Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will be putting my questions to the CED representatives.
Mr. Watson, earlier you said you were proud of the 2010 Olympic Games. I believe we could say that we missed the boat at the outset, at the opening. The Francophonie was not present, and that's unfortunate.
I know the government wants to conduct a major study for the 150th anniversary in 2017. It also wants to conduct a major study on how not to make the same mistake again. You don't have to make mistakes. It's easy; you make them and that's all. I don't see why we should study that for weeks on end. To ensure respect for both official languages, the two founding peoples of Canada and aboriginal peoples, we are being forced to spend more hours and weeks conducting a study to ensure that we do that without frustrating anyone. I don't know whether that's the idea.
I will be coming back to your economic organization from the west. You deal with the francophone communities, but, as you know, there is considerable job mobility today. Let's talk about that. Employers no longer want to set up new villages or to be responsible for them. That's what used to happen. They operated a mine somewhere and a village was set up there; they founded a village or a small town. Companies no longer do that. They bring in people from everywhere. I read an article on the subject in the newspaper yesterday. It stated that the government had said there was an incredible labour shortage in Canada, more particularly in the west. What is your agency doing to help Canada's francophones?
People will say that things are the way they are to: it isn't anglophones who have a problem. Canada's francophones are prepared to go and work out west. What is your organization doing to talk to companies like Suncor and those major companies where, with all due respect, francophones aren't welcome if they don't speak English? Let me explain. For example, back home on the Acadian peninsula, there've been a lot of closings in the forest industry. Paper mills have shut down in Miramichi, Bathurst, Dalhousie and New Richmond, in Quebec.
In the northeast and part of eastern Quebec, there are skilled labourers ready to go to work, but the companies say… I'll give you an example; I'll give you the background to what is really going on. It's possible to go and take security exams, but you have to go to Miramichi to do it, and they ask people to take the exam in English only. If candidates don't speak English well enough to take the exam, they will be disqualified.
A number of people from back home went out west last week. One qualified individual—a janitor, no less—went. He didn't need a lot of qualifications; I say that with all due respect. However, because he was unable to take the exam in English, he lost his job. He didn't get a single chance to sweep or wash a floor. He had the qualifications to do it. However, they brought in people from other countries. The article in yesterday's newspaper provided some statistics. They're bringing in people from the Philippines and China who have translators to help them take their exam. Go and check it out. I believe it's your responsibility to go and check that.
What is your agency doing to help Canadians, the first ones, get jobs? We need to break down the myth that, if you don't speak both languages in the west, if you don't speak English, you won't get it. However, the evidence is there. Foreign workers are being brought in and people say they are forced to recruit them because there aren't any workers in Canada. Back home, there are people who are prepared to go. They are aware of the reality of worker mobility; they take a plane. They call that a 20/14 or a 14/7. I made people laugh: I said I was doing 4/3s. I'm in Ottawa for four days a week and back home for three.
I would like you to tell us about worker mobility. I believe the agency could help members of the francophone communities who are prepared to go and work. These are brave souls who want to work but who have no place to go.