Official Languages Committee on March 26th, 2009

Evidence of meeting #11 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was university.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Federal Government's Support for Post-secondary Institutions and their Efforts in Promoting Bilingualism in Canada

MPs speaking

Also speaking

André Dulude Vice-President, National Affairs, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Marielle Poirier Member of the Board of Directors, Director General, Cégep de l'Outaouais, Fédération des cégeps

Luc Rainville Coordinator, Office of the President and Senior Advisor, Francophonie Affairs, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

9:50 a.m.

Member of the Board of Directors, Director General, Cégep de l'Outaouais, Fédération des cégeps

Marielle Poirier

Our federation makes submissions to the Government of Quebec. For the moment, we're very pleased that the government is allocating the CEGEPs their share of the total budget allocated for postsecondary education. We've also obtained a 40-60 share—40 being the CEGEP share—which exactly corresponds to the percentage of funding allocated to our two systems by the Government of Quebec.

The federation makes submissions to the Government of Quebec, but none to the federal government. The Association of Canadian Community Colleges handles that for us.

9:50 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Thank you.

We'll now go to Mr. Petit.

March 26th, 2009 / 9:50 a.m.

Conservative

Daniel Petit Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

Good morning, Mr. Dulude, Mr. Rainville and Ms. Poirier.

I was pleased to hear Mr. Dulude say that Mr. Fraser was currently conducting a study. It comes at the right time because that is precisely what we're trying to get with you. I understand that time is very limited.

Mr. Dulude, you represent all Canadian universities. I come from Quebec City, and Université Laval is part of your group. I'm in both systems, the old and the new. We used to enter university after completing a classical education. Now you go through a CEGEP before going to university.

Correct me if I'm wrong. On the anglophone side, you have to do four years of university. You do part of the Quebec CEGEP program, then you enter the university program. In fact, when you speak on behalf of Canadian universities, it's as though you were talking about one year of CEGEP within your group.

9:55 a.m.

Vice-President, National Affairs, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

André Dulude

We also speak on behalf of Quebec universities.

9:55 a.m.

Conservative

Daniel Petit Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

I understand. Ms. Poirier rightly says that she has to negotiate for the money for her students to come from a single source, the Quebec government. Her hands are somewhat more tied than yours in certain respects. You have one year in which you can negotiate with the Government of Canada, which she can't do. For two years, she can only turn to the Government of Quebec. In the anglophone universities, where the education is a bit different from ours, it's one year.

As regards the public service, you were asked earlier whether it was possible for students leaving university or college to be bilingual in order to work in Ottawa, for example. In that way, the federal government would not have to act as a second-language instruction institution. We're trying to determine what the possible options are in this direction.

9:55 a.m.

Vice-President, National Affairs, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

André Dulude

I've just left the public service after 35 years of service. So I've seen bilingualism evolve in that environment. In the past 10 years, I've seen perfectly bilingual anglophones, like your colleague Ms. Glover, emerge from immersion programs. They hadn't necessarily studied at francophone or bilingual universities, but their French was more than acceptable, nearly perfect, as a result of those immersion programs. So there have been significant and positive developments in the federal public service. There's no doubt on that subject.

9:55 a.m.

Conservative

Daniel Petit Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

In the public service, certain high level positions such as deputy minister positions, for example, require highly developed skills. We're not just talking about legal or medical training, but also scientific training, in certain cases. From what we've been told, many deputy ministers do not know the second language. They have come out of university, have extraordinary skills, but are incapable of expressing what they want or understanding what is going on in the other language. Is the federal government required to teach these people the basics of their second language, whatever it may be? Is that our role or yours?

9:55 a.m.

Vice-President, National Affairs, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

André Dulude

I must correct you. I worked for Mr. Chong at the Privy Council. I spent 12 years at the Privy Council as a public servant, not in politics. As part of those duties, you only deal with the 49 deputy ministers. When I was told, and I'm a francophone, that I couldn't address the 49 deputy ministers in French, I couldn't agree. They're bilingual.