Evidence of meeting #9 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 english-speaking.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:25 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
I wasn't making a distinction, Mr. Galipeau.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
I know. How much of it comes from the federal government?
9:25 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
I would say the lion's share, about 90%.
9:25 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
So there's $1 million. How much of it is spent on services to help English-speaking seniors, youths, and women, and how much of it is spent on representation?
9:25 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
At the direct services level, our priority at the QCGN in the last couple of years has been seniors. We have worked very hard, with government money from the province, to form a network of seniors. So we are working, not directly, with Jane Martin, who is a senior looking for something for her husband. But we worked with a group like Contactivity, which works directly with seniors who believe there needs to be more work done at the strategic level to have their voices heard.
So we don't work directly with Jane Martin, the woman who wants help for her Alzheimer's husband, but with the organization that helps Jane Doe get increased help for her husband with Alzheimer's.... For example, one of the co-chairs of our seniors' network is Mrs. Sheila Goldbloom, who is on the Conseil des aînés. They are preoccupied with individual services to Canadians, to Quebeckers. So we work with those people.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Royal Galipeau Conservative Ottawa—Orléans, ON
I thank you.
The current road map is going to expire, so we're now planning a new road map. I hope we will be able to identify where we did well and where we could improve. Let's hope we don't find too many places where we did no good.
In what ways do you think we can do more good in the next road map?
9:30 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
I would like to link it to your previous question about individuals. The model for our health network in Quebec is access to health promotion. They have done some incredibly important work with the provincial government around the promotion of access to health, which allows for individuals to get better access. So I would suggest to you that bringing services in, actually helping access, to understanding health services promotion....
Employability is another one. Seniors is an interesting subject, because being a senior is not just about getting older. For our generation, we don't need just health services; we want access to second jobs and access to arts and culture in our own regions.
So it’s about the individual, I would agree with you, but the mobilization of those individuals within a community.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Thank you very much, and I agree with my colleagues in welcoming you this morning.
Just to build on Mr. Galipeau's question, when he asked about your budget, how much of a staff do you have with that budget?
9:30 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
On a good day we have five full-time equivalents.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Okay. There are a couple of comments you made in your remarks that I would like some clarification on. First of all, what is the population of anglophones in a minority situation in Quebec? What's the number?
9:30 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
Statistics Canada gives us close to a million English speakers.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
The majority of them are in Montreal West Island, or are there other significant pockets?
9:30 a.m.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
The person who does the stats in the office....
9:30 a.m.
Stephen Thompson Director, Policy, Research and Public Affairs, Quebec Community Groups Network
If your question is based on the Government of Canada's usual definition of the official language community, which would be folks in Quebec whose first official language is English, there are about 950,000 of us—roughly equivalent to the number of francophones who live outside of Quebec. About 585,000 live within the Montreal census metropolitan area—Montreal and les environs, the suburbs of Montreal. The rest live in what we call the regions. So folks today, if you are not familiar with our community, when we refer to the regions, we're talking about members of our community who live outside of Montreal.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Of the 980,000, how many would you say are bilingual, or do you have that?
9:30 a.m.
Director, Policy, Research and Public Affairs, Quebec Community Groups Network
It depends on the age group, sir. For our population under 40, it’s over 70%. For our population over 40, it’s about 65%, and then it goes down as folks get older.
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
One thing you mentioned was that the information you gathered was either inaccurate or wasn't complete—the information on the statistics about the anglophones in a minority situation. Can you tell me why that is?
9:30 a.m.
Director, Policy, Research and Public Affairs, Quebec Community Groups Network
I'm not sure.…
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
9:30 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
It wasn't reliable, basically, is what you said?
