Thank you.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was yukon.
Evidence of meeting #42 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was yukon.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you, Ms. Guay.
We'll now continue with Mr. Galipeau, who is carefully monitoring our proceedings this morning.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to thank the Yukon people for welcoming us to Whitehorse today.
I am grateful that the senior executive of the government has chosen to come and meet us and to educate us this morning, and I thank you.
We arrived in Whitehorse around 4:00 p.m. yesterday. I had occasion to visit two book stores before they closed, where I found shelves of books in French, and I bought some.
I didn't visit the public library, but I noticed that the signage is in both official languages, so I felt it was welcoming.
Following the report that Ms. Blais gave us earlier, I, like Ms. Guay, would like to finish up on the matter of health administration.
Unless I'm mistaken, bilingualism in the Northwest Territories stems from the Northwest Territories Act of 1892.
Is that correct?
9:30 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
We don't have the same act as in the Northwest Territories. We have the Act respecting—
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
You were detached from the Northwest Territories at one point. So that goes back to the same 1892 decree, doesn't it?
9:30 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
I'm sorry. To be quite frank, I didn't know. So I can't answer your question.
However, I can answer answer—
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Let's continue with the health issue.
Unless I'm mistaken, in 1993, the federal government, in its great wisdom, transferred responsibility for health from the federal government to the territory. I assume the federal government transferred financial resources for all those aspects, except the administration of French-language services. However, in 1993, the federal government neglected to transfer the funding necessary to provide health services in French. However, you nevertheless continued to offer health services in French.
9:30 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
Not on the same scale as we would have to if we had all the money.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Ultimately, to do that successfully, you had to find money elsewhere and to cut other services.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
That is to say that—
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
How much money are we talking about?
In 1997, you appeared before the federal government to sound the alarm and to tell it that you had been trying to provide health services in French for four years and that you could not do so.
How much money did you ask for?
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
I wasn't there. However, we received $1 million for each year of a four-year agreement, so $4 million.
Since then, funding has increased to $1.75 million under the new 2009-2013 agreement.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
So I had misunderstood. I thought the federal government had granted no funding.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
Not for health. It was for the general implementation of all French-language services.
With that $1.75 million, it's impossible to carry out an implementation plan because that amount covers management expenses. Then funding is granted to create bilingual positions.
Don't forget that the federal government made a commitment to pay for everything, to pay 100% of implementation costs. There are a few dollars left that we distribute among 14 departments and corporations for implementation purposes, to provide services for signage, advertising and so on.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
We haven't yet conducted a study to determine how much full implementation of French-language services would cost. I believe the only province that has done so to date is Nova Scotia. I enquired and we have not yet begun to establish the overall cost.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
That may be one of the reasons why the federal government, that is to say the previous and present administrations, have not gone any further either. When you don't know how much it costs, it's hard to do it.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
Let's say that French-language services are being implemented gradually in the Yukon.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
I must say that, when I negotiated the 2009-2013 agreement, even though I was very well prepared, we requested additional funding and were told that was impossible.
9:35 a.m.
Director, French Language Services Directorate, Government of Yukon
We requested nearly $800,000 more to create other positions.