Official Languages Committee on Feb. 26th, 2015

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I am going to let one of my colleagues complete the answer.

To begin, I have in my hands pages and pages of organizations that work in minority official language communities, whom we consult and who help us establish programs that will continue to meet their needs. The ministers of the 14 departments work together and talk about the necessary steps to reach those organizations so as to help both official languages flourish in these communities.

I'm going to yield the floor to M. Hubert Lussier so that he can provide more details on the consultations you asked about.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Mr. Lussier, you have the floor.

[Hubert Lussier]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Public servants hold frequent and regular consultations. We held one yesterday when we had a meeting with our colleagues from other departments. We have a very well-established network. There is mutual encouragement and tools are constantly put at their disposal precisely to help them with consultations.

At the risk of skirting with the political area, I would go so far as to say that certain ministers hold consultations themselves or are preparing to do so. It is very well known that Mr. Alexander is about to do that, tomorrow or in the following days, regarding immigration issues. They are at the heart of the roadmap.

Many examples come to mind in that regard. Mr. Moore held consultations on what today's roadmap would become. He involved several of his colleagues, including Mr. Clement and other ministers, in those same consultations.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Mr. Valcourt and Ms. Ambrose were also involved.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

There is one minute left.

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

Mr. Chair, I'm going to use the rest of Mr. Gravelle's time.

Ms. Glover, many groups representing both francophones and anglophones have appeared before us.

They said that funding just wasn't enough. They said this repeatedly in the study that we were doing. If you look at the witness testimony over the past months, many witnesses came and said funding's not enough to meet their needs.

Does the government intend to listen to them—if it's truly consulting with these groups—and increase their funding, which they need to deliver their services to the clientele, people living in minority language situations?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I'm going to read a quote that comes from the QCGN. We all know that the Quebec Community Groups Network is one of the largest anglophone minority language communities in Quebec. We also provide funding to ELAN. Here's what QCGN said about, for example, our road map and I'll quote:

We agree that the three pillars set out in the Roadmap–education, immigration and communities–are major mainstays that lead to strong, vital communities that allow them not only to survive, but to thrive....

So we're going to continue to consult with them. We're going to continue to improve where we can and have the very best possible situations so that all Canadians have the opportunity to learn both official languages, both national languages.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you very much, Minister Glover.

Mr. Lussier and Mr. Gauthier, I thank you for your testimony.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

May I add something, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Very briefly, yes.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I said Manitoba was number five. They're actually number eight for bilingual; they're number five in francophones.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you for clarifying that, Minister Glover, we appreciate that.

The meeting is adjourned.