Official Languages Committee on Feb. 7th, 2011

[Régis St-Pierre]

I'd simply like to add that we in the Yukon are one of the only francophone communities that is growing in absolute numbers, as a percentage of the Yukon population and in terms of the number of immigrants. This phenomenon can be seen in the community institutions, the day care centre, the school and so on. And yet investment by the federal government has been the same since 2003. The $75,000 amount cited by Roch is in fact what is planned until 2013-2014. Imagine that you'd been granted the same budget every year for the past 10 years.

We work hard, we generate funding by other means, but in one sense we are victims of our own growth, of our own success. Here I'm talking about immersion, which has more than quadrupled, about the French-language school, about our community activities and so on.

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

Earlier you mentioned a problem, that the Commissioner of Official Languages could not really take the pulse of the situation because he was prevented from doing so by a Yukon act. Should that Yukon act be amended?

[Régis St-Pierre]

The commissioner is welcome in the Yukon. I talked about the RCMP, which is under federal jurisdiction. They're right near here, on Main Street. I talked about immigration. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a federal department. I also mentioned Radio-Canada, which is also under federal jurisdiction. In that case, it's just as well to address federal issues. Certain issues falling within the Yukon government's jurisdiction require addressing, but try to imagine the situation. We are just a small team and we have to fight institutions, immense organizations.

In the cultural field, we have only one director and he's assigned to culture and youth. Imagine the resources we have to deploy. For years now, we've tried to negotiate on a friendly basis with the federal and Yukon governments. We have filed a number of complaints about the RCMP. Our newspaper is currently in trouble because the institutions don't abide by the letter of the law. Last Friday, the federal government published a major advertisement in the Yukon News. It was in English on top and French on the bottom. That's an insult to our community. What does that mean? That we have to assimilate and buy the newspaper in English in order to read information about the federal government? It's shameful that these kinds of things can still happen in 2011. You have a role to play, to ensure that the federal government does its job in Yukon.

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

We're going to prepare a report following our meeting.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Guay.

From what I read in the last edition of L'Aurore boréale, the Lost Fingers will soon be doing a show in Whitehorse.

We'll now go to Mr. Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ms. Bernard, Mr. Nadon, Mr. St-Pierre.

Were you here this morning when the senior officials made their presentation? If so, you heard it.

First, we aren't a government committee. We are a committee of the House of Commons. You raised a number of points that could make some people sensitive. You aren't the only people to complain about the RCMP; we've also filed a complaint against the RCMP. It was supposed to respond to us at the start of the week. We'll know what its response is when we get back.

As for Radio-Canada, you receive programs from Vancouver. Does that mean you don't get Maisonneuve en direct? Is that program broadcast in Vancouver or is it...?

No, you don't seem to know it.

[Régis St-Pierre]

I can answer that. I know that, in Vancouver, there is—

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Do you get Maisonneuve en direct?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

So you're well aware of what is going on on the Plateau Mont-Royal, but less about what's going on here on Main Street.

Francophones established the Maison de la francophonie in Vancouver about 25 years ago. What's the address of your community centre in Whitehorse? I'd like to visit it.

[Régis St-Pierre]

It's at 302 Strickland Street. We've invited you all. I'm going to tour the centre with you and Mr. Larouche.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Your plan to transform the community centre into a cultural centre is completely sensible. However, it is never easy to establish francophone cultural centres in a minority setting. It was difficult with the Maison de la francophonie in Vancouver. It was difficult with the cultural centre in Orleans as well. You have to do it. My friend Mr. Bélanger was involved in that project and I was too.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

There's also Whitehorse.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

I didn't hear you say anything about health services. And yet health services took up a lot of our time during the last meeting with a delegation from your organization. Do you have any comments on the subject?

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes. We talked about it. We know you worked very hard to prepare and that there would definitely be questions on the subject. We also took notes this morning. We talked about it, perhaps indirectly, when we said it was time for the government to take action to meet its obligations. As regards health, there has been a case before the courts since 1999. It's in the process of discussion or mediation; call it what you will.

As regards health, you're quite familiar with the legislation, Mr. Galipeau. I took some notes. In our address, we refer to French-language services that were available long before Yukon's Languages Act was passed. In fact, the Yukon government sometimes thinks everything started in 1988. No, history started long before that. In 1970, with the Caron case, the territories, including Yukon, obtained legal protection for French-language services.

You also asked whether we could live in French in Yukon. Can we be born and die in French? That happens between those two stages. All health and prenatal services are currently provided in English. They're provided at a health centre managed by the Yukon government, where you can call, but the service is in English. There's no bilingual health centre in Yukon and no French-language health centre either.

As for extended care, I know some people who paid federal taxes for 50 or 55 years and who have never received any home-care service in French in Yukon because there is none.

We're talking about seniors, Alzheimer's, dementia, declining physical functions. We need services, and they are essential services.

I'm a community worker, I grew up here, I paid my taxes here. I don't want to have to speak English in my own home because I'm asking the government for home-care service to which I'm entitled.

Can we live in French?

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Before I'm interrupted, I would like to ask you for your opinion. You don't seem reluctant to give your opinion. So I'm going to take advantage of that.

Earlier I saw that some of us tried to elicit some opinions from the senior officials who were here. The officials were quite reluctant to provide any. They gave us figures, but they didn't offer any opinions. However, I realize that you aren't reluctant to do so.

If I asked you your opinion on the health funding gap which goes back to 1993, what would you tell me? Why is there a lag?

[Régis St-Pierre]

To be honest, the government doesn't want to provide the services.

They always find the money to provide services in English. The Yukon government's budget has increased from $400 million to $1.1 billion. So there have been increases in their budget. The services are provided to citizens.

Brian Murphy very clearly emphasized that Yukon's Languages Act doesn't make English any more or less official than French. They're equal. They find money to provide services in English, but it's funny they don't seem to find any for services in French. They always hide behind the fact that that service has been devolved upon Yukon and it doesn't have the money.

And yet we have official letters flatly telling the communities not to get involved in the matter, that they don't want them to be at the bargaining table or to hear their opinion. We're told that the government will manage the situation, that it will get the necessary money and that it will provide the services to its citizens. Once again, we're being held hostage.

We know that the information we're providing today will be made public. We've done our homework. The figures we're citing aren't our opinion; they're real. We have an opinion, but we're citing real facts.

The transfer has been made. We have official letters from the government telling us that it doesn't want us at the table. It guarantees us that, under Yukon's Languages Act and the Official Languages Act, we'll get all the services. We're guaranteed that.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

And yet the problem has been around since 1993.

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes.

We've asked the committee why it doesn't go to court. That's definitely always an option.

I invite you to take a look at our community's profile in the FCFA's figures that we submitted to you. You'll see that we've created institutions. We've created a dynamic and a strong Yukon francophone community. I had my children during those years. We established our institutions precisely so that we could control what we control and what we want to control.

I control the language spoken at home. More people speak French in the home than francophones. That means that people like my wife, who is anglophone, and people from exogamous families, that is to say couples of different mother tongues, have decided to speak French in the home. No one will take that away from us.

It's funny that the community institutions find staff. The school started up with 26 students and one teacher. Now the school is flourishing. It has rights and needs. They find qualified teaching staff. The same is true at the day care centre. That's the case for us as well, in our institutions.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Although 184 out of 5,000 students isn't a lot.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We'll come back to that, Mr. Galipeau.

We're going to begin our second round with Mr. Murphy.

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Among the list of witnesses, I believe it's you from the Association franco-yukonnaise who will perhaps answer my legal question. Correct me if that's not the case.

You're the largest association representing Yukon's francophone population. In New Brunswick, we have a number of groups that are involved in legal issues, but you're unfortunately the ones who have to respond to these questions.

Here in Yukon, do you have enough judges who can understand French? Do you have enough lawyers who understand French and can argue in court in French? Do you have enough French-language services provided by defence lawyers for people appearing before a judge?

Do you currently have enough in Yukon or not?

[Régis St-Pierre]

No, it's not enough.

There are no bilingual judges on the Yukon Supreme Court. They have to bring in someone from the outside every time there are cases.

We've also made presentations to the Yukon government about legal aid. It's paid for by the federal and territorial governments. Both have very clear legislation. As someone said, justice has been guaranteed for linguistic minorities since 1970, since the Manitoba Act. And yet legal aid is provided only in English in Yukon.

Imagine the situation. You are disadvantaged, you have no money, you don't know who to turn to, and you have something really serious happen in your life. You pay taxes all your life and you're told you're entitled to something. However, currently in the field, you won't get any services.

[Brian Murphy, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Today you said that, when you have a complaint, you always ask federal government representatives to rectify the situation, but they answer that it's the territorial government's problem and the territorial government says the same thing.

These are federal matters, aren't they? All your judges are under federal jurisdiction, are they not? Is the lack of justice you describe here a federal or territorial matter?

[Régis St-Pierre]

We've asked the same question. We're not experts. Legal aid is a good example. The logos of the Canadian and Yukon governments appear under the advertisement in the paper. We don't know who's concerned. It's not up to a citizen to know whether it's a federal or territorial service. He goes to an office where he's told to go; he phones a justice service line that he's told to call. He should receive service.

However, we're often told that the federal government pays first and then hands off to the Yukon government. The Yukon government puts that money in its coffers before providing citizens with the service. It can also hire a third party. That's the big danger now: third parties. You know there have been Federal Court judgments at the federal level. In the Territories, they say that Many Rivers, which is a third party, another institution, provides health services. We're also told that it's the Legal Aid Society that provides service, and it operates in English only.