Official Languages Committee on March 13th, 2012

[Denise Frenette]

The $500,000 is spread over the life of the program. It is used primarily to cover salaries and operating expenses, in part.

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

Perfect, thank you.

[Wade Aucoin]

I have found the answer to your question.

Mr. Chair, I can tell you that ACOA's contribution to the project in Newfoundland and Labrador is about $400,000. To date, we have disbursed about $151,000. Obviously, other sources of funding were found to add to the funds coming solely from ACOA. So there you are, it is about $400,000.

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

For the remaining amount, is there a plan to invest it in the next few years, or will it be entirely disbursed by the end of the program?

[Wade Aucoin]

Are you talking about the difference between the $151,000 and the $385,000?

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

Yes, that is right. I had not heard the figures clearly.

[Wade Aucoin]

Out of the $400,000 invested, $151,000 has been disbursed. All the information we receive, even the preliminary evaluation data, suggest to us that there is very little chance that the additional amount will not be completely disbursed.

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

I have one minute left. I have a brief question for Mr. Saint-Germain and Mr. Sylvester.

You initially received $20 million from the roadmap. However, apparently, you have spent 125% of that amount in three years. If the roadmap were renewed, what figure would you recommend be invested to meet all the needs? When there were cost overruns, that meant that funds were short in some places.

[Peter Sylvester]

You are correct. There seems to have been a cost overrun, since we drew on the settlement funds available to the department to invest in this very important area. We therefore exceeded the amounts that we had been given under the roadmap.

However, in terms of whether we would like to see a larger investment in the next roadmap, I think we should let the evaluation that is underway run its course, and then step back a little and see what the results of our discussions with our partners are before starting to ask ourselves what the costs would be.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Fine, thank you.

Mr. Gourde, it is your turn.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to address the representatives of the ACOA. The francophone communities in the Maritimes benefit from your organization. Some initiatives involve promoting tourism and culture.

What initiative helps them most to promote this and attract tourists to their communities? Does this have a major influence on these communities?

[Wade Aucoin]

Thank you for the question. It is very broad and it may be difficult for us to answer clearly. We can see the results of projects we have funded under the Economic Development Initiative and we can say that there have to be good product development strategies. As well, as we can see with the projects carried out by the Commission du tourisme acadien du Canada atlantique, you have to go beyond simple traditional marketing, and focus on offering things that visitors will be able to experience for themselves. They are trying to do that with the community organizations that support tourism development.

They want visitors to be able to experience the best of Acadian culture for themselves. That may mean learning to cook local dishes, learning to make hooked rugs, and so on.

This is in line with global and national tourism trends. It is one of the most important aspects for continuing to expand the tourism market in Atlantic Canada. They are thinking about unique experiences that people can be offered.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Has ACOA supported activities or community initiatives in certain regions of the Atlantic provinces, for example building or repairing a community centre?

[Wade Aucoin]

In terms of the EDI, our funds were reserved mainly for projects that would develop various capacities. The EDI has not supported building projects, strictly speaking. There are other regular programs we can use for that. In her presentation, Ms. Frenette mentioned a few that we have funded under our regular programs, including the Innovative Communities Fund. Sometimes such things are funded under the infrastructure programs we manage on behalf of the government of Canada.

However, for EDI projects overall, and I think you have seen the list, you will see that we wanted to reach as many stakeholders as possible with as many projects as possible. If we had opened it up to building or renovation projects, we would have quickly exhausted the $6.2 million from the EDI.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

What proportion of your clientele is francophone, as compared to the anglophone clientele in the Atlantic provinces? You talked earlier about ACOA employees. You said that 50% were bilingual. Are the others anglophone or francophone? Mr. Godin may not have the answer, but I think you do.

[Denise Frenette]

You are talking about the proportion of the clientele?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Yes, in relation to the number of bilingual, francophone or anglophone employees.

[Denise Frenette]

The Atlantic region is 12% francophone. For our employees, over 50% of our positions are designated bilingual. We are talking here about positions that would be occupied by bilingual individuals.

[Wade Aucoin]

Mr. Chair, if you want a precise answer about the francophone proportion of our clientele, I think we are going to have to send you a specific answer. We do not have the figures at hand.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Harris.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would also thank the witnesses for coming to meet with us.

My colleague Mr. Bélanger asked you some questions about the government's answers during the 40st Parliament. I would like to know how far along CIC's reply was. The 120-day time allowed was almost up. Was the reply almost completed?

[Peter Sylvester]

Mr. Chair, as I said earlier in reply to a similar question, the government's replies to this kind of report are protected and confidential. Those decisions have the status of cabinet confidences. I have no comment to make on that question.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Right.

My question is for ACOA.

You mentioned 34 projects, including NB Translation. On that point, you said that hundreds of companies had had translations done. I would like to know how much money was invested in that project.

[Wade Aucoin]

Obviously, that is an important project. To date, we have invested about $300,000 and we have $600,000 left to disburse.

Initially, the process to introduce NB Translation in the small business community was relatively slow, but I can tell you that the ACOA team put in additional effort to attract more clients. The results achieved to date indicate that 100 small businesses and organizations that support small businesses have benefited from the services offered by the project. In addition, new partnerships have been created with the CBDC network, the regional and provincial associations of CBDCs, mainly in New Brunswick. That includes the 15 community economic development agencies in New Brunswick.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I am going to ask you to stop here, given that we have only five minutes.