Official Languages Committee on March 23rd, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bélanger.

We will move on with Ms. Guay.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you very much.

We are happy that you are here, Mr. Moore, now that the Olympic Games are over. I know that you are always willing to appear. I am sure we will have other questions to ask you.

We need to take stock of the Olympic Games. I was not there, but what I saw of the opening ceremony disappointed me tremendously. I heard a lot about it as folks called me to tell me that they were disappointed, and that it did not make any sense that francophones were not featured. I did hear however that things ran more or less smoothly on the ground. That there were good services provided, but that it was not perfect. There were complaints, some action, some people were dissatisfied. That also has to be acknowledged, you cannot turn a blind eye to it. They will have to make sure they go to even greater lengths next time.

Think about what took place in Quebec City over the weekend. I was there on Saturday for the Red Bull Crashed Ice. There were over 150,000 people, including a lot of anglophones from all around Canada. No one complained that they did not get good service. Services were provided in both languages and there was no problem. This was an international event that ran smoothly. Perhaps it can serve as an example.

Let's talk about our concerns regarding local media, community radio and everything at a community level. These folks have been fighting for years to get funding, and I know several of them in my riding. They are underfunded, they often lose their premises, they have had to be accommodated by community groups in order to keep up and running. And that is increasingly what we are seeing. I would like you to reassure us that these media, whether they be radio stations or newspapers, are going to survive, because they are extremely important to small communities. There is a lot of volunteerism, but if they do not have a small and yet solid base upon which they can count, they will simply disappear.

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

I am aware of this issue and of its importance. I am a former British Columbian radio host and I am fully aware of this. In that particular province, 1.3% of the population is French-speaking. Several of my former colleagues are French-speaking, in Prince George. I do not know if the percentage can be any lower than zero, but that is more or less the French-speaking population in that area. So it is crucial for that type of organization and radio broadcasting to exist in the region. I have had regular dealings with them and I am fully aware of the situation.

I would also like to talk about the first decision I made when I was appointed minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. Mr. Bélanger is well versed in these matters. I held discussions with the CRTC on broadcasting here, in Ottawa, to make sure that the francophone community was well represented.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

So you are giving us a guarantee here, today, that you are going to make sure that these community-based organizations, newspapers and our radio stations, are going to survive?

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

I will do my absolute best to make sure that there are policies and that there is funding that make that happen.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

That is perfect, it is what I wanted to hear.

I have noticed that you have doubled the allocation for TV5MONDE, which is really good. It is one of my favourite TV channels and it is also interesting for the population. On the other hand, I see that you have cut back support for the official language communities development program, though not by very much. We are talking about $10,000, but it is a cutback nevertheless.

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

You are referring to TV5? What budget envelope are we talking about?

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I'm referring to support for the official language communities development program. In your 2008-2009 main estimates, there was an amount of $202,000 and in 2010-2011, it is $192,000. So you cut back your support by $10,000 and I just wanted to know why.

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

I don't know. Perhaps it is an agreement that was entered into several years ago.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Not to worry. Somebody else can give me the answer.

[Pablo Sobrino, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs, Department of Canadian Heritage]

In last year's main estimates, there was $336 million in grants and contributions. There was a $3.5 million reduction in grants with the axing of the interdepartmental partnership with the official language communities. The bulk of this money, $2.8 million, was funnelled back in contributions to the new cultural development fund, which provides support for the roadmap, for example.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

In other words, it was a transfer. I see.

[Pablo Sobrino]

Indeed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Ms. Guay.

Mr. Weston now has the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to our committee, Minister.

I think that for any Canadian, but especially for me, it's quite interesting that a member from British Columbia is asking questions in French of a minister who was also originally from British Columbia. Last week, witnesses from the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada and from the Association de la presse francophone appeared before us. We spoke about the Olympic Games. Having had the experience of being right at the heart of the games, in West Vancouver and in Whistler, I remarked how amazed I had been by the influence of the French language. We asked questions on this issue. Mr. François Côté, secretary general at the Alliance, said the following in response:The Franco Médias project was a success across the board. It was an absolutely fantastic project, both for the communities concerned and the participants. It was an extraordinary experience for the participants who, probably for the only time in their life, were able to attend the Olympic Games and cover them in a different manner. They covered the sporting activities, but it was much more than that. It also involved the daily life of folks from British Columbia [...]

Mr. Potié went on to say the following:

I'd say the same thing. Based on what our members and the participants and coordinators on-site said, it was a tremendous success.

Minister, how can we ensure that this success story helps promote the French language in the various media, among students, and the general public?

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

Franco Médias 2010 was an important project for many reasons. As a government, we're always looking for projects and key investments at a grassroots level. I'm not just talking about major projects, but also, from time to time, more modest projects which may help young people to learn and to speak the official languages in regions of Canada where it is a little more difficult to find employment or job opportunities. It may be a way of enabling storytelling about mainly anglophone communities and of speaking about these anglophone communities in the francophone media which are available countrywide electronically. That's important.

One of the things you always look for, I think, with new media, as a government with regard to official languages, is you try to find these opportunities. I used to say all the time that it was a sad thing, I remember, when I first got involved in politics, that in rallies, for example, in Quebec, you would see young people so enthusiastic about Quebec leaving Canada. They were talking about leaving a country they had never seen, never read about, never heard about, they've never had it reported on in their media because it wasn't available. Because when you have a tragedy, such as a shooting in Prince George, or if you have a great success, like an Olympic Games, or if you have a great moment, all Canadians should know about that. All Canadians should know about our own shared experiences, our tragedies, our triumphs, our successes, our failures, our struggles. We should all know about this.

But when there's that barrier of language between one region of the country and another, it doesn't help the future of this country if we don't get to have those shared experiences, good and bad. So when you have this project, Franco Médias 2010, the idea of this again is to take a few young kids who want to become reporters, give them a little bit of money, and let them talk about the Olympic Games. Not just the sporting aspects of the games but the adjacent events associated with the games—the volunteers, the infrastructure things, successes that were put in place, the things that matter on the ground that often don't get talked about—and have them be told in French to Canadians from around the country, so that it's not just the filter of the official broadcasters of CTV, that you can get around that through different projects like this so we can have these shared experiences understood in both official languages.

Take the horrible floods in the province of Quebec about 10 years ago; it doesn't serve this country if people in Port Moody, where I'm from, can't witness that and experience that and understand it in their own language. We need to understand the tragedies and successes in other parts of the country, and when the barrier is language, the role of government, in our view, is to make investments into magazines, into media, into projects like this for kids so that we can break down those barriers, so that we can have these shared experiences and bind ourselves together as a country.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Weston.

Before handing the floor over to Mr. Godin, I'd like to give you the opportunity, Minister, to comment on the question Mr. Nadeau had started asking concerning the meeting we had last week with representatives from the newsprint and radio broadcasting sectors which are to be found in francophone minority settings. The representatives said that when they spoke to officials at the Department of Canadian Heritage, they were told that there were programs for them, but when they spoke to people from other departments, they were referred back to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

And that comes back to the spirit of the Official Languages Act which stipulates that all departments must offer services to organizations in minority settings. I'd invite you to comment on this.

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

Sadly, that isn't a new concern, nor an unprecedented one. I'm aware of that. We are still working alongside our partners in other departments. Perhaps Judith can speak about the need to address this problem.

[Judith LaRocque, Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage]

That perception is clearly still out there, but under the roadmap, 15 departments did in fact get funding. They have obligations. That's just for the roadmap component. But nevertheless, every department has obligations.

At the Department of Canadian Heritage, we kind of play the role of champion for these organizations, and we're happy to do so. I meet often with these groups. That happens in health care. The RDÉE, the coordinating group on economic development and employability, came to see us recently in an attempt to reach out to certain departments. And we're pleased to play that role. We really see ourselves as official languages champions in dealing with federal government departments.

When I hear from the minister that there's a problem, I call my colleagues and counterparts from the other departments directly. So we'll persevere, and I think we'll continue to attempt to chip away at that perception for as long as we're here. And that happens on a daily basis.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, you said that all Canadians were able to see the Olympic Games. That's not true. And I'll tell you why. Channel V doesn't broadcast throughout Canada. RDS isn't available with every cable company and isn't broadcast by every satellite. The same is true of CPAC. It's not available Canada-wide. There are regions in Canada where CPAC isn't available and it's not mandatory to have it.

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

For example?

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

I'll give you an example. In northern Ontario, CPAC is not on cable. It isn't mandatory. You can check. What's more, a lot of people work out of and are more or less forced to live out of their suitcases. They stay in hotels, and CPAC isn't available in hotels. Nor is Channel V. RDS is available most of the time because of the sport component, but I can tell you that it's not 100% of the time. We heard in committee that it is not available in 100% of cases.

Minister, I'd like to hear you say that it is good for people in Quebec to be able to see what's going on in British Columbia and in other cities on television.

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

Are you talking about judges?