English-speaking community individuals want to be served in the language, in English. The notion for Quebec is more along community development and the communities--long-standing communities--that want to remain vital in Quebec and in Canada.

For example, in the Eastern Townships, in Quebec City, where my president comes from, there are vital communities of people who speak English, who have learned French, who have stayed in Quebec, who wish to remain in Quebec, but wish to have their services in English.

So there's not the same dynamic; we would not give it the same conceptual frame. But the problem is as grave, if you will, in the Lower North Shore, in Blanc-Sablon. There are people there who have learned French but still want access to services in English. They want their communities, long-standing heritage communities, to survive. That's what the issue is.

So the issues are different, and we must not look at them from the same policy and program lens. But it is critical.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

If francophones outside Quebec, in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta, were treated in the same way as Quebec anglophones, that would be good.

Do you believe that anglophones in Quebec are well treated compared to you, who are outside Quebec?

[Cyrilda Poirier]

May I speak?

My colleague talked about the problems of the small anglophone communities in the Eastern Townships. What we're lacking on the Port-au-Port Peninsula and in the Eastern Townships are services, whether in English or in French. My community on the Port-au-Port Peninsula currently doesn't have a medical clinic or a doctor. At this stage, our community is losing not only its strength—the workers are going to Alberta—but also its seniors, who are leaving the Port-au-Port Peninsula to go and settle in Stephenville in order to have access to medical care.

The vitality of a community is in danger. Whether it's in English or in French, the small communities need services.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

[Stéphane Audet]

It's a matter of rights. We have to be able to live linguistic duality across the country. Quebec anglophones have a right to their institutions and strong communities. I absolutely agree on the points that have been raised by my colleague and counterpart from Newfoundland and Labrador. It's a question of rights, equality and justice. They've built those institutions and they have considerable interest in protecting them. Back home, we're creating institutions, and I hope we'll be able to keep them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Gravel.

We'll now go to Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to welcome you to the committee.

I would like to welcome you to our committee on official languages.

I'd like to ring an alarm bell and tell the minority communities of Canada that they aren't quitters. You're using your credit cards to run your communities in Canada. That's wrong, insulting and unacceptable.

You're working so hard to lend vitality to your communities across the country, whether they be anglophone in Quebec or francophone in the rest of the country. They say there's a budget, but that the money will be coming later. There's also an action plan, that will be coming later as well. You've used your personal lines of credit. I'm prepared to tip my hat to you because, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have done that. I find this unacceptable.

Did the anglophone community in Quebec have to do the same thing? Did you have to use your own line of credit?

[Robert Donnelly]

Listening to my colleague Cyrilda's presentation, I thought I could name five of the 22 organizations that experienced the same situation last summer. They have to close offices for two months because the cheque is supposed to arrive in September. We've just asked when the agreement will be put in place. We can do nothing before the agreement is signed. They always say it's 99% guaranteed, but the money isn't there until it's signed. Some people close their offices for two or three months during the summer because there isn't any money. Sometimes there are lines of credit, but most often they use personal lines of credit. That's the reality.

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

We're talking about interest that can amount to $15,000. You can use that money for the community, can't you?

[Jean Léger]

Mr. Godin, we get the money in September. I'm an organization administrator. I receive 25% of my funding in early April. Canadian Heritage boasted that it gave at least that.

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

I want to go back to that, because I'd like to hear what you have to say on that subject. That would have been my next question.

[Jean Léger]

As a result, I, as an administrator, don't know my budget until September. So what do I do? Well, I put my foot on the brake. So my organization puts on the brakes until September. I don't know how much money I'll have. Perhaps I'll get a letter in July or August, Mr. Godin, telling me that my organization has suffered cuts. I've already spent the money; I was absolutely unable to do my budget planning. I believe this is an aberration, a bad investment for the Canadian government, since we're doing our job, not 12 months a year like any other company, business or department, but in seven months. So how can we “deliver the goods”—pardon the expression. We do it in seven months, whereas we should be doing it over 12 months. We do everything quickly. We put an enormous amount of pressure on staff and volunteers. That creates the turnover rates that Mr. Audet mentioned a little earlier.

[Jean Comtois]

I have a brief comment. That's true not just for our provincial organizations, but also for all organizations that are funded in each of the provinces and territories. In Ontario, there are nearly 90 organizations, I think, and they are facing the same problem. If you take that as a whole, they're forced to rely on lines of credit, and, if you calculate the interest all those organizations pay on that credit, it comes to an enormous amount, significant, which we could use in our work. But we can't because, as Jean said, it works the way it works.

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

I've been here on the Standing Committee on Official Languages since 1998, and this isn't the first time we've heard that. The communities have been waiting for their cheques for a long time. That didn't start in 2006, 2004 or 2003. It's always been that way. So there hasn't yet been a government that stopped and ultimately said they were going to solve this problem once and for all. Do you agree with me?

[Robert Donnelly]

Every year we're asked to organize a work plan based on a 12-month budget, and the money doesn't come until six months later, if it comes at all. However, we have to hire people, and we don't know what the total grant will be. We hire people not even knowing whether they'll be there for six or 12 months. If the budget is smaller than the previous year, we have to cut activities. We change our plan from month to month.

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

How much time do I have left, Mr. Chairman?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have one minute left.

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

You represent virtually all the regions of the country. What do you think about the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court? Should they be bilingual or not? Quickly, there are only 30 seconds left.

[Jean Léger]

Nova Scotia says yes.

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

Do Quebec anglophones say yes?

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

We even published a document on the subject today.

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

Francophones in the rest of the country say yes with the representatives of the two official language communities. So let's hope the government takes note of that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You're welcome, Mr. Godin. Thank you for being so brief and thanks as well to our witnesses for their cooperation.

We'll now go to the government and Mr. Denis Lebel.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, good morning and welcome. All of your testimony was equally interesting. It's given us a good idea of the situation in which you have to manage your organizations.

Like most people here, I haven't been around since 1998, like Mr. Godin, but, in the few months I have been here, I've heard all about the organizations' priorities. As our government is shouldering its responsibilities and making decisions to improve Canadians' lives, we hear everything that has been said here this morning.

One of the biggest points to emerge from the testimony I heard concerns the one-size-fits-all idea. From what I know, and based on the information we have, the territorial characteristics of the country were respected when the first agreements were signed.

With respect to Manitoba, the Société franco-manitobaine recently told us it had a project called “Agrandir l'espace francophone” in Manitoba. That's part of the agreement, and I think that very much respected local characteristics.

As for British Columbia, Mr. Audet, in its 2004-2009 global development plan, according to the information I have, the federation was able to give that agreement some local flavour. I understand it may not be perfect, but this is already a process of opening up.

I know that the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne has gone to great lengths to express its concern about that. It believes that's not enough, that it has to go further. I'd like to hear what you have to say on that subject. How far should it go; I would like to ask all the partners—we are lucky to have people—to tell me a little about their agreement in relation to local characteristics.

I heard Mr. Léger say that he had signed an agreement six months ago. Was he able to find some local colour in what was done or is it still one size fits all?

I'm listening to you, ladies and gentlemen.