Official Languages Committee on May 25th, 2010

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

Yes, and we have new ways of reporting that information.

Judith may wish to address that.

[Judith LaRocque]

In our report on priorities that we table in the House, there is a section that is now devoted to the Roadmap.

That is fairly new, is it not, Pablo?

[Pablo Sobrino]

Yes, it has been in place for a year.

[Judith LaRocque]

It has been a year. We were very much aware of the fact that people were having trouble finding the information. So, we prepared a compendium. One section is devoted to the Roadmap in that report—the Report on Plans and Priorities for the Department of Canadian Heritage.

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

When will that be released?

[Pablo Sobrino]

It is already on the website. We met--

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

How long has it been on the website?

[Pablo Sobrino]

Since last September.

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

We met with the representatives of the FCFA in the weeks leading up to today's meeting, and they again criticized the lack of transparency. It is not really possible to find information in the report you refer to. If an organization like the FCFA, a large organization, cannot find what it is looking for, cannot find the programs--

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

We could provide them with the direct links on the website. However, they are the only ones to have pointed to that problem.

[Judith LaRocque]

I am surprised to hear that, but I would be very pleased to follow up directly with FCFA representatives--

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

Fine. So, we can tell them to get in touch with you and they will be able--

[Judith LaRocque]

Yes, exactly.

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

It was glaring. In fact, that is one of their four recommendations: more detailed breakdowns, so that they can find what they are looking for and be able to follow.

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

We can certainly share that information; it is in our interests to do so.

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

Perfect. If you are prepared to do that, that is great.

You also said that immigration is a crucial issue for the development of the Francophone community in Canada. I fully agree with you. Recently, we also heard from witnesses who told us—despite the $20 million in funding you are allocating for immigrant recruitment and integration—that they have no specific goals that relate to Francophone minorities. They consider immigration in general. In no way will that protect our minorities.

How do you see that? Several weeks ago, we met with witnesses who told us that this was not one of their objectives. How can we ensure that we provide our minorities with all the necessary tools if we are not looking at, as regards immigration, where we will place these people?

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

In terms of available funding, I would like to point out that we created these funds following discussion and consultation with groups that assist immigrants all across Canada. I, personally, arranged meetings and roundtables in Edmonton with communities representing people originally from Rwanda and Côte d'Ivoire. They wanted specific funding and more openness in terms of the way services are delivered to newcomers.

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

These people told us they were going abroad.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Zarac.

Mr. Gravelle, please.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Minister, I have been a member of Parliament for about a year and a half. When I arrived in Ottawa, I was a little surprised by the number of Anglophones who had learned French. Members of Parliament do that kind of thing because they want to advance their careers, and some day become parliamentary secretaries, deputy ministers or even ministers.

If I were a young lawyer who wanted to move up the ladder, do you not think I would learn French in order to one day become a judge? I might not do that only to become a Supreme Court justice, but because I wanted to be judge at the provincial court level and, ultimately, a Supreme Court justice. Do you not think that would be a good reason to learn French? Perhaps if young lawyers learned the French language on their own, things would be better. This would not divide the country.

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

Thousands of young lawyers already do that and thousands of young lawyers are engaged. The Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality includes funding to help new lawyers learn French. That is already happening. The Supreme Court is already bilingual. It does not need an NDP bill to understand the benefit of providing services in both official languages. That is already happening, without this bill.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

If it is already happening and thousands of lawyers are already learning French, what is the problem with ensuring that Supreme Court justices are bilingual?

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

I am in favour of Supreme Court justices being bilingual. However, I am against the idea of telling people who are not perfectly bilingual that there is no room for them in an institution of the Government of Canada. It is not in Canada's interests to tell people across the country that they cannot be part of our system of governance because they are not perfectly bilingual.

As I said, it is also important to talk about numbers. Of the 4.1 million Canadians who were born in British Columbia, approximately 60,000 consider themselves bilingual. How many of them are lawyers and how many of them are lawyers working at the Supreme Court?

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

You just told me there are thousands of them.

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

How many of them are completely bilingual?