Official Languages Committee on May 7th, 2013

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

As you can imagine, a government would have liked to ensure everything was in order before blithely handing out $100 million.

You just emphasized the scope of the problem by saying that every minister of education in every province is master in his or her jurisdiction.

However, the Council of Ministers of Education is a national organization, and the ministers can come to an agreement at the same table. Do you not think it would be easier to sell your story to that council before coming and asking the federal government for $100 million?

[Guy Leclair]

Yes, that is a task that falls to several stakeholders. The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers has worked and co-operated with the Council of Ministers of Education for many years. However, if we want a national consensus, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Council of Ministers of Education and associations such as CASLT have to meet and discuss the issue.

However, we do not have the upper hand in those discussions. We can encourage the various parties to try to achieve that, but we will really need the federal government's money and the co-operation of the councils of ministers in order to put the issue of second languages on the agenda.

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

That is such a noble objective that it takes on national scope. However, its implementation is limited by section 93.

All kinds of things would be better for the government and the entire country's social conscience if we could set national standards, but we always come up against section 93. I think the Council of Ministers of Education is the right instrument for calming the waves.

[Guy Leclair]

Yes, we have made some good attempts—

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

And it is easy for them because you are not asking them for money. Instead you are asking for federal money. So all those ministers have to do is set the table.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Galipeau.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Mr. Benskin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to our witnesses for being here and for spending a little time with us.

Ms. Kenny, I believe this is the fourth or fifth time, perhaps even more, that you have appeared before this committee.

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

She seems to be a regular with us.

[Marie-France Kenny]

Yes, I have my free pass.

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

It is always a pleasure to see you again.

With regard to Mr. Galipeau's remarks, our first task on the Standing Committee on Official Languages and for the minister is to promote the two official languages.

I would like to talk a bit about your comment on the situation of newcomers.

When they arrive in Quebec, whether from Canada or elsewhere, there are provincial provisions requiring that newcomers must ensure their children are educated in French. There is not really any such provision in the rest of Canada.

So, first, how can we promote French in the rest of Canada? Newcomers will probably learn English first because that is the language of the majority in the rest of Canada. How will we promote the benefits of learning French as a second language or even as a third language in their community?

[Serge Quinty]

I will give the first part of the answer for the FCFA.

To some degree, the work gets done by itself. For years we have heard, for example, that the French courses given at the Alliance française in Vancouver are enormously popular with the Asian community.

If you go to the site of the Vancouver Alliance française, you will see that it appears in three languages. Mandarin appears first and French second. It is really very popular. What we hear is that parents who are Asian newcomers send their children to take French courses. In their minds, being proficient in both official languages is part of what it means to be Canadian. Consequently, to a certain degree, we are already doing part of the work by promoting the connection between linguistic duality and what it means to be Canadian.

[Marie-France Kenny]

There are also a lot of opportunities to learn English in the schools for newcomers who do not speak French. They are not promoted enough. You say that the tendency is to send children to study in English because it is the majority language. Back home in Saskatchewan, we do not need to learn English. We catch it in the street. That is the language we speak at the convenience store, the bank and everywhere. Children will learn it whether they want to or not.

What we have to promote is French, as in immersion for those who do not already speak it. You say you have to learn French in Quebec. In our provinces, if you are not a francophone rights holder, you need an exemption in order to be able to send your child to French school. So you have to get authorization from the anglophone school district. That problem is not unique to Quebec. It also arises in the other provinces. It is not provided for in the same way, but there are also challenges in that regard.

We have a lot of African and Moroccan newcomers who come to Saskatchewan and who speak French. We definitely want to have them in the French-language schools. Here too, exemptions are nevertheless necessary in order to enable them to study in French. However, immersion is obviously a choice for newcomers who speak neither of the two languages, since, as I said, they will learn English in any case.

[Guy Leclair]

To wrap it up on this subject, I believe that many newcomers arrive in Canada with the idea that Canada is bilingual and that it goes without saying that they should learn English and French. We have no statistics on the subject, and it is quite difficult to monitor, but we see this as one of the Canadian values and that Canada's very identity is to be bilingual.

What we see is that the school divisions and school boards do not offer newcomers the choice of entering French immersion because they are told they have to learn English immediately and that is what is important. That is a myth. Immigrants are ready and able to learn English and French simultaneously without any problem at school. We also note that their language skills are often superior in many respects.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

All right.

Thank you, Mr. Leclair.

Mr. Galipeau, you have the floor.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

With regard to instruction in French as a second language, we often talk about education. It is something formal. However, as Ms. Kenny jokingly said, you hear English in the street, at the convenience store, in the bank and at the arena.

Anglophones tell me they want to learn French. "I'm taking French courses," they tell me. I ask them what radio station they tune in when they are in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in their car or elsewhere, and I simply encourage them to listen Radio-Canada, wherever they are in Canada, since they will hear good diction.

Sometimes I jokingly add that they will know they have understood from the moment they start being frustrated by what they hear. In the meantime, however, I invite them to tune in that network simply because to hear good diction. I tell them that will round out their learning, in addition to all the other methods they use. It is not enough to study French in class. They have to go to concerts, to theatre plays. They have to read books. A library card costs nothing. I was going to say that listening to Radio-Canada costs nothing either. It is already paid for; it costs them nothing and it is good. I am finished.

Are you going to do that? Will you encourage people to listen to Radio-Canada?

[Guy Leclair]

Yes, because learning a language means learning a culture. Yes, it is entirely integrated into second-language learning.

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

I yield to my colleague, who knows much more about the subject than I do.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for coming and for your great presentations.

I prefer to speak English and to ask my questions in English, even though I speak at least six foreign languages.

I would like to talk to Mr. Leclair. The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers is not a regulatory body, but rather an association that encompasses every organization in the provinces, right?

[Guy Leclair]

That's correct.

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

You mentioned in your presentation that there are differences in the levels of French teachers and so on. How can you improve this situation and how can we as a federal government help? This question is for you.

I also have a question for Madame Kenny and Mr. Quinty. You are the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. You mentioned the importance of having French language and culture on university campuses. Do you have any presence on university campuses?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

I'll let Mr. Quinty answer first, because I know he has to leave.

Go ahead, Mr. Quinty.

[Serge Quinty]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chisu, you wanted to know whether the FCFA had any presence on campuses?

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

Do you have an office or a presence on the campus so that students who are interested in French could go there?