Good morning, Mr. Chong, Monsieur Godin, Monsieur Bélanger, and all members of the committee.
My name is Noel Burke. Currently, I'm the interim president of the Quebec Community Groups Network, QCGN. With me today is Sylvia Martin-Laforge, who will share some of our remarks, and Stephen Thompson, our policy point man, if I can put it that way.
You are aware that the QCGN is a member-driven organization whose 38 members work to directly benefit the nearly one million Canadians who live in our English-speaking linguistic minority communities, collectively referred to as the English-speaking community of Quebec. The QCGN in its capacity as the community's strategic representative with government has coordinated closely with the organizations and institutions serving our community that have provided this committee with evidence in support of your study on evaluating the road map for Canada's linguistic duality. We have followed their appearances with great interest and believe that as a community we have demonstrated the benefits of Government of Canada investments in our minority community.
The QCGN and its community partners understand that the purpose of today's appearance is to provide our community's summation on the input we have provided to the road map study. The committee has undertaken this study for the purpose of making recommendations toward Canada's official languages strategy when the road map expires next year. You are looking forward, and we are here to assist you in your deliberations.
Our intention is to provide the committee with our summative perspective on how the Government of Canada can effectively and efficiently enhance the vitality of Canada's English linguistic minority communities. To support this presentation, we will use two key events: the study undertaken by your colleagues on the Senate Standing Committee on Official Languages; and the Strategic Priorities Forum, an exhaustive community consultation undertaken over the past year.
By the end of this morning's presentation, we hope we will have succeeded in bringing greater understanding to the honourable members of this committee on the following: our community's observations on how Canada could more effectively support the vitality of its English linguistic minority communities; and the criteria the Government of Canada might use when prioritizing public support of our community.
The language discussion in Quebec is fascinating, vibrant, and never-ending. We have noted your interest and would welcome the opportunity to talk to you on this subject at a later date. Today, however, the community we represent has agreed that the QCGN's focus, like that of the study you are undertaking, should be forward looking, towards the Government of Canada's next official languages strategy.
The English-speaking community of Quebec acknowledges our indispensable partnership with the Government of Canada, whose commitment to the vitality of both of our nation's official language minority communities is very much in evidence. Some have asked if there will come a day when this partnership is not necessary; our answer is no.
The Prime Minister's message, which prefaces the road map, speaks of the vital Canadian value of linguistic duality, “a cornerstone of our national identity, and it is a source of immeasurable economic, social, and political benefits for all Canadians.”
The Prime Minister made a direct link between our national commitment to linguistic duality—and, by extension, our official language minority communities—and our future as a unified Canada. The Government of Canada's partnership with this nation's official language minority communities is rooted in our Constitution and manifested in the Official Languages Act. We are in this together for the long haul.
We know a rebalancing of the partnership between the community, public, and private sectors is coming, and we look forward to participating in this evolutionary change. But the Government of Canada's commitment to the vitality of our community and the duty of federal institutions to ensure that positive measures are taken for the implementation of these commitments are a matter of law. We can think of no other communities with this special partnership with the Government of Canada.