Official Languages Committee on May 4th, 2010

[Bintou Sacko]

As I mentioned, this assistance and support and hospitality program at the airport is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for refugees and by the Province of Manitoba for landed immigrants and—and later as well—refugees.

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

It's intended more for refugees than people who already have a job and want to immigrate.

[Bintou Sacko]

It's aimed at everyone.

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

If a newcomer wants to immigrate to Manitoba, does he contact you himself?

[Bintou Sacko]

Yes. We have a website that is accessible to everyone. This one is linked to the Province of Manitoba. From that site, people can contact us, and let us know, for example, that they've been selected by the Province of Manitoba and that they have been accepted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, that they have chosen Manitoba, Winnipeg, as their destination and that they are arriving on a given date. If a client asks whether there is a service to assist him in getting oriented, we immediately contact him. We try to prepare him even before he arrives on the ground. Most people contact us at least three or four months before they arrive.

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

Do you have that program in Quebec? I saw that when she was talking about that program you were shaking your head as if to say it's a good program. I'd like to hear from you on that.

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

I think any welcoming society should have this kind of program. Whether it be anglophones, francophones--whatever “phone” you want--I think that is a way to begin to welcome--

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

You were talking about people coming into Montreal or to Quebec and then leaving again. Maybe that's the link that is missing. They're getting there and saying, “I'm just on my own”.

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

I think what we're trying to do in Quebec is work with the province to get an understanding that this is not a zero-sum game. In fact, that's what we presented to the levels of immigration: it's not a zero-sum game. They come in, they contribute, they speak French, and they attach to a community. They attach in the first generations. They might make switches in the second generation or in a third generation. We all know that happens. It's the social engineering of our lives.

I think this is a wonderful program and I think everybody should pay attention. I know that they do this in Israel. Countries that have a need for immigrants have to develop these kinds of stratégies d'accompagnement. It's the only way it will work. It's not for me to ask the questions, but I would be interested in hearing about the results. What are the outcomes? What are the results? I bet you they're high; I bet you they want to stay.

For the English-speaking community, for Quebec society in general, I think that in Quebec, anyway, we need to figure out how to deal with Quebec, and not in a zero-sum game, where one is a loss and one is a gain.Because we're all living in Quebec and we all want to speak French: on veut parler français, on veut s'intégrer au Québec. And there is sometimes a natural alignment to another community, but that's not a loss for somebody else. I think it's wonderful.

[Robert Donnelly]

A number of communities offer newcomers programs subsidized by Canadian Heritage. One of them is very successful in the Quebec region and is also subsidized by the municipal government of Quebec City. It's exactly the same program as the one your colleague from Manitoba was talking about. The program is offered in the first two years to assist immigrants in getting used to a new climate. However, as two people have already mentioned, if the jobs aren't there—

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

If there are no jobs, that's the problem. In New Brunswick, it's no longer an immigration issue; we're losing people back home. We can't attract immigrants when we're losing our own workers as a result of the economy that's going poorly.

Ms. Bossé—

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Godin. Your allocated time is up.

We'll continue with Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There's lots to say and hear on this subject.

First I want to thank our guests. The discussion we're having today is very interesting. Everyone here shares the same goal of ensuring the vitality of the minority language, whether it's French outside Quebec or English in Quebec.

There are a number of aspects to immigration, such as, for example, economic success and safety. Even though we politicians want to encourage hope, we must also admit that there are limits and constraints. However, it's marvellous to see this kind of success, despite the constraints. In Manitoba, for example, the number of immigrants who speak French has sharply increased in recent years.

I would like to ask a question. Are you prepared to say that the success of the minority language outside Quebec will encourage the vitality of French in Quebec? If we don't have

the encouragement of French outside Quebec, or if, as Professor Castonguay said to us last week, we should send all the francophones to Quebec and then there would be no French fact in B.C. or Manitoba, to me that would be ultimately the doom of French, even in Quebec. Because we need French to be spoken outside Quebec in order for us to achieve this goal of having a truly bilingual country and a strengthening of French.

Could you comment on that?

Let's start with you, Mr. Diallo.

[Ibrahima Diallo]

That's provocation when I hear that.

The francophonie and francophones are part of this country, whether they are concentrated in Quebec or elsewhere. That's what makes Canada. If you polarize by saying that all francophones are in Quebec and that the ROC—the rest of Canada—is English, that's no longer the Canada we know.

The francophonie and francophones are part of what this country is. In that context, everything has to be done so that the official language minorities, anglophone and francophone, can grow and develop in our country. It has to be said that anglophones are increasingly learning French. That's an extremely important fact. We've just celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act. At the time, it was even said that French would become the language of ambition in the public service.

French is no longer a hidden language in Manitoba. We're normalizing French. A lot of events take place in both languages, which is new. That wasn't the case barely 20 years ago.

For me, French is part of Canada. We have to ensure that people can also take advantage of that language, wherever they are—and not only francophones, but people who want to learn our language as well. It's important to encourage that.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Ms. Bossé, do you want to add a comment?

[Suzanne Bossé]

Manitoba is also an excellent example of the governments' vision of what Canada is. They perceive the two official languages as adding value to our identity and sense of belonging. The provincial government of Manitoba has, among other things, recognized and mandated the Société franco-manitobaine, the provincial francophone mouthpiece, as a partner in the development of its community. If every provincial government did the same thing in its planning, that would make our communities much more dynamic.

My colleague has something to add on that subject.

[Sylvie Moreau, Acting Assistant Director to Immigration, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada]

Since the strategic plan was first implemented, a lot of great collaborative initiatives have been introduced in the francophone community across the country. For example, Nova Scotia includes the francophone community in the process of identifying immigrants outside Canada. One class of immigrants is referred by the community under the provincial nominee program.

To go back to ways of increasing the minimum 4.4% of total immigrant population, some great Destination Canada initiatives are organized by the embassy in Paris in which the communities take part with job offers in hand. People have settled in the regions, not just in urban areas. In Newfoundland and Labrador, someone, a health director, is at the Fédération des francophones thanks to Destination Canada. People settle in the Yukon. Whitehorse is a very small place. They are contributing to the development of the tourism industry. Some great things are happening.

It isn't always easy to prepare for and enter the labour market. That's why it's really necessary to prepare, before leaving, particularly for professionals. We have some great partnerships on the ground. We now have networks. The FCFA supports joint efforts by the various coordinators across the country, including Ms. Sacko. Some great partnerships are being established to generate support in the employment field, training to assist occupational integration.

Lastly, to go back to Mr. Weston's question, the communities across the country are working to increase awareness at home. In Nova Scotia, officials have toured all the regions since January of this year. They are making the communities aware of regionalization; people are talking about it, asking how we can work together to match strategies, including the integration issue. A lot of things are really happening, and I want to share them with you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Feel free to take part in the conversation.

The time period allocated to Mr. Weston is really up. We're starting the second round with Ms. Zarac.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good morning to all our guests. As you see, this is a subject that we're passionately interested in and would like to discuss for a long time.

First I'd like to talk about the table you presented to us, Ms. Martin-Laforge.

Mr. Donnelly, you said that table was very revealing. It's a table that describes retention. I'm surprised to see that education is one of the reasons why immigrants are not retained in Quebec, since it costs less to study in Quebec.

I'm interested to know whether you prepared the same table by identifying the language spoken by immigrants, indicating whether the individual is a unilingual francophone?

You didn't do it. That could also be interesting. I can readily understand the economic aspect. Immigrants definitely come to Canada to have a better quality of life. You have to start by finding work; I understand that. With regard to education, I'm surprised. Can you briefly explain that result to me?

[Michelle Dupuis]

The poll was conducted with mother-tongue anglophones versus immigrants who spoke English as their first official language. That was the sample size taken. There was no francophone component to the poll.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Or non-English-speaking either? No? Okay.

I think that would have been interesting.

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

The research is needed.

[A voice]

Absolutely.

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

I guess this is a demonstration here for us, and when we talk about the brief. There is not a lot of research being done in English-speaking communities around why they go and what it's all about. By asking that question, I think you demonstrate how important research would be to give us a better idea of what's happening and why.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Indeed. Matters being what they are, it's very important. We have a plan spread over 15 years, which Ms. Bossé mentioned. However, we know that the next five years will be decisive. We're going to lack the skilled labour we'll be needing in Canada. I think we have to act strategically in immigration. Studies have to be conducted because we have to answer those questions. If we want to retain immigrants, we have to meet needs. Ms. Sacko mentioned what you're doing. It's a strategy to provide assistance and support. That's very important.

Ms. Bossé, you mentioned that one of the challenges will be to support the organizations in place that are offering this assistance and support on the ground. You even talked about creating new ones.

Do you think it would be possible to fund all those organizations? Would the new organizations have new mandates or would they be the same ones?