Official Languages Committee on Nov. 27th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Today is Tuesday, November 27, 2012 and we are about to start our 62 ^nd meeting.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108, we are here to study linguistic duality during the 150th anniversary celebrations of Canadian Confederation in 2017.

We have four groups with us today. We have Mr. Laflamme and Ms. Dupuis from the National Capital Commission; Ms. Schryer and Ms. Goger from the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation; Ms. Friolet-O'Neill, Mr. Légère and Mr. Doucet from the Société nationale de l'Acadie; and finally, Mr. Morrow and Mr. Turcotte, from Canadian Youth for French.

Welcome, everyone.

Before we begin the opening statements from our four witnesses, I want to let committee members know this.

At 12:15, a dozen or so students from the École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde in Ottawa will come into the public gallery to watch our meeting.

They're going to watch our proceedings as part of their political science class. So if you notice a group of students here, they're on a tour of Parliament Hill today to watch Canadian democracy in action.

I just wanted to let witnesses know in case they wondered why we were being invaded by students.

Monsieur Godin.

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

Mr. Chair, has the date of the meeting when we have to meet the minister changed?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Yes.

He is not available December 6. Instead, he has proposed to come December 12 between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

I was going to bring that up toward the end of the meeting. We also have a couple of other witnesses who are unable to come. I'm going to set aside the last five minutes of the meeting to discuss the witnesses and how we're going to sort all that out.

Let us start with the National Capital Commission.

[Guy Laflamme, Senior Vice-President, Capital Experience and Official Residences, National Capital Commission]

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, good morning. My colleague, Diane Dupuis, and I are extremely pleased to be here this morning. Thank you for your invitation to appear before this committee to discuss the importance of linguistic duality in celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation in Canada's capital.

My presentation will address three different aspects, namely, how we will incorporate, facilitate, and promote bilingualism between now and 2017.

To begin, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly salute a master builder who passed away a few days ago and who has greatly contributed to the sound practices that I will be speaking about today.

Marcel Beaudry was the chair and chief executive officer of the National Capital Commission from 1992 to 2006. In 2004-2005, he was awarded the Leon Leadership Award by Dyane Adam, then Commissioner of Official Languages.

Mr. Beaudry, the capital and the defenders of bilingualism thank you.

First, I will talk about incorporating the official languages. The NCC mandate is diverse and exciting. We are charged with building a pre-eminent capital for all Canadians, a capital that reflects our history, our identity, our culture and our values.

To fulfill this mission, the NCC collaborates closely with the various levels of government, departments, agencies and municipalities, as well as private sector partners and the public. We coordinate public events and activities that reflect and promote our country's heritage in both its official languages.

In order to fulfill our mandate, we recognize and, I believe, we demonstrate that official languages must be an integral part of all NCC day-to-day operations. They are at the heart of all our programs, commemorations and celebrations here in the capital and we will continue our efforts to promote official languages in all of our programming between now and 2017.

Our 2011-2016 corporate plan contains specific commitments towards official languages. Let me quote the following passage:

The NCC is committed not only to applying the Official Languages Act to all its sectors of operation, but also to preserving Canada's two official languages in Canada's capital region. In the delivery of the NCC's mandate, the importance of bilingualism is reflected in all aspects of its day-to-day operations.

In short, official languages are an integral part of the NCC's values, directions and initiatives.

Our research and surveys among Canadians—whether regarding Horizon 2067, our upcoming Plan for Canada's Capital, our plans for celebrations surrounding the 150^th anniversary of Confederation, or satisfaction surveys of Canada Day participants—also confirm the importance of linguistic duality.

Of particular note, Canadians have told us the capital must be a gathering place that represents the entire country. They have expressed their desire for the capital to reflect our linguistic duality. They confirm that one of the priorities of the 150^th celebrations should be to highlight the roles of the French, British and First Nations in the founding of Canada.

For Canada Day, which will be one of the highlights of the 150^th anniversary celebrations, a survey of 2011 participants reveals that 87% were very satisfied or satisfied with the use of official languages in the services provided during this celebration.

Second, there is facilitating the use of official languages. The NCC facilitates and promotes the use of official languages in its day-to-day operations. Within the organization, the recruitment of bilingual employees is standard practice, and we encourage our staff to promote and use both official languages in their day-to-day work. Eighty-three per cent of our jobs are bilingual. Therefore we can say that there are about 450 employees who will contribute to integrating official languages in the 2017 celebrations.

Our programming also demonstrates our commitment to official languages. For the Canada Day and Winterlude festivities, we invite artists who come from official language minority communities. This included 14 of the artists for the 2011 edition of Canada Day, and 13 for the 2012 edition of Winterlude.

Let me share some recent examples from the main stage on Canada Day. Singer Andrea Lindsay, a native of Guelph, is an anglophone artist who sings in French. Then, performing together for the first time, we had the exceptional duet of Isabelle Boulay and Johnny Reid, two artists from different parts of the country. Only on Canada Day are such collaborations possible.

We expect to increase our efforts in this regard for 2017. Thanks to our encouragement and insistence, I'm happy to report that the Canada Day noon and evening shows on Parliament Hill are among the few events where the very same content is broadcast live in both official languages across all CBC and Radio-Canada platforms. This broadcast and other broadcasts from other CBC and Radio-Canada platforms have attracted an audience of roughly eight million viewers and listeners from across Canada.

Our sound and light show on Parliament Hill, Mosaika, is another example of bilingualism. Mosaika has been presented since 2010 in a bilingual format. Mosaika promotes linguistic duality by alternating narration between the two official languages. The narration also speaks about the adoption of the Official Languages Act. Since 2010, more than 730,000 people have seen this show, and 80% of our visitors indicated that they were extremely or very satisfied with the show's bilingual format. A new bilingual edition of the show will also be launched before 2017.

The NCC welcomes visitors to the capital in both official languages with an active offer of bilingual service. The simple fact of greeting people with “Bonjour, hello”, whether it is on the exterior sites or at one of our information kiosks, communicates the linguistic duality of our services. Our interpretive guides are equipped with iPads with bilingual applications. The social networking platforms that we use have been selected not only for their accessibility and user-friendliness, but also because they are available in both English and French. This type of service will grow in popularity and scope between now and 2017.

Two new key projects will also be launched over the next few years and tested before 2017, that is, Voices of the Capital, produced with the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Rideau Canal Promenade, produced in collaboration with the City of Ottawa, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Parks Canada.

Last, our youth programs reach thousands of young people across Canada, and we offer teaching materials in both official languages, especially for schools in minority language communities.

Year after year, the NCC is working with a large number of partners from both the public and private sectors to organize its events. For example, we have nearly 60 partners for Winterlude 2012.

Despite these successes, we know there is still room for improvement. In particular, we must ensure that our partners, tenants, and others using our properties satisfy bilingualism requirements. For example, we must be diligent to ensure that a restaurant leasing one of our properties or an event taking place on our property provides service to the public in both official languages.

Rest assured that we are working on it. We continue to inform our tenants of the importance of delivering bilingual services. We especially encourage our tenants to enlist the services of Regroupement des gens d'affaires. The RGA provides entrepreneurs with a tool kit to help them deliver bilingual services. We also require the use of both official languages for partners in cultural events. All of those partners will play a key role in hosting Canadians in 2017.

Another example of proactive involvement was the NCC's role with the 2012 Juno awards organizing committee, the Mouvement d’implication francophone d’Orléans, and Société Radio-Canada, to host an all-francophone evening entitled Célébrons les Juno. The 41st Juno awards gala here in the capital included a significant francophone component this year. This was a first. For the very first time a francophone show was produced and broadcast across the country as part of the Juno Awards, and we are very proud of this accomplishment.

We also chair a committee of more than 20 federal cultural partners, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Other members include all the national museums, the Royal Canadian Mint, and the National Film Board of Canada. This committee is in a position to influence programming, share best practices, and collaborate to ensure that linguistic duality will be featured as part of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

Third is ensuring linguistic duality during the 150th anniversary celebrations. As 2017 approaches, we will act to ensure that both official languages are at the heart of our celebrations.

Although we are still in the preliminary planning stage of the 150th anniversary celebrations, the capital by its very role will be a venue in which we recount our country's history and highlight Canadian achievements, a place to facilitate exchanges among Canadians from across the country.

Whether by programming designed to inspire Canadian citizens to discover their capital or through initiatives that bring together artists from various corners of the country, we want all Canadians to experience the linguistic duality of our country right here in their second hometown, the capital of Canada, as well as through national outreach activities. Again, we will work closely with the various cultural institutions in the capital to ensure that special exhibitions and programming will underscore how linguistic duality has shaped our history and the evolution of Canadian identity.

Furthermore, we have taken note of the recent report from Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages, which states that the 150th anniversary celebrations would present an ideal opportunity to celebrate linguistic duality, an opportunity for the NCC and the entire federal family to celebrate both official languages and highlight Canada's cultural diversity. We already have tools in place to interpret history, to celebrate our culture and values, and to commemorate our important events and prominent Canadians, and all of these respect official language guidelines. Our existing NCC programs provide a solid foundation upon which we can build to celebrate the 150th anniversary. The NCC has extensive experience in motivating its partners to celebrate Canada and Canadian achievements.

In concert with the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa, we are committed to working together to ensure that 2017 will be a resounding success. We also plan to work closely with the tourism industry in order that linguistic duality is part of their action plan.

In conclusion, the 2017 celebrations present the ideal opportunity for the capital to play the role that Canadians expect of it; that is, to proudly showcase Canada's values, diversity and linguistic duality. Whether it is through integration, facilitation or action, rest assured that linguistic duality and respect for official languages remain at the heart of everything that the NCC does now and will do in 2017. We will continue our efforts to welcome Canadians in both official languages during this historic year that marks the 150^th anniversary of Confederation.

In closing, we thank the committee in advance for the advice and direction that will result from their deliberations. This will inspire us in moving forward.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

We now move to the representative from the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation

[Chantal Schryer, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Publishing, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Members of the committee, good morning, and thank you for inviting us to make a presentation here today.

The Corporation and its museums will play a very prominent role in the celebrations of the 150^th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017. I have three primary goals today. Firstly, I want to speak generally about our commitment to linguistic duality and our efforts to enhance Canadians' understanding of this core attribute of our society. Secondly, I want to give you a general outline of the museums' plans for 2017. And thirdly, I want to tell you about our efforts to reach out to French and English linguistic minorities in communities across Canada as we develop the new Canadian Museum of History.

But I will begin with a brief introduction to the corporation and its museums. The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation is the corporate parent of the Museum of Civilization (which will soon become the Canadian Museum of History) and the Canadian War Museum. The corporation also includes the Virtual Museum of New France, which exists only on the Internet. These institutions preserve and share the heritage of Canada, and they contribute to the promotion and reinforcement of the Canadian identity. They do so in both official languages.

In their permanent and temporary exhibitions, the Museum of Civilization and the War Museum tell the story of Canada and its peoples from earliest times to the present day. Among other things, our museums help visitors understand why Canada today has two official languages. Our visitors learn about Samuel de Champlain and the establishment of New France. They learn about the British conquest and the rebellions. Of course, it goes without saying that our museums also explore the history and contributions of Canada's first peoples, and those who came to Canada from around the world in more recent times.

The Museum of Civilization and the War Museum are national institutions. As such, we strive to reach out to Canadians wherever in the country they live and we do so through a variety of offerings. The most prominent are our websites, which are accessible from anywhere, and our traveling exhibitions, which are presented at venues across the country. Our websites are rich, reliable sources of information about Canadian history and culture. All the material we generate for the sites is presented in both official languages and is available free of charge.

Traveling exhibitions are another tool we use to reach across the country. During the last fiscal year, we had 11 exhibitions on the road in Canada. They traveled to 17 venues in five provinces and were seen by more than 150,000 visitors. All were presented in both English and French.

I will now turn to our plans for 2017.

Our museums will offer events, exhibitions, and activities that will engage Canadians not only in the national capital region but also across the country. We will undertake these endeavours, whenever possible, in collaboration with museums and other partners from coast to coast to coast, and we will do so in both official languages.

The centrepiece of our plan for 2017 is the development of a major permanent exhibition in the new Canadian Museum of History. It will be the largest and most comprehensive exhibition on Canada's history ever created. The exhibition will be developed in stages and is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Under its new mandate, the museum will tell the story of Canada and its people with greater clarity and effect than ever before. It will have a sharper focus on the major themes and seminal events and people of our national experience. It will bring our history to life through the display of more of our national treasures, artifacts that will resonate with Canadians, whatever their language, English or French.

Although planning for the new exhibition has just begun, it's obvious that Canada's linguistic duality will be a central focus of attention. How that theme will be explored and presented has yet to be determined. Our decisions will be informed by a process of national consultation, which is now under way.

We are inviting Canadians to help create this new exhibition. We have launched what is surely the most ambitious program of public engagement ever undertaken by our museums. We're asking Canadians to identify the themes, events, and people they would include in their national history museum. We are also asking how our museums can best serve their needs and interests, no matter where they live in Canada or whether they speak French or English. Through an interactive website, we are inviting Canadians to vote on earlier suggestions and to make new nominations of their own. At last count, the site had attracted over 7,000 visitors.

We are also making visits to nine cities across the country. At each stop, we are hosting information sessions and round table discussions. In every case, we're reaching out to linguistic minorities through media releases, in both official languages, through community newspapers, via CBC and TOU.TV, and through direct contact with relevant groups and associations.

We have contacted umbrella organizations, such as the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes du Canada and the Quebec Community Groups Network. We are also contacting local groups in every city on our itinerary. We also have a portable kiosk we're taking to every city on our tour. We're asking passersby the same fundamental questions we're posing through our website and round table discussions, in either official language. The response to date has been wonderful.

In a parallel process, our historians and researchers are consulting with experts from universities and museums and other centres of scholarship across the country.

Once the outreach initiative is completed, we will be better informed on how to shape the new exhibition and other programming for 2017. This much is certain: We will invite Canadians to learn about their country, to appreciate the richness of their history, and to discuss with each other what it means to be Canadian in 2017.

We look forward to the results of your deliberations and any guidance you might offer regarding the national celebration and Canada's linguistic duality.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

We now move to the representatives from the Société nationale de l'Acadie.

[René Légère, President, Société nationale de l'Acadie]

Mr. Chair, distinguished committee members, good morning.

The Société nationale de l'Acadie is pleased to contribute to the collective reflection on the 150^th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017. Our organization, commonly known as SNA, represents the Acadian people.

Founded in 1881, the SNA is now a federation comprising eight member associations, including four youth organizations, a special member and six associate members. The only official spokesperson of the Acadians, the Société nationale de l'Acadie, promotes the rights and interests of some 300,000 Atlantic Acadians and Acadia around the world. In the provinces we represent, our communities are in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would like to offer you a little example illustrating the heed that the Government of Canada pays to the SNA. Practically since the beginning of the Sommets de la francophonie, the SNA has been part of the Canadian government delegation in order to represent the Acadian people.

I will now ask my Vice-President, Amély Friolet-O'Neill to continue the presentation.

[Amély Friolet-O'Neil, Vice-President, Société nationale de l'Acadie]

Thank you very much, René.

With this mandate and the resulting responsibilities, the Société nationale de l'Acadie wishes to emphasize three key points respecting the celebrations in 2017.

First, we are very aware that linguistic duality is still too often a poorly defined subject where many prejudices prevail. We would like this important anniversary year to serve as a springboard for encouraging our two communities to get to know each other better, thereby strengthening the principles of our country that underpin the Official Languages Act.

In the same spirit, we believe it is important that all activities surrounding the anniversary showcase the entire Canadian francophonie, in which the Acadians play an important role. Too often, Canadians believe that Quebec is French and the rest of the country is English, giving short shrift to the several million of us who live all across Canada. 2017 provides an excellent opportunity to correct this perception.

Lastly, from a structural point of view, we recommend the creation of a program or mechanism for communities to hold large-scale events to celebrate the anniversary of Confederation, both in the lead up to 2017 and during that year.

We now wish to further discuss the principles we believe are essential to organizing these celebrations and how the Société nationale de l'Acadie is ready and willing to play a role, and should do so.

First, this is an opportunity for national dialogue.

In testimony before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, we noted a comment stressing the need to respect the value of local history in national history. This is something to which we, in Acadia, are particularly attuned. The story of the Acadian people is unique but little known. It deserves to be highlighted during the celebrations of 2017 as one of the many rich facets of the Canadian francophonie and our confederation as a whole.

So we wish to take advantage of the celebrations to promote a real dialogue with the anglophone community. Despite the Official Languages Act and efforts to get to know us, there is still too much misunderstanding. This undesirable situation could be corrected by specific exchange and communication programs between communities speaking each of our country's official languages.

We would also like to celebrate the historic friendship that has prevailed, since the creation of Acadia, between our people and aboriginal people. This relationship is an example of cooperation, tolerance and mutual assistance, which is the very foundation of the Canadian nation and which could benefit the entire country.

[René Légère]

Second, it gives us time to reflect.

Throughout its history, Acadia has mobilized and has met to consider its future at national conventions that have enabled our people to establish symbols and institutions and to define their key priorities. 2017 would be the perfect opportunity for Acadia to celebrate its place in the Canadian Confederation by organizing a national convention to consider the linguistic, demographic and other challenges it faces. It would be an opportunity for young Acadians to look back at how far we have come and to look to the future with confidence.

It would also encourage pride and a sense of belonging.

The 2017 celebrations should instill in every Canadian great pride and a sense of belonging to this country we all share. It is clear to the SNA that a better understood and flourishing Acadia can only contribute further to the development of a strong and united country where the vast mosaic of our origin, our culture and our heritage is a source of permanent enrichment.

The last time Confederation was celebrated, in 1967, it touched our national psyche and gave Canadians cultural institutions such as art centres and museums that still serve us today. We are convinced that 2017 must, in its own way, leave a lasting mark on Canadians by promoting a real understanding of our country's guiding principles. Linguistic duality is a major component and deserves to be at the heart of the celebrations, which, one day, we may be able to say put an end to the two solitudes.

Thank you for listening.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Last, we have Canadian Youth for French.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, we do not have a hard copy of this witness's speech.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Just to clarify, Madam Bateman, because you've raised this a number of times before, witnesses are not required to submit any written statements in advance of their testimony to committee. They're free to submit written statements if they so wish, but in some cases they don't, and we don't require them to.

The committee operates in both official languages and it does so orally. Translation is provided for members who wish to listen to the testimony or to the opening statement in either official language. No committee requires any witness to submit their opening statement or their testimony in writing.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

I understand that. But, Mr. Chair, I would like to point out that we do have the resources necessary. If a group does not have the resources it needs to have its documents translated, we in the Canadian government do.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

We actually don't have the resources to translate that quickly. If we were to receive a witness's opening statement the morning of the meeting or the night before, we don't have the resources to translate it that quickly.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

No, but we could do it in a few days.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

It's very difficult for us to get that all done in time for the committees. Some witnesses translate it in-house in both official languages. In many cases they don't have the resources to do that. I've worked on four or five committees now, and in many cases the witnesses don't have their opening statements in both official languages and, if that's the case, we don't distribute them.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

No, I know all that, but do we not have the resources…

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

No, we don't.

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

…to help small organizations?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

We don't.

If I had asked translation yesterday to translate all of—

[Joyce Bateman, Conservative, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

No, not yesterday. But if it was submitted three days or a week in advance, would it be possible?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Normally we don't provide that service. If requested we will, but normally we don't. That's why translation is provided.

We'll continue to operate that way unless I'm given direction differently from the committee. That's been the convention on all committees that I've ever sat on.

Go ahead, Monsieur Godin.

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

I do not want to spend too much time on this. It is true that we have talked about it a number of times.

I think that if witness sends us a document a week in advance, the translation should be done as a matter of course, unless we run out of time. In the machinery of government, unless I am mistaken, documents are usually translated if they are sent in advance.

We do not want to put pressure on witnesses. We do not want to force them to write a brief in advance just because we want to have it. That is why we have all the services we do. The translation can be done afterwards; then we get the documents.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay.

Are there any other comments on this? It's been raised before.