Official Languages Committee on May 25th, 2010

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

There are different concerns in each of the territories. There are also different demands depending on the region, as you know.

In my province of British Columbia, the greatest demand comes from new Canadians who want to learn one of Canada's two official languages. In Vancouver, there is more and more demand for English, not French. However, that is not always the case.

There are different commitments for each province. As you know, education is a provincial responsibility. It is up to the provinces to decide how they want to spend taxpayers' money. The decision rests with them. We respect the provinces' jurisdiction.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Yes, education is a provincial responsibility, but the federal government can do a lot to help the provinces.

You mentioned that your 69-year-old father slept in his car so that his granddaughters could attend a bilingual school. Don't you think that, after 40 years of bilingualism in this country, it is disgraceful that a 69-year-old man would have to do that?

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

Yes, and I can assure you that I vented my frustration to the minister responsible in British Columbia.

Having said that, this falls within their jurisdiction and it is their decision to make. We are making our own investments. We are investing more money than ever before in the history of Canada. To be perfectly frank, I have received no complaints from provincial Ministers of Education. This is within their jurisdiction and the decision rests with them.

Our commitment is to provide added funding for Canada's official languages. We respect the provinces' jurisdiction.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Gravelle.

We will now begin our third round, with Mr. D'Amours.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Minister, I would like to thank you and the people accompanying you today for being with us. I would just like to make one brief comment. The next time, Minister, you should wait in the car instead of your father. There comes a point where you need to show some leadership and compassion in that area.

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

I went to get the coffee from Starbucks.

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

Minister, your colleague, Ms. Verner, promised there would be no cuts to the Roadmap on Official Languages. But recently, budget cuts of $1.7 billion were announced for some federal departments and agencies, and there may well be other such announcements in the coming weeks and months. In spite of that, are you giving us the same guarantee as your colleague—in other words, that the Roadmap will not be cut on the backs of official language minority communities, even if budget cuts are announced at departments and agencies for which you are responsible?

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

Yes, our commitment to official languages comes under the Act. We are serious about that commitment and the changes we have made to increase funding. That was the commitment we made in the election campaign.

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

Minister, I am talking about a commitment to make zero cuts. You are there for official languages, which is one thing, but are you prepared to state that there will be no cuts, in spite of all the announcements there have been these days about budget cuts to departments and agencies?

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

We have no intention of touching the funding. We have already put more than $1 billion on the table over a five-year period to contribute to Canada's success. We will continue to fund organizations and help public servants learn Canada's official languages. We are not planning a single cut.

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

Minister, you have referred to $1 billion for the Roadmap. Can you tell me what the budgeted amounts are for the first and second years of the Roadmap, please?

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

It is not as simple as that, because several agreements are multi-year agreements. However, Pablo may be able to give you exact figures for 2008-2009.

[Pablo Sobrino]

If I am not mistaken, it was $182 million for the first year. Several programs--

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

And for the second year?

[Pablo Sobrino]

It was $235 million, but I may be off by $2 or $3 million.

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

And what was the amount of funding under the Dion plan for official languages in the final year, the fifth year?

[Pablo Sobrino]

I believe it was also $235 million.

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

So, we agree that in the first year, the funding was reduced. You said $182 million, correct?

[Pablo Sobrino]

Yes, program renewal was responsible for that decrease.

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

As I understand it, the $182 million for the first year reflects your budget.

[Pablo Sobrino]

It was the amount spent. I can check--

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

So, the $182 million and $235 million amounts reflect the actual money that was spent?

[Pablo Sobrino]

Yes.

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

I would like to know what amounts were budgeted for those years.

[Pablo Sobrino]

We spent what we expected to spend in the first year. There were some delays, because of changes made to the Roadmap programming. We established a cultural program, a program on immigration, and programs like TERMIUM. It took some time for all of that to be approved by Treasury Board, and so on. So, that money was spread over four years, rather than five. In any case, the total amount is $1.1 billion.