Official Languages Committee on Feb. 7th, 2011

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

What agreement is that?

[André Bourcier]

It is the agreement entitled “Yukon Northern Affairs Program Devolution Transfer Agreement”.

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

Could we have a copy of it?

[André Bourcier]

Yes, but it is only in English.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Ordinarily, you can send all your documents to the Clerk, whether they're in French or English, and we will have them translated. We can then distribute copies to committee members or use them as documentation in writing a report. So, that is possible.

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

It goes further than that. If you only have it in English and you would like a copy in French, since I demand to have it in French, you, too, will be able to receive a copy in French.

[André Bourcier]

Perfect.

Under that agreement, once again, the argument is being made that, under the Yukon Languages Regulations, there is a specific number of offices where it is the nature of the office that determines the provision of services in French. It is especially for Mines and Resources Canada and offices of that nature.

The Consultative Committee is supposed to determine what the needs are in terms of services, and what is required in relation to those services. We made it known that we have all kinds of needs. We are a school where there are children. We have communication needs with respect to health care and economic development. We have young people who complete grade 12 and enter the labour market. We have a number of specific needs which involve communication in French with us.

So, it is our view that we should be able to represent our segment of the population on that committee, in order to have an opportunity to influence the direction taken by the committee with respect to the type of services to be provided. We have been told that the committee does not deal with education. We know that, because we are the ones responsible for French-language education. So, it is perfectly natural that the committee would not deal with that; we look after our own affairs. But when it comes to services in French, we believe we should have our say.

For several years now, we have been making those demands to the government's French Services Branch, saying that structures now in place must be recognized. That is important because the Yukon French Language School Board is the only Francophone institution in the Yukon. We are regulated, we exist and we are an institution. There aren't many of them; ours if the only one. So, there should be room on that committee for a representative of the Yukon French Language School Board to make a case for the needs of the population it serves in terms of communications and services in French.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Who are the current members of the committee?

[André Bourcier]

The Association franco-yukonnaise has a certain number of seats, and there are also members of the public. We asked Francophones to sit on the committee as members of the public. There are also deputy ministers. We could provide you with the list of current committee members.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Fine, thank you.

Do I still have time available, Mr. Chairman?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have a good 20 seconds left.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Galipeau used part of my time.

Ms. St-Gelais, unfortunately, we do not have time to visit your day care centre, but could you take us on a virtual tour, even though you haven't been there for long? Today we visited l'école Émilie-Tremblay, where they showed us all the benefits offered to students, all the extracurricular activities, and so on. Could you take us on a virtual tour and explain what your day care centre has to offer?

[Isabelle St-Gelais]

First of all, our day care workers all have diplomas and possess all the necessary qualifications. Second of all, the ratio is lower. It is 1 to 4 for infants, 1 to 6 for children 18 months of age, and 1 to 8 for children over 3. As you can see, nature has a strong presence here. Educators often take the children outside. The program includes a lot of singing and music. Someone comes in every other Wednesday to lead the children in musical activities, play musical instruments, dance and teach them songs on different themes. The children are very creative. They do lots of things that are connected to nature. Every other Wednesday, when music is not on the schedule, someone comes in to cook with them. They always prepare a health snack.

Because a lot of people from outside come to settle here, often Quebeckers, they become close, establish relationships and support each other.

[Lise Zarac, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

We heard there is a baby boom. Mention was made of the fact that there have been more than 25 births.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We'll come back later, Ms. Zarac. I've already been very generous.

Mr. Lauzon, please.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Some thought that there were no Francophones in Dawson, but we now know that there are 125. Are there other small communities where there are Francophones? Can you name them?

[Julie Leclerc]

I haven't reviewed the figures. In any case, I haven't been to those villages. I know that in Watson Lake, Haines Junction--

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Are we talking about approximately the same number?

[Julie Leclerc]

You would have to rely on the expertise of the Association franco-yukonnaise, which may be familiar with all the figures. I know there are some in Haines Junction and Watson Lake. I also know that there was a community in Faro, but I can't give you any figures.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

There are 1,245 Francophones in the Yukon: that is what we were told this morning. There are 125 in Dawson. How many are there in Whitehorse?

[André Bourcier]

There again, it depends on how you count them. We're talking about an 80% rate of intermarriage. If we say that out of 1,245 Francophones who have French as their mother tongue, 80% are married to Anglophones and will have a certain number of children, that gives me a much higher number of Francophones. I don't remember the exact figure. I saw that Mr. Bélanger has the most recent FCFA study. In any case, we are talking about almost 4,000 people who use French.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thirty-five hundred people.

[André Bourcier]

These are people who regularly use French.

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

The number is 3,545.

[Guy Lauzon, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Yes, but there are 1,245 Francophones.