Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you again today. I am accompanied by Ms. Judith LaRocque, Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Pablo Sobrino, Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs.
Today, I would like to describe for you how our government is demonstrating leadership on official languages. In particular, I will tell you about the actions we have taken under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.
As you know, 40 years ago Canada put in place the Official Languages Act. Since then it has become part of our life and has made bilingualism a fundamental Canadian value. More than ever before, all government departments and agencies take into account the place of official languages and the needs of official language minority communities in their activities and programs.
In addition, in June 2008 our government made an unprecedented commitment to official languages by introducing our road map for Canada's linguistic duality. The government-wide commitment of $1.1 billion is now being acted on by 15 federal departments and agencies.
What this means for Canadians living in minority-language communities is investments in priority areas, including health, economic development, culture and education. As we move forward, we are consulting with community groups on the ground, so we get a better understanding of what works, and what we can do to get better results.
I am particularly pleased to hear of the success of the Dialogue Days held here in Ottawa last week. Close to 90 organizations, representing official language minority communities and our linguistic duality, came together over three days for discussions. I understand that these discussions captured the attention of several members of your Committee. I hope we get just as much interest when it comes to supporting our work on the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.
What happens in our Francophone and Anglophone minority communities across the country is a reflection of who we are. Today, more than 71% of the commitments made in the June 2008 Roadmap have been the subject of formal, detailed announcements by my Department or other departments concerned, amounting to more than $792 million. Canadians have access to this information through the Official Languages Secretariat section of the Canadian Heritage website.
Here are a few examples of those investments. In the area of health, our government has set aside more than $174 million to train staff and improve access to health services. Everybody wins: francophones outside of Quebec and anglophones in Quebec have greater access to health services in their own language, and health professionals can develop their skills while contributing to the future of their communities.
Let me give you a specific example. Last March a health and social services resource centre opened its doors in Gatineau, Quebec. Monsieur Nadeau should be familiar with this centre, as it's in his district. The ConneXions Centre was established to help the approximately 54,000 anglophones in the Outaouais find health services in their own language in their own region.
In education, I announced the signature of a Protocol for Agreements between our government and the Council of Ministers of Education Canada, which represents the ministers of all provinces and territories. The protocol sets aside more than $1 billion for education, second-language education, and scholarship and bursary programs. Because of this support, close to 107,000 young Anglophones in Quebec and 142,000 young Francophones in other parts of Canada are studying in their own language, in a school of their choice. And 2.4 million young Canadians are learning French or English as a second language at school, including 300,000 immersion students.
These are programs we are proud to support, new services that make a difference every day in the lives of all Canadians.
I've already stated that our official language minority communities are a fundamental part of who we are as a country. That goes without saying to members of this committee. What needs to be said is how these communities are becoming economic assets for Canada. For example, more and more business in western Canada can be conducted in French. Thanks to the government's investment over five years, 1,600 French-language jobs were created or strengthened in 2008, and 716 francophone businesses were created or were able to improve their competitiveness over the same time period. This achievement can be attributed to our overall commitment to official languages.
Francophone economic development also includes the north. Our government will invest more than $500,000 in various projects for Nunavut in the north, while over four years $400,000 will go to socio-economic development in northern francophone communities.
As you know, Canada enjoys a competitive economic advantage over other countries by having two official languages of international stature.
One of the Roadmap projects was specifically to offer all Canadians free access to the Government of Canada's Language Portal, which features high-quality language tools such as TERMIUM. Since last October, this powerful work tool—developed in Canada—has put all our language expertise within the reach of all Canadians.
We have also launched a second-language pilot project at the Canada School of Public Service to give more people access to language-learning products at Canadian universities. This means that students at 11 universities will benefit from the School's training tools and products in learning their second official language. This project allows us to raise awareness among our youth about the advantages of bilingualism.
Mr. Chair, your Committee is currently studying immigration as it relates to official language communities. This study is well-timed.
At the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie held in Vancouver last September, my counterparts and I clearly stated that this issue is vital for the growth of the Canadian Francophonie. We continued our discussions this past March at the 12th Metropolis Conference in Montreal, and we supported the publication of the Best Practices Manual on Francophone Immigration in Canada, which was presented during the conference.
This clearly shows the potential for action by all levels of government.
In Saskatchewan, we worked with our provincial counterparts to make it possible to implement a project that will make it easier for Fransaskois to access government services in their own language, in fields such as immigration and health. In total, we are investing $200,000 over two years in this project, which draws on the single-window concept, providing the public with access to integrated services on a one-stop shop basis.
We recognize the importance of working together. In partnership with the Government of Manitoba, we recently provided $50,000 for a project enabling TFO, the Franco-Ontarian channel, to broadcast in Manitoba. This partnership with another government increased the availability of francophone culture in the province of Manitoba while also helping Franco-Ontarian creators reach a broader and expanded audience.
While I am on the issue of working together, I want to note that the Guide for Federal Institutions has been widely distributed for three years now. A new summary of best practices is available to the public and the Government of Canada's organizations. This highly useful document gives concrete examples for supporting minority communities and promoting our two official languages.
As the Minister responsible for arts and culture, I would be remiss if I did not mention the cultural support programs put in place by our government under the Roadmap: the Cultural Development Fund, the Music Showcase Program, and the National Translation Program for Book Publishing.
Let me give you some details about these three programs. Last year, I announced the implementation of the Cultural Development Fund. With a budget of $14 million over four years, the Fund is strengthening the arts, culture, and heritage within minority communities. Several organizations across the country have received funding for their projects under the Fund. To mention just a few, in British Columbia, we have helped Vision Ouest Productions launch a new summer event called ÉTÉâTRE. It will feature a host of activities, films and shows celebrating the Francophonie in my home province.
The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network also has a great project. Under its Spoken Heritage Online Multimedia Initiative, it plans to preserve and promote the oral history and cultural heritage of English-speaking Quebec.
Mr. Godin, I am sure you are familiar with this project in your home province of New Brunswick. There, Film Zone is raising the profile of Francophone film in Acadian regions, especially among young people, and is also encouraging film production in the region. Mr. D'Amours, I am sure you are also a supporter of this project.
Last year we also announced that we were establishing the music showcases program. The program was created with the aim of giving official language communities better access to music performances in their own language. At the same time, our artists, including those from official language communities, can reach an even wider audience--in Canada and abroad.
To act on this commitment, our government provided $4.5 million over five years to Musicaction and FACTOR through the Canada music fund. These two organizations are managing this sum to meet the particular needs of Quebec anglophone communities and francophone communities outside of Quebec.
The National Translation Program for Book Publishing was established in April of 2009. The purpose of this program is to give Canadians better access to our country's rich culture and literature, in both official languages. This program helps Canadian publishers translate Canadian-authored literary works into either English or French. Quebec books such as Vers le sud by Dany Laferrière and Le facteur C by Simon Brault were translated into English by publishers in British Columbia and Ontario.
As I said a moment ago, our government supports the cultural vitality of these communities, not only through the road map but also through my department's cultural support programs.
Arts and culture employ more than 650,000 Canadians. They contribute $46 billion to the Canadian economy and account for nearly 4% of Canada's GDP.
Since April 1 of 2009, our government has invested more than $53 million in projects, under the economic action plan, to be implemented in Canadian communities of all sizes. You would be right if you said that this support is going to all of Canada's communities and that its scope is far broader than our official languages concerns. My reply is that a culturally and economically diverse society yields advantages from all of our communities, including official language minority communities.
I would like to give you an example that speaks volume. The amount of French-language audiovisual productions originating outside Quebec rose sharply from 2003 to 2009, from less than 50 hours to 110 hours. What that actually means at the community level is jobs—jobs for writers, actors, technicians, and other workers in the arts and culture sector. It also means services and business opportunities for a sector three times the size of the insurance industry and twice the size of the forestry industry.
In 2008 and 2009, 14 National Film Board films were produced or co-produced by artists from Francophone communities outside Quebec, and 12 films were produced or co-produced by artists from Quebec's Anglophone communities. These films enjoyed critical and popular success; an example is the Franco-Ontarian film Entre les lignes. Mr. Bélanger, you may be familiar with this superb Franco-Ontarian film. Each of these works is a reflection of its community.
Finally, you will recall that the language rights support program was announced in June of 2008. During the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, I reaffirmed our government's commitment to delivering a fully operational program before the end of 2009. I announced that the University of Ottawa would be the managing institution of the program. We have met this commitment. The program began operating last December. Mr. Allan Rock, former minister and current president of the University of Ottawa, has praised the government's actions. He said--and I quote--“Thank you for continuing to lead in the area of language rights in Canada.”
As you can see, promotion of our two official languages and support for official language minority communities, have been and will remain priorities of our government. This is very evident from the activities and programs that I have mentioned today.
I would like to thank you for once more giving me the opportunity to describe what our government is doing to show the way forward in this area. Thank you for your attention. I am ready to answer your questions.
