Official Languages Committee on Feb. 9th, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Good afternoon everyone.

The Standing Committee on Official Languages is continuing its work as part of a special edition “Tour of the Canadian Far North”.

This afternoon, we are beginning the final stage of our mission to the Canadian Far North, which began in Whitehorse and continued here all morning with several witnesses. This final stage will be in two parts.

First of all, allow me to introduce our witnesses, to whom I would like to extend a very warm welcome.

With us today is Mr. Alain Bessette, Director of Éditions franco-ténoises/L'Aquilon and Société Radio Taïga, two important sources of information. Good afternoon, Mr. Bessette.

We also have Mr. Jean-François Pitre, Chairman of the Board of Directors, du Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest. With him is the Executive Director, Ms. Sylvie Francoeur. Welcome, Mr. Pitre and Ms. Francoeur.

We also have Ms. Marie-Pierre Dupont, Director of the Garderie Plein Soleil daycare, a community organization. Welcome.

We also have Mr. Simon Lepage, Vice-President of the Association franco-culturelle de Hay River. With him is Mr. Justin Carey, the President. Welcome to you both.

Finally, we have Mr. Jean de Dieu Tuyishime, from the Fédération franco-ténoise, who is joining us once again.

Without any further ado, I would like to invite Mr. Bessette to get the ball rolling with his opening statement.

[Alain Bessette, Manager, Éditions franco-ténoises, Aquilon et la Société Radio Taïga]

Good afternoon one and all. Thank you very much for inviting me to appear this afternoon.

My name is Alain Bessette, and I am the paid Executive Director of L'Aquilon newspaper and the volunteer Director of the Société Radio Taïga.

I would like to begin by giving you some brief background information about these two media.

L'Aquilon newspaper celebrated its 25th anniversary last week. It was published for the first time in February of 1986, as a monthly paper, but has been a weekly paper since 1993.

The newspaper is on a solid financial footing, even though, like any other company, it does suffer the adverse effects of Canada's economic cycles.

It is a non-profit organization. Éditions franco-ténoises/L'Aquilon is a company whose members are Francophone associations in the Northwest Territories.

The radio station CIVR 103.5 FM Radio Taïga began broadcasting in September of 2001 and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next September. The station is still controlled by the Association franco-culturelle de Yellowknife, but it will be on its own in a few months. A new non-profit organization has been set up to take over control of the Société Radio Taïga.

These two media are important to the community. According to a poll done in 2009 for L'Aquilon newspaper, 100% of subscribers believe the newspaper plays an important role within the Francophone community. That statistic is perfectly understandable if you consider that it was the Francophone community itself that took the initiative of creating these media. They are seen and perceived, not only as instruments that reflect the vitality of the Francophone communities, but also as partners within the broader Francophone constituency of the Northwest Territories.

Both media are associate members of the Fédération franco-ténoise and members of the Conseil de développement économique des T.N.-O., an organisation affiliated with the Coordinating Group on Economic Development and Employability.

The small size of the community and staff represent two challenges.

Unlike the situation in other provinces, where there is a larger concentration of Francophones, the two media, L'Aquilon and Radio Taïga, serve a small population, both in terms of numbers and density. L'Aquilon serves mainly some 1,200 Francophones in the Northwest Territories, whereas the Radio Taïga signal only covers the Yellowknife area and its 700 Francophone residents.

It should be mentioned, however, that both media also serve French speakers, for a population of more than 3,000. As a result, they act as very effective bridges between the Francophone minority community and Francophiles in the Territories.

In that respect, radio, through its extensive cultural and musical productions, is an incredible tool in terms of bringing the cultures closer together. The two media reflect their community through their content, but also in the fact that their staffs are small: the newspaper has two to three employees, while the radio has one or two employees.

They are both non-profit organizations. Now that does not mean that sales do not have an impact on their financial health. For the 25 years the newspaper has been around, it has been a tough battle to secure equity in terms of advertising, in those areas where official languages legislation make that an obligation for the various governments.

We have to take our hat off to the federal government for establishing guidelines that now mean it is very rare for an ad published in English in a majority language newspaper not to also be published in L'Aquilon. When that happens, it's often because there is a new employee at the office in question. One phone call is all it takes to rectify the situation.

We also resolved this with the territorial government through legal action against the government in 2001.

The situation is fairly similar for Radio Taïga when it comes to advertising by governments in French. The major problem for Radio Taïga has to do with the fact that radio is a medium that is not often used by governments for their marketing strategies.

The weakness of these two media has mainly to do with the problems involved in selling advertising to the private sector. There are two reasons for that. First of all, there are not many Francophones and, when business owners have to make a choice, we may not necessarily be the audience they are interested in. Second of all, our staffs are very small. As a result, we rarely have employees who are able to do everything, including looking after sales.

Past experience with respect to selling advertising showed that the salesperson's salary was higher than the revenues he or she was able to raise. There has been ongoing contact with business owners in the years since then. However, you have to have adequate financial resources to be in a position to absorb the losses associated with this kind of experience.

Even if the two media are non-profit organizations, that shortcoming directly affects their financial viability.

Another issue is the difficulty of accessing funding sources, in terms of priorities.

For years now, both media organizations have relied on grants to ensure their survival. Although it is sometimes possible to access various funding sources, that access remains extremely limited.

Let's take the example of Radio Taïga. There is no federal grant program to support the operations of community radio stations aimed at the Francophone minority. As a result, we turn to other sources of public funding, notably grants in support of community and cultural development projects. Unfortunately, the goals of such programs are rarely compatible with our needs. When they are, Francophones living in minority communities are rarely the target population.

We also face the serious problem of programs whose priorities are perfectly in line with the situation of Francophones elsewhere in the country, but not so well suited to that of a group which, not only is a very small minority, but also has a different day-to-day reality: long distances between communities, an exorbitant cost of living, a high degree of labour mobility and difficulty recruiting locally.

One example I could give you occurred last fall. The Radio Taïga radio station has had a tough time financially for years, ever since it was first created. An analysis done in early 2010 drew the same conclusion as in past years: the radio station is not generating enough revenues. Because expenses have been cut to the bare minimum, there is only one possible solution, which is to raise the station's revenues.

The first step in the plan to raise revenues was to identify potential sources: revenues from grants and revenues from sales. While recognizing the importance of securing core funding for the station for the first time in its history, we decided to apply for grants for own-source revenue development projects, as well as a small project to celebrate the radio station's 10th anniversary. What is amazing is that the only development project that Canadian Heritage considered acceptable was the one to celebrate the station's 10th anniversary. The one aimed at organizing an advertising sales campaign, as well as the one to produce radio programming that could be exported and sold, were both rejected. Those two projects would have allowed us to take action to correct the organization's primary weakness, which is revenue generation.

In your opinion, what should be the priority be? To develop tools that enable us to sell and develop our product, or to continue to be a financially unstable organization which receives an occasional grant that has no real connection to its development needs?

Now I would like to talk about our expectations. We expect more understanding from funders when it comes to the reality in small regions. It is really important that federal government departments—not only Canadian Heritage—understand that the situation in the different regions of Canada is very diverse and that the main development thrust identified at the national level cannot be the basis for assessing every single project, without considering the reality in each of the individual regions. Not only is that reality different in every region, but even within a region, organizations are not all at the same stage of development.

That should also be considered when the government is aiming to support the development of Francophone communities and their institutions.

We would also like fewer value judgements regarding the strategies that are developed. It's unfortunate that we occasionally deal with officials who pass judgement on an internal development strategy relying only on a questionnaire, with lots of boxes to check, but often with too little opportunity to provide as many details as we would like with respect to the relevance of a project.

It is deeply offensive to be told that the objectives of a project are not valid, when they are the result of extensive thought regarding the gaps to be filled. It is also offensive for someone to conclude, after spending one hour assessing an application, that the hours spent analyzing the situation and developing a strategy to resolve it have no value.

Should the assessment process not provide someone with a chance to challenge a committee's decision, if you believe the committee is mistaken and that its decisions could jeopardize the survival of an organization?

As far as Radio Taïga is concerned, we would like to see a fund created to support community radio stations. For Radio Taïga, it is very important that Canadian Heritage create a special fund to support the everyday operations of radio stations, particularly small radio stations providing service in very limited markets. Those stations really live from hand-to-mouth without ever knowing whether they will be able to survive the next few months. That is the situation Radio Taïga finds itself in. And before volunteers find themselves in the difficult position of having to lock the door, we dearly hope that the federal government will make the needed adjustments when it comes to funding.

Once again, thank you very much for listening to my concerns.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Bessette.

We will move on now to our witnesses from the Conseil de développement économique des T.N.-O.

Please proceed.

[François Pitre, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest]

Good afternoon. My name is Jean-François Pitre.

The CDETNO and the Garderie Plein Soleil, represented by Marie-Pierre Dupont, would like to thank the Standing Committee on Official Languages for the role played by the federal government in supporting the development of Francophones and the French language in minority communities.

Because we face that reality on a daily basis, we are aware of the challenges it presents and are well placed to talk about the vision and solutions that can be contemplated. We therefore very much appreciate this opportunity to talk about our expectations, our needs and our hopes as regards the participation of Francophones in the economic development of the Northwest Territories.

We are pleased to welcome you to the Northwest Territories and are grateful for the time you have taken to travel throughout the North in order to hear our concerns.

As part of the study the Standing Committee on Official Languages is currently conducting, the Conseil de développement économique des T.N.-O. would like to share its vision with the members. As requested by the committee, the CDETNO will attempt to answer the following questions.

What role does the federal government play in affirming and developing the Francophone communities of Northern Canada under Part VII of the Official Languages Act?

How is the Roadmap for Canada's linguistic duality 2008-2013 being implemented in Northern communities?

Is linguistic duality part of the political, socioeconomic and cultural development of the Northwest Territories?

Do the federal government and the Territories have cooperation mechanisms in place to foster dialogue and development in the Francophone communities?

What inequalities exist with respect to official languages laws and policies in the territories?

The Garderie Plein Soleil is joining with the CDETNO to present this brief to the committee, with a view to providing concrete examples of the challenges facing French-language minority communities.

To begin with, we would like to provide some background information. Founded in 2003, the CDETNO is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, stimulate and support the economic development and employability of Francophones and Francophiles living in the Northwest Territories.

The CDETNO is part of the extensive family of similar groups under the Coordinating Group on Economic Development and Employability, a network that seeks to promote economic development and employability in Francophone minority communities outside Quebec all across the country.

The CDETNO offers a wide variety of services to business people, community organizations and individuals seeking employment. It brings together resources and enables targeted action aimed at enhancing the employability of Francophones and the overall economy of the NWT.

The focus of the CDETNO is community economic development. It seeks to consolidate the status of Francophones and stimulate their economy, in partnership and cooperation with the community. It is important to mention that more than 30% of our members are Francophile Anglophones seeking to take advantage of our quality services.

The CDETNO receives its core funding under a special program administered by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, known as the Empowerment Fund. Money for this fund was guaranteed under the Roadmap for Canada's linguistic duality by the Harper government, and is in place until March 31, 2013.

To better understand the role of the CDETNO, it is important to start by considering the overall economic context, followed by the challenges facing the Francophone community.

Located between the territories of the Yukon and Nunavut, the Northwest Territories cover a total area of 1.3 million square kilometers, which is 18 and a half times larger than the province of New Brunswick. It has a population of 41,000, 50% of whom are Aboriginal.

There is a wide variety of mother tongues in the Northwest Territories, including 11 which are considered to be official languages in the Territories. According to the 2006 census, the Francophone community comprises 1,060 residents whose first spoken language is French, or 2.6% of the population. Furthermore, the number of people with a knowledge of both French and English has more than tripled since the 1950s. More than 3,720 people—9.1% of the population—now say they speak French in the Northwest Territories.

The population of the NWT is very young. The average age is 31. The Francophone community here reflects the situation across Canada to a much greater extent, the average age being 41. The Francophone population in the NWT is primarily adult. Among Francophones, families are small and there are few young people.

Consolidation of French language institutions in the education sector could help the French language community here to renew itself.

It is estimated that eight in ten Francophones living in the NWT were born outside of the territory. Almost all of them are originally from somewhere else in Canada, although immigrants do represent 9% of the Francophone population here. They come from Europe, Asia and Africa. The Francophones who originally settled here were from every region of the country, but especially Quebec and Acadia. The Francophone population is primarily concentrated in the urban area of Yellowknife, where there are 770 Francophone residents. The four other communities are Fort Smith, Inuvik, Hay River and Norman Wells, with a Francophone population of about 200. The other Francophones are scattered across small communities associated with the mining industry expansion, as well as around Inuvik.

Despite their small numbers, Francophones have managed to make their mark on the political, cultural and economic life of the NWT. The labour force participation rate has seen a gradual increase since 1984. With a rate of 73%, the NWT is now ranked first among the provinces and territories with its highest employment rate since 2007. In 2006, the labour force participation among French speakers was 84%. In 2007, it was 80%. Like what has occurred throughout the NWT, it can be assumed that the labour force participation rate of French speakers has also slipped somewhat since 2007. However, Francophones here continue to enjoy a higher labour force participation rate than the general population.

The economy here depends on expanded development of natural resources. At the same time, Francophones are not strongly represented in goods-producing industries, with the exception of the mining and oil sectors, which employ approximately 50 Francophones. The Francophone population is concentrated in other industry sectors, including construction, transportation and public services. As much as 40% of Francophones work in public administration, education, health care and social services.

Because Francophones here in the NWT work primarily in the services industry, they are often less vulnerable to resource-related price cycles. There are also approximately 80 Francophones here in the NWT who own their own business or are self-employed. Francophone contractors represent 10% of the French-speaking labour force. Many self-employed workers employ other individuals, thereby providing jobs to Francophones and other residents of the NWT. The average income of Francophones here is about $55,000, which is $11,000 higher than for the general population of the NWT.

The economy grew quickly between 1999 and 2007, in large part as a result of significant investments in the mining sector, and particularly diamond mining, as well as in oil and natural gas. The gross domestic product has risen by 57% since 1999, with a per capita GDP of $73,000, which is twice the national average of $35,000, and approximately $30,000 higher than in Alberta.

The economic crisis in 2008 did affect the NWT and Francophones who live there, but overall, it does not seem to have had a major impact compared to what other regions of the country have experienced. Data from the next census will provide a clearer picture of its effects.

I would now like to address some of the challenges. The shortage of both labour and resources is one of the main problems facing all employers in the NWT. Recruiting qualified people is a constant struggle for them. To that end, the CDETNO has developed a labour recruitment program and a number of one-time projects with the support of its partners.

The CDETNO works with more than 30 employers on an annual basis. However, this remains a persistent problem, as is labour retention. One of the best examples of the challenges we're facing involves the Garderie Plein Soleil, the largest employer of Francophones in the NWT. The daycare receives few offers of service for daycare teacher positions. It also has a high turnover rate, because employees move or receive job offers in schools, with the government or elsewhere. It is very difficult to compete with government salaries, and as a result, service offers are few and far between.

The ongoing problem of recruiting and retaining human resources has a significant impact on the organization's business operations. The daycare is always in survival mode, forcing it to continually restructure its staff. It is unable to focus on developing programs, because it is always busy trying to recruit employees.

There was a 57% turnover rate among daycare teachers in the last six months. Four teachers out of a total of seven quit their jobs at the daycare centre. Yet the daycare centre's situation is not unique, as the recruitment and retention issue affects every organization in the North.

One of the major challenges for the CDETNO continues to be mobilizing resources in order to carry out its mission. Indeed, employment services for BTS and business and employers services are not available in French on an ongoing basis in the NWT.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have one minute left, Mr. Pitre.

[François Pitre]

All right.

These are our recommendations.

First of all, we are asking for your support to make the new federal CanNor agency aware of the need to develop a program to fund business services in French in the Northwest Territories, as well as the two other territories.

Secondly, we are calling on you to redouble your efforts to sensitize the Ministry of Education, Culture and Training in the NWT to the need for employability services in French, all across the Northwest Territories.

Thirdly, we are seeking your support with respect to the renewal of the Empowerment Fund administered by HRSDC, as well as the federal government's Roadmap, which will end on March 31, 2013.

Finally, we are seeking your support to reactivate the National Joint Committee mandated under the memorandum of understanding signed in March of 1998 by the Government of Canada and the Comité pour les Francophones en situation minoritaire. Furthermore, we encourage you to demand the ongoing participation of deputy ministers in the work of the committee, as it was originally constituted.

In closing, I would just like to say that Francophones here are making their mark culturally, economically and politically in the Northwest Territories. At the same time, consolidation of their current assets and the provision of permanent services which are essential for their development would clearly enhance their situation.

The few recommendations we have made are potential solutions intended to improve the standard of living of the Francophone communities, as well as community economic development all across the Northwest Territories.

Finally, the CDETNO and its partner in this presentation, the Garderie Plein Soleil, would once again like to extend their sincere thanks for this opportunity to talk about linguistic duality as a means of forging closer ties between the two solitudes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Pitre.

We will conclude this first series of presentations with the representatives from Hay River.

[Justin Carey, President, Association franco-culturelle de Hay River]

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Justin Carey, and I am the volunteer President of the Association franco-culturelle de Hay River. With me today is Simon Lepage, Vice-President and also a volunteer with the Association.

Ours is a non-profit organization that was established in 1987. It has been legally constituted since 1999. The Association's mission is to work towards the affirmation and development of the Francophone community in Hay River.

Hay River is one of the larger cities in the NWT with a population of 3,500, including approximately 150 Francophones, or rather, 150 residents who speak French.

I will turn it over to Mr. Lepage to continue our presentation.

[Simon Lepage, Vice-President, Association franco-culturelle de Hay River]

Thank you, Mr. Carey.

To begin with, thank you for inviting us and giving us this opportunity to address you today. It is reassuring to see the interest you are taking in Francophone minorities living in remote regions.

I address you today in my capacity as Vice-President of the Association, but also as a parent and member of the Hay River community. That being the case, I will try to cover as much ground as possible within a short period of time.

Historically, Francophones arrived in the Territories after the aboriginal people, obviously, but before Anglophones. Starting in 1770, there were Francophones following the fur trade route and engaging in commerce. In 1870, when the Territories were created, Francophones had already been living there for 100 years and the French language had become a language of commerce.

That means that a large number of Francophones had taken up residence in the Territories, and were actually from there. At the present time, only 0.5% of Francophones living in the NWT are from here. They are what remains of those first Francophone pioneers. The names of Francophone places and families have been retained, but there is no longer any French. In fact, 2.5% of the population of the NWT is Francophone. That means that there are four Francophones from outside for every one who is actually from here.

Our linguistic situation has been studied. In a completely Francophone community, the language continuity index is ordinarily 100, meaning that the language is passed on at a rate of 100%. In the NWT, the index is 37%. In other words, over the long term, there is a serious threat to the vitality of the language if nothing is done. That 37% result does not guarantee its survival.

Furthermore, it has been observed that our population is more nomadic than the Anglophone population. We have a tendency to settle less often in the Territories, and the availability of services in French is not likely to encourage us to do so.

As a parent, I would like to raise my child in French, but I don't want him to speak poor French. I would like him to be able to speak both French and English with no accent. I want him to be able to speak to me in proper French. However, a parent wanting to do that would be better off going to live somewhere else at this point. That is why are asking that we be provided adequate services in French.

There are not many of us, but in percentage terms, our minority can be compared to other minorities in Canada. Indeed, the numbers do vary, ranging from 2.5% to 3.5% for the proportion of Francophones.

With respect to the turnover rate of the population, according to Statistics Canada, between 2001 and 2006, 8.5% of the Francophone population left the Territories, compared to 1.8% for Anglophones. That is an indication that Anglophones are more likely to stay here.

At the same time, there are just as many Anglophones coming from outside the Territories and they, too, may tend to go back where they came from. This is something that warrants study, as it raises questions. Why do Anglophones stay, even those from outside, whereas Francophones leave? The lack of services may be the cause.

Moreover, there are twice as many labour force participants in the Francophone population than there are in the Anglophone population. The unemployment rate among Francophones is half what it is for Anglophones. Our population is also better educated. If I'm not mistaken, the university graduation rate among Francophones is 10% higher. So, as a population, we are neither useless nor of no interest.

In terms of the services we are provided, in the education sector, for instance—and I'm still referring to the community of Hay River south of the lake—we have managed to secure a school. A great deal of effort was put into that project, and there was opposition; however, many of us got together and fought for it and were ultimately successful.

Now we are in need of a daycare centre. We have a French-language school but, after Grade 12, their spoken French is not as good, worse than my English. I will spare you the demonstration. Ah, ah!

Anglophone children born to rights holders who want to attend French-language school have no contact with French, as there is no daycare centre or no services are available. When they start school, they have to be francisized. They carry that problem with them throughout the time they're in school, right up to Grade 12.

And the same applies to Francophone children. My child now speaks English. We speak French at home, but that is not enough. When he starts school and is surrounded by other young Francophones whose command of French is poor, and Anglophones who have no idea what he is talking about, he will stop speaking French, unless we move. That is why the language continuity index is not very high.

If I simply give up on French and we stay here, what services will be available to my son? There is absolutely nothing for young people. Outside of what is available through the school board, there is absolutely nothing—not even bilingual services. If services were bilingual, it would be all right. But we have neither unilingual French-language services nor bilingual services.

I would now like to address the turnover rate among Francophones. A Francophone who settles here ordinarily thinks about starting a family and, most of the time, will decide not to stay because he wants to continue to live his life in French. Francophones here are open to bilingualism. If they were not interested in speaking English, they would have stayed where they were. But at the same time they want to retain their French.

In terms of art and culture, it is pretty quiet here in our community of 3,500 Francophones. Our annual budget is less than $60,000. We do what we can with it. When we are able to organize one or two shows or little events like sugaring off, our year is pretty well finished.

We need a larger budget in order to continue to be a vibrant community. This also affects our turnover rate which, in turn, infuences economic development.

If we want there to be economic development, people have to consider staying longer. Someone who starts up a business doesn't stick with it for just three years; it's a long-term project.

I myself am in career transition. I am thinking that if I have to leave, there may not be much point in developing something in the Territories. On the other hand, if there were adequate services in French, we would stay and there would definitely be things happening.

Despite that, because we exist, some public services are offered, such as the school. The Association franco-culturelle de Hay River has created 14 jobs in our 3,500-strong community. That is not much, but we derive satisfaction where we can.

In terms of health care, 1.3% of health care personnel in the NWT is Francophone, which is not much. At the Hay River hospital, one person has been hired on a part-time basis to support Francophone patients. At the same time, her tiny office is hidden in a corner and the public has not been made aware of this. It has happened that Francophones did not understand what the physician was saying—and I'm not sure the physician understood them either—and yet that service was neither offered to them or even mentioned. Nothing happened whatsoever.

We are not asking for the moon, but we would really like to be able to make ourselves understood, at least in that kind of situation. Aboriginal residents are entitled to interpreters, and we would also like to receive that service.

Consequently, we are recommending…

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have approximately one minute left, Mr. Lepage.

[Simon Lepage]

We are recommending that there be more meaningful enforcement of the Official Languages Act so that we can receive more services. We would also like to see better funding for Francophone associations and organizations, as well as better access. Sometimes the nature of our communities does not jibe with the application forms. And yet what we are asking for is logical and makes sense; we can provide a rationale. We do what we can.

We would like to buy some land in order to have a source of revenue. That way, we would be less dependent on grants, which would be beneficial for the government, but we don't have the right to do that. We are completely dependent on grant money. So, we do what we can with the little we have.

We would like to see increased funding for French-language programs, or at the very least that such funding be made available. Other organizations, such as municipalities, do not have the money to develop projects in French. If there were a program, a budget or at least some incentives to encourage us, that would be a very good thing. For example, the NWT Arts Council, which is responsible for arts and culture in the Northwest Territories, only operates in English. It would be wonderful for us if part of its budget could be set aside for French.

In closing, I would just like to say that we are an active population, a population on the move. We are only asking for a few services, so that we can stay here and make more of a contribution to the community's development. And, in a context where there is increased interest in resources development in the North, we feel we should be a key community getting involved in that development.

We are some of the first pioneers to have settled in the Northwest Territories; we can be that again. We just need some help so that we can play our part.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

In your presentation, you talked about health care. This morning, we heard from a witness who is actively involved in that.

Mr. Tuyishime, would you like to make a few comments before we begin the question period?

[Jean de Dieu Tuyishime, Director, Réseau Territoires du Nord-Ouest Santé en français, Fédération Franco-Ténoise]

After presentations like that, there is very little to add.

However, I do want to say that the Réseau Territoires du Nord-Ouest Santé en français identifies the need for health care and social services among Francophones. It helps to raise awareness of the importance of requesting services in French, particularly since it has been noted that active offer is not necessarily available in the NWT.

Furthermore, the Réseau plays a role in efforts to recruit, retain, mobilize and train Francophone health care professionals. It is very active in health promotion and disease prevention, as well as in developing the tools needed to promote access to information in French. We believe we are making a contribution to the Francophone community's vitality by fostering partnerships and cooperation with the various government agencies, health care institution managers, health and social services personnel, training institutions and the community. We are working closely with all of these partners to improve access to health care services.

I will spare you the figures, because I think you've already heard enough. The presentations prior to my own probably referred to the way the government provides services. So, I do not intend to go over that again.

However, I would like to make two recommendations. I think the focus must be on developing local skills and winning strategies. That means that we would like to see more community-based approaches to health care—in other words, for projects to start at the community level and move up, rather than being proposed from the top levels and trickling down to the bottom.

We are also seeking increased support for recruitment, training and retention of health care professionals. That remains a crucial issue in terms of the active offer of services in the NWT.

On that note, I would just like to say, by way of conclusion, that health care remains a burning issue and that it should not be left on ice.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It shouldn't be left on ice.

Ms. Zarac will begin the first round.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My first questions deal with the school in Hay River and are addressed to Mr. Lepage.

How many students attend the school?

[Simon Lepage]

There are currently 123 students.

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

It covers primary and secondary levels? Is there also a kindergarten?

[Simon Lepage]

Yes. It covers from kindergarten to Grade 12.

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

You say that there are no daycare centres to prepare the children.

[Simon Lepage]

No, exactly.

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

Is there an English-language school in Hay River?

[Simon Lepage]

There are actually three English-language schools for the three different levels.

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

How many students attend those three schools?

[Simon Lepage]

That is a question I can't answer.

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

How many, approximately?