Official Languages Committee on April 25th, 2013

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

I'm also glad that you're now with QCGN, because you can do good work there too. They need it. That's a group that I see as defending the English language in Quebec. As a francophone in Ontario, where I've had to face many challenges over the years and have fought for them, I appreciate the work that QCGN does.

In the past I've noticed that their official publications were not in Canadian English, but U.S. English. I give you that as a challenge: to make sure that in protecting English for Quebeckers, you protect Canadian English. Now you can respond.

[James Shea]

May I respond, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Yes, you may.

[James Shea]

You may appreciate that as an English-speaking Quebecker, we feel we're under attack. In different jurisdictions there are debates taking place with respect to the use of the language. Quebec Community Groups Network represents 37 different associations across the province, some in Montreal, some in Maniwaki, some in the la Côte-Nord, and wherever.

It's a matter of economic survival. Part of that economic survival is the continuation to learn English, but it's to maintain the English language school boards. I'm not speaking on their behalf, although I happen to be a school trustee in Quebec as well—I wear many hats—but I'm not speaking from that perspective. The reality is the champions of French second language learning in Canada are the English language school boards.

True immersion for my grandchildren

is taking place in the French-language schools.

There's a certain reality here. Even though they attend French language schools, they form part of an English-speaking community.

The federal government, I believe, has a responsibility to support and maintain these English-speaking communities. It does so by funding, for example, the QCGN. We're not afraid of losing the English language; the reality is you want to be able to....

It is like French-language development.

You know when you talk about being perfectly bilingual, well I'm still working on my English, so to speak, even from an American's perspective. Speaking the language and learning the language, being able to read and write, and being able to graduate high school, being able to graduate and work in nursing or in medicine, is a real challenge.

We have to find a way to ensure the English-speaking community can learn the French that it wants to learn.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Shea.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Benskin.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you.

Thank you for being here today.

It seems to me that, when you learn any subject in your own language, you succeed because you live in that language. You speak your mother tongue at home and you play with your friends in your mother tongue. That is something that is lacking in the anglophone and francophone immersion communities. When I went to immersion school, I did my studies in French in Quebec, but I spoke English when I went home.

There were a couple of people even yesterday who talked about exchange programs and the ability to live for a period of time within the new language that you're learning. This is something that doesn't, in my opinion—and somebody can slap me if I'm wrong—fall into that provincial quagmire on education that we have had throughout this whole study.

This is something which I think falls into the category of support, of complementary programs, that could be developed through the government in terms of offering the opportunity for those in immersion programs to apply for an exchange in that language, and on the other side as well, teachers offering programs that can properly educate or train immersion teachers to teach in this very specific world.

Would anybody care to elaborate on whether that makes sense or not?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Mr. Le Dorze, you have the floor.

[Philippe Le Dorze]

I certainly agree with Mr. Benskin, who just mentioned the possibility of increasing support for exchange programs.

Several programs are already in existence. Organizations are working toward this. Increasing opportunities for young anglophones to experience French culture in Quebec has an extraordinary impact. The stories of young people who visit Quebec and who suddenly realize why they are learning French are of inestimable value. So let us do it.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you.

[Chantal Bourbonnais]

I have two points to raise on that subject.

One of the ways to contribute to this is teacher training, for example. I know that this is an area of provincial jurisdiction, but it definitely helps when you subsidize organizations such as mine. For example, every year our organization organizes an immersion conference where 600 teachers from across Canada come and take professional development training. In their school boards, teacher training days are rarely granted for French and immersion techniques. They engage in professional development when they come to us and our partners in the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers. The money you give us is used for those teachers.

My second point is that French-language learning does not occur solely in classrooms, but also in the community. One of the possible actions is to build a bridge between francophones and francophiles. Immersion programs will be better off only if they are supported by strong francophone communities that welcome these types of programs. We have an open francophone community. Consider this example: if my son marries your daughter who is in immersion, my grandchildren may attend a French-language school, and French will continue to flourish in Canada.

I believe that people in immersion must also be offered genuine experiences. Speaking French only in the classroom is not enough since one student merely speaks to another who has the same accent as he or she. We must promote exchanges, but also programs in which open communities can offer immersion students authentic experiences.

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Bourbonnais.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Mr. Chisu, please.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

First of all, I would like to thank our witnesses for their presentations.

Thank you very much for your contributions to our study. As you well know, Canada is a country with enormous linguistic diversity, yet both official languages continue to be very attractive to all of Canadian society.

What are the main challenges facing immigrants with respect to official language learning? We are receiving 250,000 immigrants per year in this country. Do the current programs adequately take these challenges into account? I would like it if you could give me and the committee some information.

We have one province in Canada that is officially bilingual. That is the province of New Brunswick. I loved being at the Summit of La Francophonie in 1999 in Moncton. At that time, I never, ever dreamed that 15 years later I would be here in the House of Commons. It is very important to know what we can learn from the province of New Brunswick, which is officially bilingual. We are looking at bilingualism at the federal level, so we don't need to reopen the Constitution, as Mr. Godin said, because we have the same scope.

How are these immersion programs working in New Brunswick? Are there some lessons learned that we can adopt in the other provinces to make our country a better place to be bilingual? Bilingualism is very important for economic purposes, as you mentioned. To be able to work, the more languages you know, the better it is, and the better it is to find jobs. That is very important for our society and for our country.

Especially to return to the immigrant issues, how are we dealing with this? You are a Canadian organization. Can we learn some lessons from New Brunswick?

[Chantal Bourbonnais]

The challenge we face in immersion in regard to newcomers to Canada is more about getting the word out that it's okay to go into immersion and not...that you will be learning English when you're in the immersion program.

Right now what we're saying to immigrants is to not go into immersion, because they need to learn English first, but what we're realizing is that the children in immersion are learning English, and they're learning French, and they're doing better. The problem is that the parents don't know that they can do that. Often they're turned back at school, where they're saying, “No, don't go to immersion.”

The challenge is to say to these people that immersion is for everyone, not just for people who were born here. It's for every child who wants to learn a second language.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

I just want to correct you. In my riding of Pickering—Scarborough East, which is close to Toronto, a lot of immigrant parents want their kids in immersion.

[Chantal Bourbonnais]

Yes.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

It is not a question of not being willing to do it. They are very conscious about bilingualism in Canada. They want to help their children; however, they don't have the possibility because either they are discouraged or there are not the means to provide this education.

[Chantal Bourbonnais]

I know that Canadian Parents for French and ACPI are really trying hard to educate school principals and school boards to accept that all parents who are asking for immersion should have access to it. We're trying hard to promote this idea.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay, thank you very much.

Madam Michaud.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to welcome you and thank you for your presentations.

I have a few brief questions about trying to adopt national rules for immersion programs, particularly in rural areas.

Earlier you mentioned the fact that there was already a lack of resources for accessing existing immersion programs. The demand may not be as great in all regions. If you establish a national definition of immersion programs, how will the rural regions, which do not necessarily all have the same resources, be able to meet the criteria that might developed?

[James Shea]

Since it came back to me, I'd like to address the question.

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

Sure, definitely.