Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2009

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I'd like to finish what I wanted to say.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You'll have enough time to do that because Mr. Godin is going to speak again.

We'll move on to Ms. Glover.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I want to give you the chance to finish, minister.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Ms. Glover.

I wanted to emphasize that, in the past, there weren't enough procedures within government in general to protect taxpayers' money. There are examples on the ground. Small organizations are now faced with procedures that are too complex. That's what's happening with regard to official languages for certain organizations. However, that shouldn't happen. If you had wanted to listen, you would have understood that that was the point I wanted to make.

My responsibility as minister is to make changes that will improve the situation of those organizations on the ground. That's my responsibility, and I take it very seriously.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you, minister.

I would like to welcome all the witnesses and give them a warm reception.

Minister, there is a minority community where I'm from. Stakeholders in my riding have talked to me about the 25% measure. Everything we talk about here is very important, but I would like to know whether that measure will be maintained or whether it will eventually no longer be necessary.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

I think it's a good measure, a responsible measure. Some organizations receive $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 for very important services intended for very small communities in Canada where there is no radio or television broadcasting or French-language newspapers and where French is entirely absent from the schools. In those conditions, that immediate payment is really important. Consequently, the 25% measure will remain government policy until we are entirely convinced that all funding problems for those organizations have been solved.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you. That responds to the concerns I had.

[Judith LaRocque]

I would like to add that the percentage could even be greater than 25%. We're wondering whether it would be good to offer a larger amount at the start. It should always be borne in mind that we engage in risk management, but that the communities we work with are some of our oldest clients. We know them. In their case, the risk is much lower than that of an organization we're dealing with for the first time or that has only been in existence for a number of years. We can check their cash position and so on. I think that, in addition to what the minister mentioned, there are solutions that could make life easier for the communities.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Perfect, thank you for acknowledging that.

In my riding, people often talk about new funding included in the Roadmap. That's been well received. Recently I had the pleasure of announcing the program on culture.

Today, I would like to give you the opportunity, minister, to explain that program in a little more detail.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

[Inaudible — Editor]

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

No, no, the culture program, funding for culture.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

The funding for culture is a new component of the Roadmap, a new way to fund the arts and culture. We're investing $14 million in it. It's very important for the cultural community.

As I say in every one of my speeches, culture is very important, not only for the quality of people's lives, but also for our economy. For our economy it's very important, it represents 650,000 jobs in Canada and $46 billion. That's twice the size of our forest industry in Canada, three times greater than our insurance industry. Our cultural community is very important for Canada economically.

It's also very important for people in the official language minority to protect and to promote their culture on the ground. That's why we've invested new funding in the Place de la francophonie at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as I said in my speech.

There are two athletes' villages for the 2010 Olympic Games, one in Whistler and one in Vancouver. The Vancouver athletes' village is in walking distance of the Place de la Francophonie on Granville Island. So what will happen is that a lot of athletes will come, and while their sports may happen in the first few days of the Olympics, they may have made a commitment with their families to be in Vancouver for the entire two and half or three weeks of the games, and they'll be in and around the athletes' villages. The Place de la Francophonie is within walking distance.

Our artists and musicians will be there. The event will respect the very broad diversity of artists from the francophone communities. This is a very important thing. It's the kind of change that we, as a government, want to make in our investments in official languages. The idea isn't just to protect the French fact in Canada; it's also to protect it in specific cases. The point is not simply to maintain the French fact in Canada, but to seize every opportunity to—

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, minister.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

—celebrate the French fact in Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Indeed.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

To live in French. That's good.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Glover.

We'll now begin our second round. Mr. D'Amours, I believe you are going to share your time with a colleague.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, minister, for being here—as well as the representatives of your department.

To begin with, Ms. LaRocque, you mentioned earlier that you had previously signed the 25% cheques that were delivered in early April to ensure that the organizations received them on time. Can you tell me who signed the cheques this year?

[Judith LaRocque]

It was the minister who signed them. The constraint this year had nothing to do with who signed what. This year, the constraint was due to the fact that we were in the midst of renewing programs with Treasury Board. Treasury Board does not allow us to pay a cent before it's been approved.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I understand, Ms. LaRocque.

When you say renewal, pardon me, but the programs were already renewed because people filed their applications in October and November. When we say renewal, we're talking about the future. People filed their applications in October and November because the program was in place for next year. If it was in place for next year, that means that the 25% was eligible.

Minister, seeing that, I wonder whether you have too many files on your desk, which may have delayed the disbursement or the signing for disbursement purposes.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

We signed the cheques for the 25% as soon as we were able, as soon as possible taking into account Treasury Board regulations.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Is it possible that certain organizations have not received their 25% as of today? A few weeks ago, there were still some organizations that had received nothing, both anglophones in Quebec and francophones outside Quebec.

Perhaps you don't want to help them; perhaps you don't want to allocate any funding to them.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

No.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

At some point, these people need to know. If they didn't receive the 25% a week or two ago, what does that mean? This is the month of November.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Let's make it clear. I'm going to answer in English; it's easier.

You can shelve the conspiracy theories, okay? We're investing more money in official languages than any government in Canadian history. We want to help organizations on the ground deliver official languages services as effectively and quickly as possible. The 25% was delivered as quickly as we possibly could this year given Treasury Board guidelines. Now, it doesn't mean there weren't problems, but it also doesn't mean that in exceptional circumstances where there are problems you should elevate those and say they are the rule for all organizations. That's also unfair.