Official Languages Committee on Feb. 9th, 2011

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

You apply to the federal government for support or funding to run projects targeting youth or other groups from the health care profession. Is getting the money on time a problem?

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

I must say that the funding for the Société Santé en français is well structured and solid. The money has been flowing for a number of years and even though I've been away for the past 10 months, I think I can safely say that it is a well-oiled machine. The Société does a good job and provides a lot of support in terms of health care services in French. Every provincial and territorial team plays a role, and that includes us.

When a service evolves however and demand among users goes up, the community becomes aware of other needs outside the scope of the original service. One time projects are the rule of thumb there too. The process involves presenting a project, waiting for the outcome of the review, and then getting results. Obviously, every project involves red tape, and in many cases, there are delays getting answers. That forces the community to produce results quickly so as to make good use of Canadians’ money, or in some instances, to seek extensions.

There are some good examples of projects for which officials have extended the deadline till June because the project was approved in February and the financial year finishes on March 31. We know that this is more complicated in the federal system, but this kind of solution has been used from time to time. It is the smartest way of going about things when the system creaks along too slowly to rapidly meet demand.

Some review procedures are lengthy, as are some reports or project renewals, and even—

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

Mr. Provencher, you were not there for the past 10 months, but you were, Mr. Létourneau. I’m sure you can tell us whether there were projects that should have come online earlier. Extending the deadline is all well and good, but if the project was for July, will it be pushed back to February? It doesn’t take a year to review a project.

[Richard Létourneau]

Obviously, as president, I’m not the one who manages the daily inflow of cash. However, everyone knows full well that over the past three or four years, there have been problems with Canadian Heritage and that grants have been awarded very late in the fiscal year. That has caused problems for much of the financial year. For example, at the FFT, we continually had to use credit to pay employees because we did not have enough cash to—

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

When was the last time you had to pay for something on credit?

[Richard Létourneau]

Do you want to answer? We have a line of credit—

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

I’m sorry, but we’re not here to sugar coat things; we want answers. Over the course of the last year, have you had to use a line of credit?

[Richard Létourneau]

To my knowledge, the FFT has lived off credit for six months of the year for the past five years while waiting for the project funding to trickle in.

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

Did you rely on credit in 2010?

[Richard Létourneau]

In 2010, yes we did.

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

Giving an answer shouldn’t be difficult. We want answers.

[Richard Létourneau]

Obviously, there are fees associated with lines of credit, and that makes things tough for community organizations like ours.

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

Is the money you draw on credit typically used to fund the association’s regular operations, including existing programs, for example?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Godin, we have time for a brief response and you can revisit the issue in the second round, if you wish.

[Richard Létourneau]

Do you want to answer that question?

[Léo-Paul Provencher]

In response to your question, Mr. Godin, I would say that every year we regularly resort to credit. It’s a question of cash flow management. Obviously it is not necessarily a budgetary issue. It is a common cash management problem. It obviously incurs an additional cost, as you’d imagine, but it is a regular practice.

In some cases, for example when there is a change in staff or a report is a month or two late, we have to meet our responsibilities. These things happen. However, as a general rule, even when we scrupulously manage our projects and submit reports on time, we sometimes have to wait quite a while before the funds are dispensed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you. We can come back to that.

Mr. Galipeau, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank all the witnesses who have come before us today.

I would like to focus my attention today on health care issues. Mr. Tuyishime—my apologies if I am mispronouncing your name—supposing I fall ill during my stay, so much so that I forget that I’m bilingual and I can only speak my mother tongue. If I turn up at the hospital emergency department, will I be served in French?

[Jean de Dieu Tuyishime]

That depends on where you are.

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

I’m talking about here, in Yellowknife.

[Jean de Dieu Tuyishime]

In Yellowknife…

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

Yes, here.

[Jean de Dieu Tuyishime]

Yes, you will be.

In Yellowknife, in the daytime, there is always someone to greet you and contact an interpreter.

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

The emergency doctor?

[Jean de Dieu Tuyishime]

No.