Official Languages Committee on Oct. 18th, 2011

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

From now on, when consultations like that are organized, could the department invite some members from this committee? We would actually be interested in being observers. We are not asking to participate, just to observe. I will leave you with that question. You can give us the answer later.

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

That's fine.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Let's talk about expenditures. Could you send a copy of Appendix 5 to the members of the committee for each year?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

Yes, I can send you the total to make things a bit easier for you.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That's great. Will we be able to see which of the 32 projects have not met their annual targets?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

Yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

What happens with the money when you miss the target?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

Departments try to manage the whole project over a five-year period. When there is some slippage, they make forecasts to try to fix things in the coming years. We are in the middle of a financial year. So we will see how successful we are. But so far, we have actually been more or less on schedule with the expenditures.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Do the analyses include the percentage for administrative spending?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

We don't do that specifically. It has to be defined and it can be complicated because there are different types of functions. There are also program expenditures that are...

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Is the amount that is given to the communities quantified? Is that figure then compared with what is left within the departments?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

No, Appendix 5 does not provide that level of detail.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Would it be possible to do so in your summative evaluations?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

Yes, normally, that would be the case. However, this will be cumulative work. We will have to see what information we obtain.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

How much time do I have left, Mr. Chairman?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

You have two minutes left.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Oh my goodness, I've got lots of time!

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne was supposed to do the midstream evaluation. Why was that decision changed?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

I have two or three things to tell you about that.

First of all, I think that the expression midstream evaluation does not match up with what we have been doing, and I understand why. Basically, this was an administrative exercise to assess progress in implementing the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, as well as the spending involved.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Did the FCFA obtain an evaluation contract?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

No, it did not. There were talks. We discussed the possibility...

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Was there an agreement?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

... of asking them to collect information from the communities.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Was there an agreement in that regard?

[Jean-Pierre Gauthier]

This was discussed, but no agreement was signed.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Was there a change, the department changed its mind?