Official Languages Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2011

[Denis Perreaux]

Fifteen departments are included in the Roadmap, and, for each of them probably three or four of our organizations benefit from funding. In fact, it may not be each of the 15 departments as there are specific programs.

I admit, however, that consultation can also be a burden on us. We have to be honest. Every department submits questionnaires to us and wants us to bring everyone together to talk about one of the 32 programs, then the thirty-first, then the thirtieth, and so on.

When the next Roadmap is developed, it will be very interesting to consider the Leaders Forum of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. That forum reflects what the Roadmap is doing on the community side. It brings together all the sectors of the francophone and Acadian communities, the municipal governments, the representatives of health, post-secondary and college-level education and us, a representative organization in health and justice. We are all there.

We have an action plan. It's a community strategic plan for the entire country. We can draw considerably on that work done by the francophone and Acadian communities.

We're using all our joint action systems to provide information on the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality. I think that would be an effective approach.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

That's good.

Be brief, Mr. Simard.

[Denis Simard]

I support what Mr. Perreaux just said 100%.

However, I would also add that each of our communities has been making overall development plans for a very long time. Our CEO is appointed for a period of 10 years. Your local CEO, I believe, has been in his position for a period of five years. All the communities had an obligation to consider where they wanted to go and where they wanted to be directed. We have established plans accordingly. It would be very interesting for the departments to acquire those plans, read them and see how the priorities of those communities can be addressed.

These are plans that were adopted in the community. The entire community is in favour of the plans and must meet those obligations.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Michaud.

Mr. Trottier, go ahead, please.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you to our guests today.

I don't know whether you know, but I'm a Franco-Albertan, a francophone by birth. Now I'm a member from Toronto. I appreciate the comments by my colleague Mr. Galipeau, who referred to Mayor Van Brabant. I knew him very well.

Ms. Nolette, you talked about francophones by birth and francophones by choice. One of the challenges for the francophone communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and elsewhere in the country is to know how mother-tongue francophones can remain francophones by choice. I'm pleased to see the Gallic spirit is still alive on the Canadian Prairies, but I believe the magic potion for a francophone by birth to remain a francophone by choice consists of arts, culture and heritage.

Having health and education services managed by the provinces, for the most part, is a good thing. However, for someone to have the pride and courage to remain francophone and to speak French at home, in the community and in business, the community has to intervene, supported—at times, but not always—by the government, to ensure that arts, culture and history remain implanted in those communities.

Moreover, these are areas where the federal government can play more of a direct role and where it has less of a need to go through the provinces and municipalities.

Could you talk about the measures the federal government can adopt in this regard?

[Dolorèse Nolette]

Go ahead.

[Denis Perreaux]

I very much appreciate your comment because the arts and culture sector back home is one of the most important sectors, considering the number of stakeholders and participants. It's an excellent means of mobilization, artistic creation and expression.

The vitality of our artistic community is such that we always need investment. That's not surprising.

You also talked about heritage and history. In Alberta, that area isn't funded. The province doesn't fund it. At the federal level, our Canada-communities agreement does not include funding for the heritage and history sector.

Identity is one of the areas where there is an excellent return on invested capital. It's an area where investment could be enhanced, at least for our province.

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

What about Saskatchewan?

[Paul Heppelle]

I believe we have somewhat the same challenges. For example, as regards the media, there is talk about possible cuts at Radio-Canada. What kind of television and radio media will we have?

The small weeklies are very vulnerable. And yet, when we talk to the management of L'Eau Vive, we're told that federal government investments, even in advertising, have fallen by 40% or 50%. We aren't even receiving an advertising share comparable to that of The Star Phoenix or The Prince Albert Daily Herald, or whatever.

We also have a heritage and artists. A number of our people make headlines everywhere. I agree with Denis: it's vital, it's full of energy and a lot of things are being done, but it's often done with whatever resources are available.

That's why we work in the area of federal and provincial government services in French. The community remains vital to the extent that we can live in French from day to day.

It should be noted that there were approximately 55,000 French speakers in 1955. Today there are 47,000, 48,000 or 49,000, but, at the time, they were Catholic French Canadians. Today, people like me are in the minority. Now they're anglophones who speak French. These are immigrants, people from everywhere who migrate to our province by choice, or who learn a second language.

I believe that the arts, culture, heritage and education are important. For example, back home, the school program refers extensively to identity, language and culture objectives that form an integral part of what young people learn, a certain pride in who they are.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Harris, go ahead, please.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks to all our witnesses for being here.

I would like to mention one thing I found very interesting. Last year, I worked in Fort McMurray, Alberta. I'm a Franco-Ontarian from Toronto and I spoke French in Fort McMurray more often than in Toronto. It was very interesting. There were mostly Acadians and Quebeckers, but there were also francophones who came from Manitoba and Saskatchewan because of the jobs.

You emphasized the importance of renewing the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality. It would be important to continue the work on official languages in this regard. However, there will be a mid-term report.

How important is it for you to have access to that report once it is made public and there is a consultation, since it will be very important for officials, the government and the opposition in drafting the next Roadmap? What do you think of that?

[Dolorèse Nolette]

It's very important for us to see the mid-term report. That will enable us to gain a greater understanding of the investments and performance indicators. It's very important for us to have access to it.

Furthermore, is it desirable for the new Roadmap to be only the continuation of what there is now? Personally, I'm not convinced of that. Perhaps certain ways of doing things should be reviewed. We're always looking for the most efficient ways to achieve results. We would like to take part in the thinking effort for the next Roadmap.

[Denis Simard]

I agree with Ms. Nolette. That absolutely has to be done, but like any good business or someone who does a job, you have to check with the customer to see if he's satisfied. That report would be made public and could be used by the francophone and Acadian communities. It could be read and analyzed so that we could then determine whether the report's findings are accurate, whether they coincide with the actual situation of our communities. These are absolutely essential factors that would enable us to see to the renewal of a new Roadmap. Without any involvement by those clients, by those people in the field, I find it hard to see how the government could obtain a real analysis of the situation.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you.

We definitely want to improve the next Roadmap. You said that people in Saskatchewan were concerned about cuts. That's exactly what the Commissioner of Official Languages said. In his view, when the government considers making cuts, no one oversees what happens to official languages. If a program is abolished, that may not be very serious, but if cuts are made everywhere and no one considers the cumulative effect of those cuts, that can definitely hurt the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

We already see that you're doing a lot with little. Are there any concerns you would like to tell us about in that regard?

[Denis Perreaux]

I think you've summed up the situation well. As Ms. Nolette said earlier, we aren't Canadian Heritage communities, but rather citizens in every respect. We therefore touch on all the sectors, all the fields. In many cases, we replace the organizations that don't provide services in French back home. We use every means at our disposal to do so. An organization that handles justice issues deals with a number of things, in addition to the access to justice program. Cuts at a department can have a cumulative impact, as you said. We are funded by Canadian Heritage, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the province. If all those who fund an organization implement cuts, it goes without saying there will be a cumulative effect.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

All right. Thank you.

Mr. Simard, do you want to add something? I would ask you to be brief.

[Denis Simard]

I entirely agree that there may be a cumulative effect.

We are also very concerned about the idea that these cuts may be used as a pretext to slash French-language services and that the excuse given may be that that is in response to directives. Of course, it's easier to do in our communities, where they say there are fewer clients. We're afraid that, as a result of those cuts, these people will ultimately no longer meet their French-language service obligations. That's a major concern for us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

All right. Thank you.

As there will be a vote in 30 minutes, we are going to adjourn the meeting, but I would briefly like to say four things just before that.

First, Mr. Bélanger, I will grant you 15 minutes at the next meeting, if you wish, to address your motion.

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

Will I have the right to speak first?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

We can do that, if you wish.

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

I ask to be the first to speak at the next meeting when we reach that point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay. If we do--

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

I want to speak before Mr. Gourde.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay.

I understand that, and I'm prepared to do that because you've given me notice. However, if I do that, I'm going to move the witnesses that we had hoped to have that day to the Thursday. I don't want to have a situation where we have witnesses who've flown in from across Canada, they arrive here, and then they're not able to speak because the discussion and debate on the motion is taking far longer than--

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

That won't be today, will it?