Official Languages Committee on March 10th, 2015

[Ida Kamariza]

In Alberta, once we sensed that immigrants were focusing on the economic dimension—with a significant employer presence—it paved the way for a success story that started in Grande Prairie and is now spreading throughout the entire province.

Alberta's francophone community decided to take control of its future, starting in the Grande Prairie region. We began working with a private recruiter, Prudhomme International Inc., which finds skilled and bilingual workers for the province's employers.

What do we do within our community? We assist them with the small stuff, and we do it on a volunteer basis, given that no funding is attached to this work. These immigrants who come to Canada on a temporary basis, in other words, as temporary foreign workers, are greeted at the airport. We help them find homes to rent because they don't have the time to go through the settlement and integration process. As soon as they get here, they start working the next day.

The day after they arrive, we start working with them, helping to guide them and walking them through how to live in our city or keep their jobs. We show them the behaviours and attitudes they should adopt as employees.

We help with little things that people probably take for granted but are extremely important. When we greet these individuals, when they get to their rented apartment, there's nothing there. Sometimes, not even any furniture. We make sure the apartment is stocked with fruit, for example. So if the person is hungry, they can eat a piece of fruit or drink some juice. We help with the human element, giving them that personal support.

In supporting these employees, we go as far as to ask them how we can help, what we can do to make them stay. And when they finally obtain a permanent job, they are very close to our community and help it to grow.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Fine. Thank you.

Ms. St-Denis, you may go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here today.

Ms. Rioux, as I listen to you, I get the impression that the French cause in Nova Scotia is hopeless. That's the sense I'm getting.

Historically, however, everyone from France would arrive there, before going to Quebec.

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

Yes.

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

The situation is a bit discouraging.

You said it was easier for a francophone to be an immigrant than an Acadian.

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

Yes.

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

What does that suggest? Does it mean that francophone Acadians don't care about the French language and are becoming anglicized?

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

Ms. St-Denis, thank you for your question. It's a great one.

Yes, sometimes it is discouraging. I'll put in in concrete terms. In 1981, Nova Scotia had 80,000 francophones. And 15 years later, only 42,000 were left. So that gives you an idea of assimilation in Nova Scotia. That was before the province had exclusively French schools, before K to 12 education was available there.

It wasn't until 2000 that Acadians finally got their own K to 12 schools. So it isn't surprising, then, that when young people look for a job, they aren't at all comfortable applying for a job that requires candidates to be proficient in French. It's unfortunate. These students graduated from dual stream schools where half the classes were in English and the other half, in French. UNESCO, not me, said that dual stream schools were a civilized way to assimilate a people.

I predict that, in one generation, things will change. The fact remains, however, that the people currently applying for jobs, whether in the community or the government, are immigrants. I talked to some of my government colleagues about the issue, and they are having the same problem: the francophones applying for jobs are indeed immigrants.

That's not a bad thing. It enriches the French language and enhances its value in our province. When an immigrant comes to Nova Scotia and speaks French, they are demonstrating the language's importance. Acadians and francophones in the region realize that they aren't alone in their tiny community and that the francophonie is much bigger. It attaches importance to the French language and strengthens it. But what I see happening now is heartbreaking and very worrisome.

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

You said things were going to improve. Do you mean that francophone immigration is the thing that will save the French language in the Acadie region?

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

No. I mean that, thanks to our French-language K to 12 schools, students graduating from grade 12 have better French skills. Once they complete their bachelor's degree or other schooling, they will be able to apply for those jobs.

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

Do those Acadians have a positive view of French or do they tend to favour assimilation?

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

I would say they tend to have a positive view.

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

We talked about cities. No matter where they go in the country, immigrants settle in cities. Everyone knows that.

Is the situation completely hopeless in rural areas, given that, on top of everything else, services aren't available?

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

We don't have the resources for that.

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

You say you don't have the resources.

[Marie-Claude Rioux]

We would love to be able to work with international students, but, as I mentioned in my brief, that isn't part of our mandate. We can't work with international students or refugees, who often choose to settle in small areas and communities where they feel safer. It's really unfortunate, but we don't have the resources we would need to work with them.

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

My next question is for Ms. Kamariza.

You described some of the immigration happening in Alberta as secondary immigration. You said that francophones, mostly from Quebec, but also from New Brunswick, were moving to the province.

What is their integration into the community like? Do they tend to stick with francophones, or do they try to speak English and forget about their French culture? What is that process like for those secondary immigrants, as you describe them?

[Ida Kamariza]

Thank you.

I think you have to speak English when you live in a predominantly English-speaking province. But that doesn't preclude living in French. These immigrants receive services, especially given that most of them aren't able to speak much English when they arrive. If they need assistance, it has to be provided in the language they are most comfortable in, and that speeds up the settlement and integration process. It's also the best way to connect them with the French-speaking community. In fact, once they receive services in that community and become aware of what goes on there, they come back. They are the ones who lend the vitality of the francophone community to our activities.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Hayes, over to you.

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm not a regular on this committee, so pardon me if my questions might be naive. I do want to assure Mr. Nicholls that if I were on this committee I would absolutely ensure that everything got into that report, even if it were critical of the government.

As a matter of fact, I was born in France, so I do have a bit of a French background. I don't want you to hold this next comment against me, but I've been from Sault Ste. Marie for the past 35 years. Our city council in Sault Ste. Marie endeavoured to pass a resolution 25 years ago—and Mr. Gravel will remember—making Sault Ste. Marie English only. It made the national news. I wasn't on city council at that time.

Madame d'Entremont, I have a question for you. I believe you mentioned in your comments that there was $10 million in federal investment that has not yet been renewed. Did you make that comment?

[Katherine d'Entremont]

Yes.

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

What is the investment that wasn't renewed and what evaluation process was used? If you're aware specifically, could you tell me what were the funds were used for? What were the proposed deliverables for those funds? Were those deliverables met? Was there analysis done to determine why that fund wasn't increased? When you said “not yet”, is there still some thought that money will still be available?

[Katherine d'Entremont]

My understanding is that there's a hope that it will be renewed. With respect to your previous questions, I don't run the immigration program in the province. I'm the Commissioner of Official Languages and those are not answers that I could provide to you, but I'm sure that I can send you in the direction of those who may.

It's the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour in New Brunswick that is responsible for immigration. They could probably provide you with that information on the specifics of the renewal.

[Bryan Hayes, Conservative, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Fair enough. Thank you.

Ida, you'd also mentioned funding. It was called the French significant benefit program. I hope I'm not incorrect and that you did mention that. If that is the case, can you tell me about the deliverables of that program, what the funding was used for, and whether the program achieved its targets?

[Ida Kamariza]

Thank you.

First, I'd like to say that the francophone significant benefit program didn't provide funding but, rather, an exemption for certain occupational categories, or francophones; it made an application for a labour market opinion unnecessary. It applied to NOC skill types 0, A and B. When a French speaker wanted to immigrate to Canada as a temporary foreign worker through Destination Canada, the employer didn't have to apply for a labour market opinion, which is now the labour market impact assessment. It was very positive for us and really sped up the process for the employer because the employee could be on site in six weeks or less. It was a wonderful incentive program.