Evidence of meeting #19 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was roadmap.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Aren't you saying that to keep your job?
10:05 a.m.
Eric Dubeau
Ha, ha! Good one.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
What do you think, Ms. Lavergne?
10:05 a.m.
President, Société franco-manitobaine
I agree with Mr. Diallo that it is difficult to propose one person at this time. I also agree that our premier is a champion.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Along the same lines, what is the best investment of money this department could make to expand the use of French in Canada?
Ms. Lavergne, could you respond first?
10:05 a.m.
President, Société franco-manitobaine
Could you please repeat the question?
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Yes. The roadmap represents investments of $1.1 billion.
If you high-graded, and took only a tenth of that, where is the best investment? What is really the most effective investment of these funds?
10:05 a.m.
President, Société franco-manitobaine
That is a complex question. There are so many different aspects that must be improved that I would hesitate to indicate a single department. It could be heath, education, immigration - it is a huge area. I cannot select only one.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Okay.
If the questions were too simple, this would not be interesting.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
10:05 a.m.
President, Société Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin (Société acadienne de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard)
The best investment that can be made in Prince Edward Island is in the education system in French, and more specifically in school-community centres. That is the concept adopted in all the regions of Prince Edward Island.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
10:05 a.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for coming here today.
We often talk about CBC/Radio Canada. To answer the comments of my colleague, I would say that members of Parliament may in fact present petitions without necessarily endorsing the content. On the other hand, when a member of Parliament promotes the petition on his web page, his intentions are very clear, in my opinion. Please judge for yourselves.
Now I return to more pertinent questions. Of all groups present today, only the FCCF has been consulted during the preparation of the roadmap. Have these consultations also included the mid-mandate evaluation?
10:05 a.m.
Director General, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
We have been consulted often and in various ways.
10:05 a.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
This is interesting. How were you consulted? What were you asked to evaluate? What types of comments were you asked for?
10:10 a.m.
Director General, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
There were a number of mechanisms, but I will surely forget some of them.
Since last February, we have been consulted at various times, in particular during a meeting called a dialogue meeting. There was also a survey in the summer. Then there were two meetings with the Official Languages Secretariat in the fall.
We were asked questions in various ways. They wanted to know how satisfied we were with the programs and the overall roadmap framework.
10:10 a.m.
President, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
There was also a validation meeting devoted to the Cultural Development Fund.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Was it possible for you to propose improvements or modifications, and have they been taken into account?
10:10 a.m.
Director General, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
Many elements of the content that has been discussed here, in particular those related to the Cultural Development Fund, have already been raised with Heritage Canada officials and senior management.
As to whether they have been taken into account, my understanding is that the roadmap exercise is an evolving process that is still in progress. We trust them, just as we trust your work. It is clear that we follow the matter very closely to find out if any corrections would be made next time.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
So you are saying that the proposals you made could be used only at the very end, in the report, and that you cannot see any changes or improvements as you go.
10:10 a.m.
Director General, Fédération culturelle canadienne-française
We would be very pleased to see the improvements sooner, but we have not noticed any so far.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Okay. Thank you very much.
My next question is addressed to everyone, but especially to the SSTA and SFM representatives.
You mentioned strategic development plans. I would like you to briefly discuss the priorities contained in these development plans. I think that this information would be very useful for us in order to evaluate what should be included in the next roadmap, among other things.
I would ask you to respond very briefly since I have another question for you.
10:10 a.m.
President, Société Saint-Thomas-d'Aquin (Société acadienne de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard)
Our priorities focus around four areas determined in a process in which the whole Acadian and francophone community participated for one year. First of all, there is a question of identity and of living in French. Then there is the issue of demographic growth and economic development. There is also organizational vitality and strategic positioning, since we also want to examine the structures. We have all sorts of structures. It is one thing to try to finance them, but this would require money that could be otherwise used locally. Finally, the last area is that of health and well-being.
We have established these four areas as important priorities.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
10:10 a.m.
Past-President, Société franco-manitobaine
In the same debate, we have established five streams. The first stream consists of education and training. The second stream refers to expanding francophone space. This is a developing concept, open to all the communities, as long as the people speak French, no matter if they are anglophone, bilingual or immigrants. This element is extremely important for us. The third stream deals with health and social services. The fourth stream is community structures, or how people are organized, in particularly in economic matters. Finally, the fifth stream deals with cultural life, which is also essential for our communities.
