They want to pass on their language to their children.
Evidence of meeting #43 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 #43 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.
Liberal
Executif Director, Les EssentiElles
Yes. We really see a difference at that point.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I would like to ask a question that was asked this morning: is it possible to live one's life in French here? I will try to put it a different way: if someone only speaks French, can they live here?
Jean-Marc Bélanger President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
I will speak for my wife, who speaks only French. It's very difficult for her. She wonders whether she will find a job, whether she will be able to continue to do everything in French, and whether that will always be the case. It's possible, because the community is fairly large. But there aren't many of us in Yukon. There are about 1,200 or 1,300 in Whitehorse.
President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
Yes, something like that.
People who are part of the community have a sense of community. There is no doubt that people support each other. The ones who are able to live in French only will do so. My wife will survive. French is not a question of survival. It is possible, because the community is there to support us.
Bloc
President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
No, they certainly are not.
Executif Director, Les EssentiElles
Even surviving can be difficult. We were talking about social justice earlier, and services for seniors and people in difficulty. If you only speak French and you have to explain something to an ambulance attendant or police officer, without any ability to speak English, then everything stops there.
Conservative
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Mauril, I would not have minded if you wanted to use a minute of my time.
Please excuse us, but we are timed.
You say that your wife will survive. Yes, she will survive, but that doesn't mean she will realize her full potential, and that is the problem.
Let me give you an example. In Quebec, Anglophones have no trouble living their lives and fulfilling their potential. They don't need to survive. They have all the institutions they require to fully develop. On the other hand, when I see what is happening here, I'm not sure that someone who speaks only French can fully realize his or her potential. I'd be interested in hearing your views on that.
President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
My wife is strong.
Bloc
President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
My wife is strong by nature. That's the way she is. We have seen people die around us. We decided to go to the Yukon, and set off to settle there. It was an adventure; a new beginning. We started from scratch when we got here. My wife took a few English courses to try and get along in English, but she has always been close to Francophones here. She worked at the school in French and went to church in French. She led a singing group and taught music to Francophone children. She is extremely resourceful. Women are not all as strong as she is.
Bloc
President, Comité Francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
She is well aware of it.
Conservative
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
I think that's what we will do. You may be a special case, but in other situations--
Priest, Comité francophone catholique Saint-Eugène-de-Mazenod
I have examples. I know an older lady whose circumstances are such that she is just trying to survive. She is extremely isolated. If she had not had a natural community network to support her, that lady would be dead now. There is no doubt about it. I was sitting at a table. Some people are terrible. They understand French, but they don't tell us.
So, a group of people who were working for the government wanted to find housing for this lady. Since I didn't speak English, I asked the translator if they were saying that they were going to place her in housing. They could hear what I was saying, those little rascals. She answered, and I spoke in French. I said what I thought and one of the people there told me she had understood. Why didn't they tell me that earlier? That lady, who is over 90, would be dead. We were providing one hour of community support every day. Once they went in to see her and she was on the floor. That's how things were resolved. She was admitted to hospital and a Francophone doctor told me that she would not leave the hospital as long as he did not sign her release. Must we always hope that the right person will be in the right place at the right time, all the time?
