Evidence of meeting #62 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 history.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
You want to give them an opportunity to learn French or...
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
Yes. We are simply an intermediary. We make their task easier by helping them find all the opportunities that are out there for them.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
I come from a small village in Ontario, called Shedden. It is just outside London.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
There are not a lot of francophones in that town.
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
None. I had not heard a word of French outside the classroom until I turned 22.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I was born in a similar village and I experienced assimilation. You must have experienced the same situation. You are among francophones here.
I do not agree with you. You said that you felt that the celebrations in your village have to be conducted completely in English, because everyone is anglophone there. A number of anglophones have learned a bit of French because of the sports broadcasts on CBC. At one point, CBC was bilingual. We used to watch TV shows like La famille Plouffe and sports, including hockey. Sometimes, it was in English, sometimes, it was in French, and I think that, at one point, the broadcast was in French for a while and then in English. It alternated. As a result, the anglophones learned French. As for francophones across Canada, the way they learn English is by listening to it. If we do not give anglophones an opportunity to learn and to listen to the French language, how will they manage to become bilingual?
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
I think that depends on the type of activity. If we make a presentation and the translation is not available, we are going to try to include as much French as possible.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
You are talking about translation, but I think you have to be exposed to the second official language. Francophones are exposed to it. That is the way things work. That is how most young francophones learn English, through music, sports, cinema and so on. We need to try to do this the other way around.
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
If it is something that lasts all year round, it should be conducted in both official languages, of course. But if it is a specific event... Yes, it is important to have both languages, I am not saying it is not. It would be better to do it in both languages as much as possible. However, I am not sure if it is reasonable to think that every village in the country has someone who speaks French.
12:25 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I understand, but if you don't have the opportunity to expose anglophones to the French language, that will never happen. If we are trying to have a bilingual country, we have to understand that the way most people gain an appreciation of the other language is by listening to it.
12:25 p.m.
Founder and Executive Director, Canadian Youth for French
I completely agree with you, but I thought we were talking about the 150th anniversary celebrations, which are going to last longer. The purpose of our organization is to make sure that anglophones are listening to French.
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
12:30 p.m.
Conservative
12:30 p.m.
NDP
Tyrone Benskin NDP Jeanne-Le Ber, QC
I thank all of you for coming here.
I love discussions and I love debate. I love learning things, and I learned something today, or became more aware of something.
I spoke with Mr. Légère, and this is the first time that I have managed to really understand that Acadians are a different people. Somewhere in my mind, I have always seen francophones outside Quebec as small extensions of Quebec across Canada.
Mr. Légère, it really moves me when you talk about the coming together of Acadians.
It's a question for both the museum and the association. I've said throughout the discussions, even on heritage, that this is more than a discussion on representation of the language. This is more than a discussion on
the delivery of services in French and in English. It is really a discussion on the celebration of history, cultures and the peoples of Canada. We are talking about Acadians, Quebeckers, anglophones and even the black loyalists who participated in the founding of Canada with the United Empire Loyalists.
I would ask you, Mr. Légère, to comment on that.
I would also pose a question to the museum.
With the change of title and the change of mandate of the museum, how much energy is going to go toward beginning to reflect the history of Canada, not from the victor's perspective, but as a true representation of what it took to build this country?
12:30 p.m.
President, Société nationale de l'Acadie
I think it's a unique opportunity to celebrate the successes, the journeys, and the accomplishments. Whether it's the Acadians, the Quebecois or the aboriginal nations, we will be able to celebrate Canada's wealth and cultural diversity and take advantage of this 2017 celebration to make people aware of these little stories that people do not know about.
Today, for example, I spoke a little bit about the journey of the Acadians. It's a very important part of Canada's history. I think that, in the context of these celebrations, the events, the activities and the meetings will be a unique opportunity. For example, I'm dreaming of seeing educational exchanges between young people from Lethbridge and Shippagan, in New Brunswick, or between young people from Saskatoon and others from Gaspé. They would first get to know each other better and recognize the diversity that characterizes this country. This celebration could enable us to move past the boundaries we have put up between us and share the success stories. Sharing between the official language communities where this works well, it exists, but we need to be able to acknowledge it and celebrate it.
12:30 p.m.
Vice-President, Public Affairs and Publishing, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
That's exactly why we are crossing the country now. We are asking people what they want to find out about their history, about the founding and founding peoples of their country, in this new exhibition. There are two aspects. One is more popular, so our website, round tables, and the kiosk where we meet with average citizens. For the other component, our historians, archeologists, ethnologists and anthropologists cross the country to meet with academics and museologists, in particular, so that they can help us determine exactly what should be represented in this new exhibition that tells the story of Canada.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Corneliu Chisu Conservative Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Thank you very much.
There are approximately 200,000 new people coming to Canada every year. In the last 15 years, which is approximately half a generation, approximately three million people, or 10% of the population, came in. They are not necessarily bilingual. How are we involving them in the 2017 celebration, and in emphasizing our bilingualism?
My question is for all the witnesses.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Senior Vice-President, Capital Experience and Official Residences, National Capital Commission
That's an excellent question, and this is something I had written down for Mr. Trottier's question.
It is important to use 2017 to engage new Canadians, as our country is being enriched by an increased presence of new Canadians. How can we expose new Canadians to our history, our identity, through the celebration in 2017, especially in the capital? The capital is a place where we showcase Canadian history through what the NCC and other federal cultural institutions are doing. We should use the capital as a stage, as an outdoor museum in addition to what's inside our heritage preservation institutions, to celebrate and to showcase our identity.
Surveys have demonstrated that one of the things Canadians are looking for in 2017 is to learn about what we have accomplished, to learn about the greatest Canadian achievements. With new Canadians, this is an opportunity to make them aware of what we have done. I hope you had a chance to see our sun and light show, Mosaika, on Parliament Hill, which pays tribute to the role played by new Canadians throughout history.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Public Affairs and Publishing, Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation
I'm also really pleased that you asked that question.
We have a fantastic program at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, at the Canadian War Museum, and, in fact, in other museums in the national capital and across Canada. If you are a new Canadian, you have access to the museums free of charge for one year. You can visit the museums with your family. You can visit the exhibits and take part in the special programs we are developing. This is certainly something we will pursue and promote as we move toward 2017.
As well, as I said, when we're in the nine cities across Canada where we're having round table meetings and our kiosk, we also target people who are new immigrants to Canada. We certainly want them to come and interact with us. When they do so, they always do so in both official languages. What we produce and present is always in French and English.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Are there any other comments?
Ms. Friolet-O'Neil, you have the floor.
12:35 p.m.
Vice-President, Société nationale de l'Acadie
Obviously, the Acadia that looks to the future, the Acadia of today and the Acadia we want to showcase during the 2017 celebrations is an Acadia that is plural and inclusive. The duration and presence of our communities in the Atlantic region depend in part on the integration of newcomers and immigrants. We have many success stories of people who immigrated to the Atlantic region and who integrated into francophone communities. I think the francophone community, the Acadian community across the Atlantic region, is well aware of the reality that new immigrants face when they decide to settle in our communities, which are increasingly aware of the role they have to play in establishing relationships with these people. Needless to say, when we talk about Acadia at the Société nationale de l'Acadie, we are taking about a more real, inclusive Acadia that includes and welcomes with open arms these new Canadians or new Acadians to our communities.