Official Languages Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2011

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

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

Let's change—

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Please be brief.

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

Briefly, how can we measure performance? There are the censuses, but do you have any other recommendations for the next version of the Roadmap that we could include in a report?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Paul, go ahead, please.

[Roger Paul]

Are you talking about student performance measures?

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

Yes.

[Roger Paul]

We're talking about francization. I'm going to talk about the province I know best, even though I have an idea of what goes on elsewhere in Canada. You're from Toronto, aren't you? There are proficiency tests—

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Please be brief.

[Roger Paul]

There are linguistic proficiency tests, of course, tests administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office. Our grade 3 francophone students have had better results than the anglophone students in Ontario for approximately six or seven years. We previously didn't have good results. Is that directly related to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality? I would say that a good part of Roadmap funding has been used to help us help our students.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Ms. Michaud, go ahead, please.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Welcome, everyone. Thank you very much for being here.

I would particularly like to thank you, Mr. Blais and Mr. St-Pierre, for your warm welcome at the general meeting held on November 12. I had a chance to attend it and it was very enriching. I learned a little more about your community, particularly since I had not had a chance to take part in the tour of the north, for which I hope we'll be able to prepare a report in response to your request, which we've heard loud and clear here in committee.

Mr. St-Pierre, you briefly raised the issue of immigration and the migration of your population. Could you say more about that and perhaps say specifically how the next Roadmap might propose initiatives to help you address those issues, which are very significant in your community?

[Régis St-Pierre]

In percentage terms, the Franco-Yukon immigrant population is the third most francophone immigrant population: nearly 15% of our francophone population in the Yukon comes from outside the country. That's why it's essential that the funding provided under the Roadmap reaches all the provinces and territories. It's important for a territory such as ours, which had no structure for francophone immigration until 2005-2006, to be able to receive adequate funding to build a network so that we can conduct follow-up. However, it goes beyond that. We're currently receiving funding for recruitment from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

I said that people are currently in Europe doing recruitment, but when they arrive in Yukon, that same department, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, signs service agreements. These are people who offer services to immigrants. Those services are currently offered in English only in the Yukon, which is a good way for them to be assimilated from the outset. It's illogical.

The Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality is a good thing, but the government must operate logically in delivering services. In future, it should ensure that service provided to citizens is fair for everyone because we want to improve people's lives. The Yukon is a bilingual territory under Canadian legislation.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

If I understand correctly, it's important for you that the government promptly consider this issue of immigrant integration in the minority communities.

[Régis St-Pierre]

Yes, because it's important to understand that there are a lot of differences between French as a second language, immersion French and French as a first language. In Canada, we have trouble explaining that. Imagine what it means to explain that to someone who comes from another country. We need good intake, integration and ongoing support for family literacy, even before primary school. It is important for these people to receive the same service.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you very much.

My next question is for the representatives of the Fédération des associations de juristes d'expression française de common law inc. I believe you provide services that are very important for Canadians across the country. It's very important to have access to essential services such as yours in one's mother tongue.

My riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier is home to the federal penitentiary of Donnacona, which I recently visited. I was told there was some trouble providing services in English to anglophone populations since their clientele comes from virtually everywhere. If Bill C-10 is passed, there could be a significant increase in the number of inmates. Do you think that may have an impact on the services that lawyers provide in a correctional setting?

What initiatives should appear in the next Roadmap to address this potential population increase?

[Rénald Rémillard]

We have received few requests from the correctional community. That at least is what I conclude on the basis of what my AJEFs report to me. There have been presentations and discussions on the subject. Requests could of course eventually become more frequent. Everything related to the prison or correctional community is related more to careers in justice. We discussed that in our presentation, with respect to Ontario. Most lawyers associations are doing similar things, various types of projects.

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

But if we wanted to ensure that more people in that community could provide services in French, there might eventually be a need to promote that practice, among other things.

[Rénald Rémillard]

That would indeed be a way. Perhaps it should also be determined whether there aren't any other ways of reaching that population for which those services are indeed important.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thanks to the witnesses, my fellow lawyers and the other participants.

Imagine that this is 2014 and the Roadmap is about to expire. Mr. Bélanger is the Prime Minister of Canada and Mr. Godin is minister of finance, a scenario that would delight B.C. francophones I'm sure. However, a few European countries are bankrupt, as is the United States, and we now have to make some very tough decisions.

Mr. Bélanger, we imagine you're the Prime Minister of Canada. We can't invest $1.1 billion in another Roadmap. We're your advisors. What can we do to maintain the vitality of French in my province, British Columbia, and in other Canadian provinces in the absence of that financial support?

We'll begin with Mr. Paul.

[Roger Paul]

If I clearly understand your question, Mr. Weston, you're asking—and I'll disregard who the prime minister is, if you don't mind—what we can do in British Columbia, where you're from, without the $1.1 billion investment. Is that what you are asking?

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Yes.

[Roger Paul]

That's an excellent question.

I can tell you that the $1.1 billion investment has enabled us to achieve a large number of objectives. Here I'm thinking about a school board, about where things are happening in the field, in education, among other things.

In response to a question from one of your colleagues, earlier I mentioned that we had made so much progress thanks to the Roadmap that it would be unfortunate not to be able to rely on that support in future. We have an enormous number of objectives still to achieve, but that has helped us reach a certain cruising speed. The government shouldn't tell us overnight that we'll no longer be receiving the support which is so necessary for our communities.

I realize I'm not answering your question directly. The school boards will continue managing, but not in the same way. We talked especially about francization and culture. Are the costs higher at a French-language school board than at an English-language school board? Look at Ontario's funding in that area. What is Ontario's funding based on? Among other things, it's based on the fact that these people receive support.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. St-Pierre, what do you think?