Official Languages Committee on May 13th, 2010

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

All right. That means that, if francophones form one-third of the population in New Brunswick, the target is to maintain that representation.

[Monique Drapeau-Miles]

We're still talking about the province's linguistic balance.

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

What is that balance?

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Fifty-fifty.

[Mario Boisvert]

It's roughly a third.

[Monique Drapeau-Miles]

In our strategy, we're not talking about one-third as a figure; we're talking about maintaining the linguistic balance.

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

All right, but that can be defined. It isn't simply tossed out like that. We want to maintain the balance. What is the balance? We're talking about targets. When the government gives out money, it asks what the goal is, what the targets are, what that amount is going to be used for.

[Monique Drapeau-Miles]

We're talking about the linguistic balance in the representation of immigrants as well.

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

Mr. Boisvert, you're saying it's a third. Is that correct?

[Mario Boisvert]

I haven't consulted the census. I don't have the exact figure, but it's about that.

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

All right. Are you taking Manitoba as an example? Nova Scotia is.

[Monique Drapeau-Miles]

We share a lot of the best practices in Canada. On Tuesday, we talked a lot about cooperation among the provinces. Manitoba has set a target of 7%. I don't think Nova Scotia has determined the target or a comparable percentage, to my knowledge.

We also share our best practices in another forum, not only on immigration in general, but also on the francophonie. That's the Atlantic round table on population growth, where the four Atlantic provinces share information. We also take recruitment initiatives together.

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

With regard to recruitment, we know that Quebec has offices in other francophone countries. New Brunswick doesn't have any. What kind of assistance are you receiving from the federal government to communicate with those countries so that you are in a position to receive francophone immigrants in New Brunswick? I'm sure Quebec's offices—I don't want to offend anyone—don't work to attract immigrants to New Brunswick or Manitoba. What kind of support are you receiving from the federal government? Perhaps the federal government figures that Quebec handles French in foreign countries. What kind of support are you receiving from the federal government in foreign countries to attract immigrants and to enable those countries to communicate with New Brunswick?

[Monique Drapeau-Miles]

Mr. Boisvert, do you want to talk about Destination Canada?

[Mario Boisvert]

Yes. Citizenship and Immigration Canada established a committee to support the promotion and marketing of the Canadian provinces in Paris in I don't know what year.

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

That's being done in Paris, but not across Europe. Earlier you talked about France.

[Mario Boisvert]

Yes. The embassy in Paris nevertheless works with others, including those in Tunisia and Morocco. So that's one kind of network. The assistance that the federal government gives us isn't necessarily financial, apart from the $10 million already received, but, in the case of Destination Canada, the federal government will cover all the costs to organize that activity to which we are invited.

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

I was talking to the vice-president of Air Canada. He travels around the world and he told me it was unfortunate that no one talks about New Brunswick or the Acadians anywhere except in Paris. He told me that Acadia receives no promotion elsewhere in the world, in other countries.

[Mario Boisvert]

Acadia and New Brunswick are starting to be known. We've only been doing any regular promotion for eight years. That's only a few years. We're just starting. People elsewhere have only recently realized that there are francophones across Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Perfect. Thank you very much, Mr. Boisvert and Mr. Godin.

We'll begin our third round with Mr. Bélanger.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I apologize for being late. I had another meeting. I haven't yet mastered the art of dividing myself in two, but I'm working on it.

Mr. Jourdain, I want to go back to the conference's role. You have a meeting in Yellowknife in June, I believe. I assume the agenda is already established.

[Guy Jourdain]

Yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Can you tell us whether immigration is one of the topics for discussion?

[Guy Jourdain]

Yes, it's one of the important topics we'll be addressing.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Do you know whether the conference might adopt the idea of encouraging its members to set an objective like the one in Manitoba? I moreover congratulate you because I know you took part in it. You mentioned this morning that we're talking about an objective of 7%. This week, the representative of the Government of Nova Scotia appeared here and she said there was no objective and that, if there was one, it would be approximately 4%. I encouraged her to aim higher. The federal government has an objective: it's temporarily 1.9%, and it's aiming for 4.2% or 4.4% by 2020 or 2023, which is clearly insufficient, in my opinion.

Is this something the conference could seriously consider?