Official Languages Committee on May 15th, 2014

[Serge Kaptegaine]

That depends. They need to get services in order to integrate, but are those services available?

In Winnipeg, anyone who comes as a refugee has to go through the ENTRY Program. It's mandatory. The program is delivered in English. The system kind of encourages people to learn English so they can find work. That can be hard for some francophones who speak only French. They are told to learn English. Some people who speak French and come from Congo or Burundi, which are francophone countries, refuse to do it because they want to maintain their heritage and they want their kids to go to francophone schools and maintain it.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

That's the case for what percentage of your refugees?

[Serge Kaptegaine]

I would say about 30%.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Can the Franco-Manitoban school system integrate those kids?

[Serge Kaptegaine]

Yes.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Do they have to attend orientation classes? I would assume not, since they're francophone.

[Serge Kaptegaine]

I think the Franco-Manitoban system works really well. In fact, just this year, because refugees and other newcomers were asking for education in French, a small school was replaced by a larger one to meet the demand.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Are most of the francophone refugees African?

[Serge Kaptegaine]

Right now, yes.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

What economic contribution to refugees make to private Franco-Manitoban businesses?

I am asking because some witnesses have said that refugees are one way to grow the minority francophone community. A lot of people have talked about that.

What, if any, is their economic contribution?

[Serge Kaptegaine]

You asked if most of the refugees were African, and I would like to clarify that. As you know, they are refugees because of war. Whenever you talk about war in Africa, you talk about war in Congo, which, again, is a francophone country, so a lot of Congolese come here.

Take the tailor I talked about earlier. I think that man is contributing to the economy because he will pay taxes. He also plans to hire some people. I also talked about an artist. In my opinion, these men are contributing to the economy in one way or another.

Of course, that doesn't happen overnight. All of these people are starting to come here now. In the past, maybe refugees were mostly from Europe, but now, they are African. If we continue to support them, in 10 years, it will be a completely different story.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Rodgers, if I understand correctly, the arts and communications situation between francophones and anglophones is not the same in Montreal as it is in the regions. We are not very aware of what goes on in the regions.

Are the two solitudes still a reality in Montreal?

In music, there was Arcade Fire. Personally, I always got to Blue Metropolis, a literary festival where anglophones and francophones coexist in an extraordinary way.

Is there a great divide between the anglophone and francophone arts communities in Montreal?

[Guy Rodgers]

Less and less. It depends on people's age.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Yes, among young people.

[Guy Rodgers]

When the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival was launched. the UNEQ executive committee was deeply opposed to the idea. It didn't want a bilingual festival in Montreal, a festival founded by anglophones, etc. That opposition lasted for two or three years, but has since been forgotten.

A new magazine in Montreal published an article on the indie music scene in Montreal. It was an overview of the past 20 years. Even those people think that the English scene and the French scene are coming together more and more. In a group with five members, you might have three anglophones and two francophones, especially among young people. I think that a major shift has been happening over the past 30 or 40 years, and I love it.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Such a major shift that Cohen is now promoting French music.

[Guy Rodgers]

He was one of the first to become bilingual, to speak and sing in French.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

But at the start, he was anti-francophone—

[Guy Rodgers]

Yes.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Are anglophone artists in Quebec producing work that is influenced in part by their status as minorities?

[Guy Rodgers]

Very much so. Through the RAEV project, 25 videos have been created in which the artists discuss why they, as anglophones, are working in a francophone musical context. Often the francophone culture has a direct influence—especially in theatre—but it might be as simple as these people find the environment stimulating. They are influenced both by the artists and the culture.

When I was young, in many Canadian cities, people who were starving artists were encouraged to do something else with their lives. However, in Montreal, Quebec, artists were respected. A person who worked in the arts was respected even if they weren't rich or famous. It was a very supportive environment for artists.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Rodgers.

Mr. Gourde, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here this morning. It is truly very interesting. My first question is for Mr. Cutting.

The Townshippers' Association works with a number of members.

[Gerald Cutting]

I'm having a technical problem.

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

I'm having a problem with my voice this morning. We had a lovely evening yesterday. I lost my voice.

Mr. Cutting, your association is working on a number of projects. I think that, in the past 20 years or so, 51 projects have provided services. Tell me about the services you provide to your members. Do our programs at Canadian Heritage come mainly from the Development of Official-Language Communities Program? Is this just one tool? Is it the only funding you get? Do you also get money from your members to improve the services you provide to them?