Official Languages Committee on Feb. 9th, 2011

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

I just want to be sure I understand. CanNor is pretty well the equivalent of ACOA in my region.

[Sylvie Francoeur]

Exactly.

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

But you are talking about permanent programs. When people turn to a co-op for money, it isn't money they will be receiving every year. It's an amount of money paid to a company that says it needs $100,000, for example. Does it work the same way here?

[Sylvie Francoeur]

Yes, that would be possible if it were a business, but in our case, as a non-profit organization seeking to provide services to entrepreneurs, it has to be a permanent service. We have to be able to guarantee service to these business people year after year and let them know that we will be there tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the following year. They have to be thinking about expansion, the next steps, what to do internationally, and so on.

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

That wasn't my question. They are not all non-profit organizations. There are Francophone entrepreneurs. Do they receive services in French when they apply to CanNor?

[Sylvie Francoeur]

No, when business people are looking to secure a loan or a program, there are no staff persons available who speak French. They would have to call on the services of an interpreter. What we are proposing is to be given the ability to provide that service, to do it on their behalf—which would be perfectly logical—but, for the time being, there is no funding program in place that would allow us to do that.

[François Pitre]

It's the same problem in the Territories. They don't have the resources to do that sort of thing in French. What we are proposing to both governments is that we do it for them.

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

You are proposing to do the work, is that right? I understand.

[François Pitre]

More or less. We are proposing that they provide us with the funding to do that, because they are unable to do it at this time. They don't have the staff, they don't have the programs and they don't have the money.

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

No, it's just because they don't want to.

[François Pitre]

That, too.

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

There are 33 million people in Canada; either they respect the official languages or they do not. There are laws in place.

[François Pitre]

It's blatant here.

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

A minister was saying that there were rules, but in actual fact, they aren't rules; they are laws. We are all wide awake, it is 3:00 p.m. and--

[François Pitre]

That's why we still have to--

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

I am asking whether CanNor provides services in both official languages. The answer is no.

[François Pitre]

Not at this time, at least not in Yellowknife. Officials from CanNor say that it may be because they are offering services elsewhere, that they could send them somewhere else and bring them back. But in Yellowknife, the answer is no.

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

There is a difference when you're talking about a territorial responsibility. However, this is no longer a responsibility. We're talking about federal programs and you cannot access services in both languages.

[Jean-François Pitre]

We are not the only ones. That also applies to health care and other areas.

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

In terms of radio and newspapers, since you live in a region where French is a minority language, do you apply to Canadian Heritage for funding to partially subsidize your small French-language newspaper and radio station? I don't imagine you have much access to Radio-Canada here.

[Alain Bessette]

The newspaper has been around for 25 years, and we have always managed to position ourselves to receive a share of the budget under the Canadian Heritage program that funds initiatives related to linguistic duality. As regards the radio station, although it has been operating for nine years, it has never positioned itself. This year marked the first time we were able to secure core funding to operate the radio station for a year. That was the first year that projects were submitted on behalf of the radio station. But they have not been very well received thus far. The radio station is starting to position itself.

It's important to understand that things are shared in the Northwest Territories. It is overseen by the two governments, territorial and federal, but there is a community response. The latter agrees that 10% of the money will be allocated to this organization or another organization, for example. In spite of that, the federal government reserves the right to reject the project.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Godin.

We will move now to Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon and welcome to you all.

Mr. Bessette, you just gave a partial answer to my question. I imagine that, as far as Canadian Heritage is concerned, it's relatively simple for the newspaper. There are programs in place, although there were changes in that area last year.

Is this beneficial to you? Personally, I have long been on the board of directors of a community newspaper.

[Alain Bessette]

There will be improvements, particularly as regards the program which will replace the Publication Assistance Program. At the same time, we will have to make certain adjustments from an administrative standpoint. The fact is that our newspaper is now provided free of charge to Francophones, but that is something that is not acceptable under this program. We will have to find some way of dealing with that.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

How much did you receive for the radio station in your last fiscal year?