Official Languages Committee on Nov. 1st, 2012

[Marie-France Kenny]

I agree with Alexis. If I had a family get-together and if, for some reason, we received funding—I cannot imagine that we would—I would not expect to be required to do everything in both languages.

However, if we are talking about money transferred to a province or even a municipality, I think it is essential for there to be a language clause. Too often, our communities must fight in order to get their fair share.

The language clause should not consist of giving money to francophones. That is not what this is about. Ensure that francophones are at the table and that everyone works together. That is what I would like to see in a language clause. It is not a matter of allocating money; it is a matter of talking.

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

Perfect. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

You may ask a quick question.

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

Okay.

My question is for Mr. Couture.

I listened to your comments. We must be around the same age. It is interesting to hear you talk about youth. Your organization is a national one. You said that it would be important to have a role to play in the preparations or in the festivities. What role would you like to play in that?

[Alexis Couture]

Our organization, like many other community organizations across the country, obviously wants to be involved. We also want to host events that bring young people together. This goes back to the comment I made earlier when I was talking about initiatives by and for young people. What is done by and for young people applies to us and to anglophone communities in Quebec, and they will have a much greater impact than if these initiatives are designed and implemented by someone else.

So whether we are talking about being involved in the Jeux de la francophonie canadienne, which will be held in 2017, or the Forum jeunesse pancanadien, or creating an entirely new event, these are certainly some of the things that we would really like to do.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Wilks, go ahead.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to everyone for being here today.

Ms. Kenny, in your comments you stated that we should try to have events on a large scale to learn the main values of Canada. I wonder if you would like to speak to that a little more so that I can understand what you meant by it.

[Marie-France Kenny]

If we're talking about values, one of my values is equity, justice. I think that if we went around the table, we'd be hard pressed to find somebody who is against this value. For me, the value of equity applies to official languages not being equal. I have equal rights. My needs are different from an anglophone, and needs of anglophones in Quebec are different from francophones, and we must make sure that we meet those needs.

In terms of values, my values are the same as QCGN. They're the same as my neighbour across the street in Regina, who doesn't speak a word of French. We have the same values, yet we have a tendency not to talk to each other, or to think that we dislike each other before we even talk to each other, so can we just start by talking to each other and understanding each other? That's one of the values.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Further to that, in part of your comments you referred to common values. I wonder if you could expand upon common values with regard to French and English Canadians and how they pertain to 2017.

[Marie-France Kenny]

I think that if we look at values, all Canadians value having a prosperous country. I think our values are to be respectful to one another, although we have a tendency to not always be respectful. I think if you ask anybody, you'll find that the common values are to share in the celebration and to share together—not francophones and anglophones, but together.

I think it's time. It's time. It's been long overdue. We haven't done it in the 42 years since we've had this wonderful Official Languages Act. We haven't talked to each other, whether it's Quebeckers or outside of Quebec, and I'm not talking about francophones, but about people in general. We have a tendency not to talk, and we need to talk.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Thompson, in your comments you mentioned that Canadians must be encouraged to travel across Canada to see all the opportunities that are open to them. I think that for the most part, the national park system seems to do a relatively good job at providing in both official languages.

I'm from British Columbia, and my home town is Lethbridge, so I was waiting for you to talk about Lethbridge. Where do you see improvement that we can make for both official languages outside what we seem to focus on a lot, which is the national parks?

[Stephen Thompson]

The recommendation to encourage Canadians to travel across the country during 2017 was one of the recommendations from the heritage committee's report.

Where or how do we reinforce linguistic duality outside the national parks? We have national institutions, small “i” institutions, in which linguistic duality does exist. One of them is VIA Rail Canada. There's a wonderful train that runs the length of Quebec and up to the Gaspé. We have a wonderful highway system, the Trans-Canada Highway system, with provincial and national parks. We have Canadian sites and provincial sites of national interest, germane and directly related to Confederation and the reasons for Confederation. Making those sites accessible, especially the provincial sites, is a way to do it, I think. Promoting travel in 2017 through the national carrier and through VIA Rail Canada would be another suggestion.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Couture, without taking away from anyone else in this room, you are the future of Canada, the youth.

I grew up in southern Alberta as a youth. English was dominant, with very little French. Outside of immersion, how do we get the youth involved so that we share the importance of both official languages?

[Alexis Couture]

I will be brief.

I think it is important to increase our understanding and our knowledge of the communities. I am Acadian and I have had the privilege of living in Nova Scotia and Quebec. I am familiar with this issue. When I was in Quebec, I spoke about Acadia and people were not familiar with it. In Acadia, people were not familiar with francophones in Alberta.

I think it is important for people in the francophonie across the country to better understand each other. This starts with education and large gatherings, where young people have a chance to meet each other and learn about each other. Young people come out of these gatherings with a Canadian vision of the challenges and not a regional, provincial or municipal vision. They realize that they are not alone and that there are francophones all over. Furthermore, challenges are shared and they are important to everyone. We will become closer with these kinds of gatherings and exchanges, both virtually and physically.

You are asking how we can increase the importance of something. But when we do not know that something exists, it is hard for it to have any importance.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Dionne Labelle, go ahead.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here.

I will not hide the fact that I have mixed emotions this morning. This is something imposed by the government party. We obviously have no control over the committee's agenda. Furthermore, there is currently no budget allocated or planned for the 150th anniversary of Confederation. According to Heritage Canada representatives, there is no framework as of yet. There are few people working on it. So we found it premature to be talking to different organizations before we even had a full picture, especially since we had other concerns. I am thinking about the effects of the cuts to French-language services at the CBC. Support has also been cut for French-language weekly community newspapers and cuts have been made to Destination Canada, an initiative that helped promote francophone immigration outside of Quebec. I am also thinking about the planned closure of the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre and the effects the merger of the embassies on the services that will be available in French. There is also the matter of stagnation. Last week, the stagnation of bilingualism outside of Quebec seemed particularly evident to me.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that we must be vigilant. The budget for the 100th anniversary of Confederation was $743 million. We do not know exactly what we will have. In addition, the department that will be in charge of this budget will also be in charge of the Roadmap. We do not know what the budget for the Roadmap will be. I am concerned, because in our evaluation of the Roadmap, we noted that we had a hard time determining which initiatives were the responsibility of different departments in protecting linguistic duality, and which responsibilities fell under the Roadmap.

And there is another thing. I am not sure if this is something you are concerned about. There will obviously be more money. However, the scope of the Roadmap could be limited in other ways, for example by assigning money from the 150th anniversary to the Roadmap. I am worried about this happening.

Ms. Kenny, what do you think about that?

[Marie-France Kenny]

I admit that this is the first time I have thought about it. I had not thought about it before you mentioned it. However, I must say that I am not particularly concerned by it. The celebrations will be something completely separate, in my opinion. I do not see how it could be part of the Roadmap.

As for the funding that already exists as part of programs in certain departments, that was a concern last time and it still is. We are concerned that departments that had official languages programs could decide to no longer run them, claiming that they will include everything in the Roadmap.

As we know, this is an isolated event. It can be renewed, based on the economic climate, at the will of the government in power. It would be concerning, but as for the celebrations, I do not see how it could all be combined. I am not particularly concerned by it.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Okay. It was simply a feeling I had that I wanted to share with you.

We will watch this issue closely.

[Marie-France Kenny]

Yes, we will watch it closely.

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Couture, I would like to get back to the issue of young people.

When celebrations for the 150th anniversary will be held, I will be close to retirement. I imagine that will be the case for a number of people in the room.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Hey, hey!

[Pierre Dionne Labelle, NDP, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I am looking in that direction, and perhaps also at Mr. Dion.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

There are a few old folks around.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

But no, retirement will be at 67.