Evidence of meeting #56 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 languages.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Élaine Michaud NDP Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Okay.
I have one more quick question for you.
Recent figures show that bilingualism among anglophones outside Quebec has been declining. We already spoke about it briefly. Could you tell us specifically what leadership role the government should be playing? The government has an important role to play, after all. Could you tell me a little more about that?
Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
According to the annual report, the financial transfer from Canadian Heritage to the provinces for education, that is, for French and English as first or second languages, is a very considerable amount. We are presently conducting a study on payment mechanisms to see how federal institutions, including Canadian Heritage, can make sure that the money is well spent.
I have one fear about that approach, which is very laudable. Yes, it is important that the federal government play that role. But sometimes I am afraid that it takes responsibility away from the provinces, who may tend to feel that this is a federal matter while they only deal with real educational issues. I am afraid that the same commitment may not be there, that teaching French may decrease and not be treated on an equal footing with other high school subjects.
I am a great admirer of immersion as a system, but I add a note of caution because it takes resources, it takes teachers of basic French who are often not treated the same as teachers of other subjects.
Be that as it may, yes, I do feel that it is important for the federal government to play a greater leadership role, in cooperation with the provinces and with the Council of Ministers of Education Canada.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
A point of order, Mr. Chair. Since we lost half an hour this morning, and since there are normally no committee meetings from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., I am asking for everyone's agreement to continue the meeting for another 30 minutes, since we are fortunate to have the commissioner here. This is important.
I am sure that government members will be very happy about it, because they think that real progress has been made. For my part, I have questions to ask because there are areas in which there has been no progress.
For that reason, I would like the unanimous consent of the committee.
Conservative
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
We do not have unanimous consent.
Anyway, I have to be at the Liaison Committee meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
No, we are going to finish the meeting now.
My thanks to our witnesses.
I want to finish with one thought.
Mr. Fraser, in your remarks, you mentioned that Canadians very much want to become bilingual.
You go on to say that some programs in the second official language cannot keep up with the demand. One example you should look at is the fact that on September 26, the Peel District School Board—which is, I think, the second-largest school board in Ontario and represents Brampton and Mississauga and some 1.2 million Canadians—made a decision to cap French immersion program enrollment at 25.4%.
It's a good news-bad news story. The reason was that French immersion enrolment in grade 1 in these highly immigrant communities went from 9.4% in 2001 to 25.4% in 2012, and the school board simply can't find the teachers to teach the classes.
That's an example to prove your point about the fact that there is far more demand than we can keep up with in many of these programs, in part funded by the Roadmap. I will leave you with that thought.
Thank you very much for your appearance. We appreciate it very much. Merci.
This meeting is adjourned.