Official Languages Committee on April 8th, 2014

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

At this time, are there partnerships or awards available for this kind of research?

[Jocelyne Lalonde]

There are a number of awards funded by universities or federal granting agencies such as SSHRC. It is a matter of raising the appropriate issues to meet the needs of francophone communities with respect to economic development.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

In another vein, with respect to infrastructure and the new building Canada fund, do small institutions have the means to pay their share of the projects that they bring forward?

[Jocelyne Lalonde]

Based on what I have heard since this fund was launched on April 1, 2014, 30% of expenses will be covered by the federal government. The provinces, private sector and institutions will have to cover the remaining 70%. It is definitely a challenge, but the 30% is essential in order to move forward. We hope that the provinces will also contribute so that we can use these funds.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

Is the 70% more than in past years?

[Jocelyne Lalonde]

I really cannot say because it is a new fund.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

Earlier, we talked about the exodus of young people. It is interesting because I talked about this with some parents from my riding of Montcalm, who told me that if their children wanted to pursue post-secondary education, they often had to leave not just to study, but also to have a rewarding and interesting career that pays a decent salary.

We talked about a lot of things earlier. However, if we really wanted to ensure that our young people return to the regions, what would be the top three incentives?

[Jocelyne Lalonde]

First of all, while students are outside their region, they have to be able to return regularly. There are a number of co-operative programs and internship opportunities. Universities and colleges should ensure that these young people can return to their region for these internships and co-operative programs.

Second, we have to offer them good jobs in their regions. Employers have to be able to attract these young people back to their regions.

Third, many young people decide not to return because they have made friends who live in the Ottawa region. Thus, they continue to live in Ottawa. We have no control over that.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

Do I have any more time, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

No.

[Manon Perreault, NDP, Montcalm, QC]

That is unfortunate.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

You will have other opportunities to ask questions.

Mr. Gourde, you now have the floor.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will talk about incentives, as did Ms. Perreault.

Of course we want to keep our young people in the regions, but they are likely to move. It goes back to what I was saying a little earlier.

Would the Statistics Canada representatives tell us whether studies show that the regions with minority language communities are at an economic disadvantage or is their situation similar to that of unilingual communities, both anglophone and francophone.

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

Are you talking about younger people?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Whether in terms of the younger people or in general, are these communities at a greater economic disadvantage? Is their situation comparable to that of the rest of Canada? Is it an advantage to have both official languages, as is the case here in Ottawa?

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

To give you a very general answer, that depends on the sector of industry.

As you know, economic cycles will influence where we have supply and where we have demand. It is clear that, in certain regions, such as New Brunswick in particular, the socio-economic situation of francophones is not as good as that of their anglophone counterparts.

However, in Ontario, whether in Toronto or Ottawa, there are no real differences between the two communities. It varies from one region to the next. It depends on the main industrial sectors that hire the members of official language minorities. In small communities, this can be an incentive for moving from these regions to larger centres.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Have you conducted studies of the more bilingual communities, such as Ottawa, Sherbrooke or other regions that have universities? How do they benefit form the fact that the community in general speaks both official languages? Can this be an advantage at the international level and also in terms of the creation of businesses that export or import goods and services?

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

We have to bear in mind a very important piece of information. Studies have shown that what makes a difference is the ability to use both languages and not just being bilingual.

I will give you an example. Many bilingual people never use this language in public, whether it is at work or on other occasions. However, in Ottawa, for example, it is clearly an advantage because there is significant demand for people who know both official languages. That is perhaps not quite the case in Toronto. We know that, in Toronto, almost 400,000 people can speak both official languages. However, does this translate into a real socio-economic advantage? That does not seem to be the case.

It depends a lot on the environment, the community, the demand and the sectors. If you are in a region where both official languages are used a lot and if there is a considerable need for translators or people who can work in either community at the same time, that will definitely affect the economic situation of these individuals.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Ms. Lalonde, I know that universities are looking at the opportunities that could result from the signing of our new free trade agreements with Europe and South Korea, and those we will soon be signing with other countries. In your area, do some universities believe that, in terms of economic factors, we have to start taking the time to lay the groundwork and study the possibilities that will emerge? Are you even thinking about preparing the young people who could benefit from these agreements? All of Canada could also benefit.

[Jocelyne Lalonde]

I believe that universities are certainly very aware of these new trade agreements with Europe and China. They are going to let us look at how we can better educate young people so they can adapt to a world where, increasingly, we have to work internationally.

It must be said that an increasing number of universities are offering international baccalaureates that provide young people with broader knowledge of the world. In addition, a number of programs that we offer make it possible for young people to study abroad for 6 to 48 months. This gives youth the opportunity to learn more about other countries and other workplaces. These programs really help give young people an international education and show them what opportunities are open to them at this time.

Having youth who speak English, French and, increasingly, other languages improves our ability to develop a workforce that can meet future needs.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Gourde.

Mr. Nicholls now has the floor.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Chair, my questions again will be for Mr. Lepage and Mr. Corbeil.

In May 2013, the Conference Board of Canada put out a report, “Mid-Sized Cities Outlook”. It stated that 50% of mid-sized cities in Canada hadn't recovered from the recession.

I'd like to focus on New Brunswick in particular, because there are numerous towns in New Brunswick that are showing a lot of challenges. If we look at Miramichi, the report stated that the economic output has declined every year since 2005. Its 2012 real GDP and employment levels were less than half of what they were eight years ago. Then, if you look at other mid-sized cities, such as Bathurst and Edmundston, and take a look at Fredericton's economy, it declined in 2011 and 2012. Miramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, with about an 8.5% francophone population.

Could you explain some of the challenges that New Brunswick is going through? Is the treatment of official language communities in New Brunswick playing a factor in these statistics that we see with regard to economic performance?

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

I cannot talk about the treatment; we don't have information on this topic. However, what is clear is that the socio-demographic and socio-economic profile of francophones in New Brunswick is very different from the ones we see in other parts of the country outside of Quebec.

I mentioned earlier, for instance, that in every international survey on literacy, numeracy, problem-solving skills, there are important challenges that we have observed in New Brunswick. We have to look at what's happening to the youth, actually. What we observed is that those who are less than 24 years of age face specific challenges in terms of developing the appropriate skills and training to face the evolving economy. More and more, we know that in northern New Brunswick the industrial sector and the industrial structure is very different. It's oriented toward processing or the primary sectors, and some of these sectors will probably decrease in the coming years. The challenge is how these young Canadians will adapt to the situation and what kind of training they will need to be able to fully integrate into the economic market.

The profile of the communities in northern New Brunswick must be analyzed in much more detail, but we know there are challenges in terms of training, education, and what kind of jobs and what kind of future these people will have.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

The portrait of what's happening here is that they are transitioning to more innovative sectors of the economy, leaving behind primary and manufacturing sectors and following the general trend of Canada, which should be an innovation-based economy.

What you're saying is that those challenges are being faced because part of the challenge of the whole country is that the government isn't necessarily acting as an innovation-based economy all the time; it's not fostering innovation enough. I mean, if New Brunswick were a country instead of a province, and you looked at the employment level in New Brunswick, it would be lower than all G-7 countries. We know that the rest of Canada, the parts that have made this transition to innovation-based sectors, tends to be doing better.

Just to recap, you are saying that this is an adaptation to more innovation-based sectors of the economy, and that's really what's happening on the ground.