Official Languages Committee on April 30th, 2009

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Teachers can never have too much material to bring back with them.

[Donald Ipperciel]

An openness to the world is important. It's important for the anglophones in Canada; it shouldn't be less important for francophones in Canada.

More and more now, independently of the question of French and English, we're trying to include ideas of globalization. We try not to just focus on specific courses but to have the idea of interculturalism present in all of our courses. This openness to the world is just as important to francophones.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

When you see the only teacher in the school who has had that opportunity, you really come to compare the rest of us. The kids just loved him; he was the only teacher who mattered.

If there were only more opportunities out there.... It's a shame that it's just open to people who can afford it. His family could afford to send him back in those years and he had the opportunity to go.

If we only had more incentive and initiatives for kids from just a normal family, not just for someone who has the money to do it, it would be great for all of us.

[Dan Maher]

I think we do have—not so much organized through the university, but through Alberta Education—a number of bursaries for teachers to do summer programs, particularly in Quebec. I think these types of programs are really quite valuable. I'm originally from Newfoundland, and we had in residence the French part of Explore. It was a conscious decision to put them in residence and to give every Québécois a Newfoundlander roommate. For interprovincial understanding it was great. It did send people back to Quebec sometimes with interesting accents.

Particularly in these types of programs, I think that sending kids either to home-stay situations or something where that contact is required is really a big deal for a number of reasons. When my son was in Chicoutimi, he shared an apartment with other anglophones. Now, he tried very hard, but you get less cultural and linguistic value being among the same people. Even if you are speaking French all the time, it's semi-immersion French at the lower end of the scale.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

Mr. Gravelle, you've come at the right time. You can take over.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Unfortunately, I missed a large part of the presentation, but since I have questions to ask, I'm going to ask them now, before I leave.

Ms. Arcand, in your presentation, you talked about the B.C. and Yukon branch. Could you explain to me what that is?

[Danielle Arcand]

It's a chapter of the organization Canadian Parents for French, that you no doubt know. I believe that representatives of that organization have come to testify before this committee. These are local associations of parents whose children are in immersion. They support the efforts of the schools that enrich the cultural program. The British Columbia chapter has associated with the Yukon. The number of people being what it is in the Yukon, these people have grouped together to combine their strength.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

Ms. Trépanier has left, unfortunately, but she talked about a scholarship system. Is there a system that you would like to see the government apply?

[Danielle Arcand]

In fact, we've developed that theme a little. I think all my colleagues from the other universities have emphasized the importance of having mobility scholarships, whether it be pan-Canadian or reciprocal, to permit exchanges between anglophones and francophones from regions of Canada, but also exchanges within the francophone world, to reinforce second-language learning ability. For us, this is about French. We already have some scholarships.

What we're saying here, collectively, is that we encourage government authorities to continue supporting these programs because they are of capital importance.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

My next question is for everyone.

We've often heard it said that there is a shortage of qualified teachers. I'd like to know whether you recruit qualified people from other provinces or countries.

[Dan Maher]

In the case of immersion teachers, we recruit extensively in Quebec, but I think it's very important that students have francophone and anglophone teachers for models. If they only have Quebec teachers, we send them the message that they'll never achieve that level. However, if the students also have qualified and trained anglophone teachers, and thus if they can see both sides of the story, I think that encourages them.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

That answer surprises me a little. Wouldn't it be better to have qualified francophone teachers rather than unqualified anglophones?

[Dan Maher]

We should have qualified anglophones.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Are there any? It doesn't seem that there are a lot.

[Dan Maher]

There are enough.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

So wouldn't it be better to recruit qualified francophones to teach in immersion rather than to have no one?

[Dan Maher]

I'm very pleased to have francophones who teach, but, at the same time, it seems essential to me that there be anglophones or people with another mother tongue to teach French.

[Danielle Arcand]

I may have another answer, Mr. Gravelle.

Francophones are actively recruited him in all immersion programs in Canada. What happens is that they are very attached to Quebec, to Quebec culture and to their families. They don't necessarily stay very long.

Consequently, there's a problem retaining these teachers. I think it's important that there be qualified people, from the local area, and that we give them the resources to qualify.

I listen to Mr. Maher and I see that he's very qualified in French. You've acquired an excellent level of French, and the same is true of Ms. Best.

So it's possible. We simply have to continue supporting the programs that enable people to achieve those levels.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Gravelle.

Ms. Best would like to add something.

[Janice Best]

I would like to support this idea that it is important, of course, to have francophones who teach, but also qualified anglophones because they serve as models for our students.

An anglophone student wants to know whether it's possible to achieve a certain level of proficiency and, if he has a model before him, someone like me, for example, that will encourage him. I learned French as a second language starting in grade 7. I can tell my students that it's possible, that, if they work, they can do it. Having a few teachers of anglophone origin also gives our students a lot.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

In my opinion, instead of committee members taking the TCF, it should be Ms. Best and Mr. Maher. I think they would do well.

We'll now move to the third round.

Mr. Borys Wrzesnewskyj, welcome to the committee. We'll open the round with you.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Is there a Quebec dictionary of Quebec French words and expressions? It's often easier for students of French to understand francophones from other countries, from France, for example, than Quebeckers.

The worst are the television programs that students of French find too hard to understand. I'll ask a second question later. Is there a dictionary or a book containing all those expressions?

[Donald Ipperciel]

There are a number. There's the Bélisle, the Robert québécois and a lot of glossaries.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Most teachers from other provinces are anglophones who have studied French. If students have trouble understanding Quebec French, perhaps we need institutes for teachers in Quebec.

Perhaps we can rethink our method. What's the priority for official languages? Is the priority to use French for international business or to be a bilingual country? Also do we need to invest in order to have teachers who really use Quebec French, with all its expressions, and who have a typically Canadian, Quebec accent?