That's possible.
Evidence of meeting #46 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 yellowknife.
Evidence of meeting #46 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 yellowknife.
2:45 p.m.
Bloc
2:45 p.m.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
It would be a good idea for you to have at least one elected representative. Otherwise, you have no way of ensuring your representation, other than through constant challenges. You practically have to beg. It's really not very nice to be in that position.
2:45 p.m.
Vice-President, Association franco-culturelle de Hay River
No, that's true, and that is one of the reasons for the higher turnover among Francophones. If you want to stay, you have to fight.
2:45 p.m.
Vice-President, Association franco-culturelle de Hay River
That's right.
The reason I'm fighting is because, if we decide to stay, I want there to be something for my son. I could simply decide that we won't stay, that we're going to get out and that I'm not going to fight.
2:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you very much, Ms. Guay.
This time, we really are going to hear from Mr. Godin.
February 9th, 2011 / 2:45 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Definitely the one, without an accent.
First of all, I would like to welcome you to our committee. It is really great to hear your comments and to see the differences in needs from one region to the next.
With respect to economic development and FedNor, if I'm not mistaken, you said that you would like to receive services in French. Is that because you are not currently receiving any?
2:45 p.m.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Not consistently.
2:45 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Please don't touch your mikes; someone is being paid to that. We don't want to take work away from anyone. It's all part of economic development.
2:45 p.m.
Voices
Ah, ah!
2:45 p.m.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Yes, it is CanNor, and that agency only came into being in August of 2009. That is why we are still having a lot of trouble securing equal services in French. At this point, we don't have any.
2:45 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
It's fine to try to achieve equality, but you say that if a Francophone company—you said there are as many as 80 Francophone businesses here—wants to increase their staff and create jobs, they cannot receive services in French from FedNor. Did you never consider the idea of lodging a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages?
2:45 p.m.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Our executive director has more involvement in that.
2:45 p.m.
Sylvie Francoeur Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
The agency we come under here in the Northwest Territories is CanNor.
2:45 p.m.
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
FedNor is in Ontario, I believe. Here, it's CanNor.
At this point, funding--
2:45 p.m.
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
It is the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
2:45 p.m.
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Yes, CanNor is the equivalent of FedNor, but for the three territories.
As Jean-François was saying, this agency was created in 2009, but at the present time, it has no funding program for business services, even though they are considered to be permanent. They cannot simply be random or made available under an annual project; it has to be a permanent service, and CanNor has no program at this time to fund that kind of service. We are the ones doing that. HRSDC enables us to do that, because CanNor is not yet positioned to offer that type of program.
2:45 p.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
It was created in 2009. Do you mean that no thought was ever given to the fact that we live in a country with two official languages?
2:45 p.m.
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
No, it's because of the program structure. There are services in French, yes, but it is the funding programs that pose a problem. The Agency has a vast array of programs, and yet there isn't one that funds permanent programs. It provides project funding. It doesn't have the right to fund programs or permanent or recurring activities and projects year after year. Nor can it provide core funding; so the government has to do what is needed to allow that to happen and approve the creation of a core funding program.
At our end, we engage in advocacy as well as doing a lot of lobbying, and we are slowly becoming a little more militant.