Official Languages Committee on May 12th, 2015

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the 46th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on this Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Pursuant to Standing Order 108, we are going to discuss with the Commissioner of Official Languages his 2104-15 annual report, which was referred to the committee on Thursday, May 5, 2015.

Before I give the floor to Mr. Fraser, I will give it to Mr. Nicholls, who would like to give notice of a motion.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to give my notice of motion, which reads as follows:

That the Committee begin, before the House rises for the summer, a study to determine whether CBC/Radio-Canada has the financial, human and real property resources to adequately meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act and specific aspects of the Broadcasting Act; that it place special emphasis on official language minority communities, and that the study’s meetings be televised.

This has to do with some parts of the report that pertain to CBC/Radio-Canada and the case of Windsor. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Nicholls. We will discuss your motion at the May 26 meeting.

Mr. Fraser, you have the floor.

[Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages]

Thank you, Mr. Chair

Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, good afternoon.

I am accompanied today by Ghislaine Saikaley, assistant commissioner of compliance assurance; Mary Donaghy, assistant commissioner of policy and communications; and Johane Tremblay, general counsel.

I am pleased to appear before you today to present my 2014-15 annual report, which focuses mainly on immigration in official language communities.

The report also describes complaints that we received and audits that we conducted over the past fiscal year, as well as court cases in which I was involved as official languages ombudsman. Because of the election timetable, I am tabling this report just seven months after the one I released last October, which is why it is shorter and more focused.

Despite the commitments made by the federal government, by communities, and by certain provinces, only 2% of immigrants who settle in provinces other than Quebec speak French as their first official language. That figure is too low to ensure the vitality of French-speaking communities outside Quebec. I acknowledge the commitment of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to promote the development of official language minority communities, but I also expect to see tangible results.

The new express entry system, which aims to speed up the permanent residence process for economic immigrants, was launched last January. However, there are currently no incentives that encourage employers to recruit French-speaking immigrants. Government agencies must focus their efforts on using francophone organizations to receive, train and provide integration support for immigrants.

So that all of Canada's French-speaking communities can become host communities, I've recommended in my annual report that long-term tools and incentives be developed for Canadian employers to assist in the recruitment and selection of French-speaking and bilingual workers outside of Quebec; that the federal government, in concert with provinces and territories, develop a substantive action plan that includes a timetable and targets for Francophone immigration; and that the federal government rely principally on francophone organizations to help French-speaking newcomers settle into their host communities.

My annual report also addresses the issue of anglophone immigration in Quebec. Some communities, especially those outside urban areas, are having difficulty attracting a sufficient number of English-speaking immigrants to revitalize their institutions over the long term. English-speaking immigrants who choose to settle in the province's English-speaking communities need support to be able to integrate successfully into Quebec society. This is why the federal government must work with the Quebec government to provide enough resources for that purpose.

ln 2014-15, my office received 550 complaints that were deemed admissible. This is an increase of 74 complaints, or 16%, compared with 2013-14. We also followed up on two audits involving Air Canada and lndustry Canada that were conducted in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

ln 2014-15, in Thibodeau v. Air Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the quasi-constitutional status of the Official Languages Act, which provides for a court remedy.

With respect to CBC/Radio-Canada's budget cuts at CBEF Windsor, the Federal Court determined that part VIl of the act is a categorical, non-negotiable imperative. That decision is currently under appeal.

Again this year, we have seen that when it comes to respecting official languages, successful institutions plan their actions. However, a few institutions have shown by their actions that they still do not understand the concept of official languages being equal.

The very foundation of the act is the equality of our two official languages—not that one of the two languages is an accommodation. That equality must be reflected in every government announcement, on every communications platform. Success requires planning and planning requires leadership.

ln addition to honouring the principle of equality of English and French, federal institutions have a duty to protect the vitality of official language communities and not to hinder them. If these two principles were better understood, respected and applied, the issues surrounding the vitality of official language communities would be less critical.

My 2014-15 annual report is available on our website.

Thank you for your attention.

I'd now like to take the remaining time to answer any questions you have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser. We now have 50 minutes for questions and comments.

We will begin with Mr. Nicholls.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Commissioner, we all know that English is not threatened in North America and that francophones in North America have a very real fear of assimilation. This is known as the Louisiana effect—

[Graham Fraser]

You mean “Louisianization”.

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

Thank you.

In addition, in 1991, the Conservative government negotiated the Canada-Quebec Accord Relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens with the Liberal Government of Quebec. The accord puts responsibility for settling and integrating immigrants squarely in the hands of the Government of Quebec.

Can you tell the committee more about that? You talked about settling and integrating anglophones. How can that work when the accord negotiated in 1991 clearly gives the Government of Quebec responsibility for that?

[Graham Fraser]

Let us be clear. Quebec has control over recruiting, receiving, integrating and settling immigrants. There is no mystery there. However, the federal department continues to play an overall role. One of its roles has to do with research. We discovered that there is much less research on anglophones in Quebec than on the experience of francophone immigrants outside Quebec. That is why our recommendation is directed not at the Government of Quebec, but at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, to ensure that research is more responsive to community needs.

There is already some purely statistical research that we used, and it is very useful. We based some of our findings on that research. More qualitative research is conducted through a contract process rather than through grants and contributions. Consequently, institutions that conduct research that better reflects the needs of anglophone communities have a hard time accessing that money.

Currently in Quebec, there are some things being done to receive anglophone immigrants that work very well. We wanted people to know that, and I quoted Mayor Labeaume at a forum on integrating immigrants to Quebec City. From what people told me, immigrants integrate very well into Quebec society. They talked about the importance of having anglophone institutions in the community to facilitate their integration.

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

Your answer is very timely because you talked about research. Because of the changes to the census, some witnesses say they lack reliable data.

I will now move on to something else.

In 2010, the Conference Board of Canada released a report that painted a picture of the economic potential of immigrants to Canada in terms of innovation, not official languages. The report reveals that the economy loses $5.9 billion every year because the immigrants who come here are underemployed in relation to their skills.

Do you feel that we do a good enough job of preparing people who want to come to Canada? Do we paint an accurate picture for immigrants who come to Canada? Could we do better?

[Graham Fraser]

I think we could always do better. In speaking with groups of immigrants, I discovered that before leaving their country, they had not been as well informed as we would have liked about job opportunities and what our country is like. I talked to some francophone immigrants to Toronto who told me that they were surprised to discover that French was not spoken everywhere in Toronto. I asked them why they thought it would be. They told me that the federal government's websites are all in both languages. That was the first time I realized that admirable respect for linguistic duality could mislead immigrants before they leave their country.

It is very important that immigrants be better informed before they leave. In fact, that is one of our recommendations.

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

I would like to share a personal experience.

From 1998 to 2003, I lived in Turkey. I noticed that our country was the only G7 nation that did not have a cultural centre in Istanbul. That is true around the world. I wrote to the then minister, Bill Graham, who told me that the government did not have the necessary resources. France has the Alliance française, Great Britain has the British Council, Italy has a network of cultural centres, Japan has the Japan Foundation, Germany has the Goethe-Institut and the United States has cultural centres all over the world.

It is shameful that a country like Canada is unable to showcase its culture on the world stage. How can we succeed in doing that if we do not allocate the necessary resources to setting up a human infrastructure instead of creating websites and print propaganda?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Nicholls.

Mr. Fraser.

[Graham Fraser]

I will not comment on the nature of the communications on the government's websites in general, but I would say that the information on the website is very individualized. It is useful to individuals, but not to communities.

I think that that was one of the pillars of Canada's foreign policy in the past. Cultural diplomacy pays off in a big way in terms of showing Canada to the world. However, since this is somewhat outside my mandate, I will not comment any further.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay. Thank you.

Mr. Gourde.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Fraser.

Last week you submitted your report, and certain parts of it were criticized by the French-language media in Quebec. Would you like to provide any clarifications in response to that criticism?

[Graham Fraser]

There is a rumour going around that I apparently recommended an increase in anglophone immigration to Quebec. That is not the case. Nothing in the report suggests increasing anglophone immigration to Quebec. I am very aware of Quebec's responsibility in the area of immigration, and my recommendations were intended only for one federal department, namely Citizenship and Immigration Canada. I recommended that the department focus more effectively the research it has already committed to do to ensure that its efforts are better aligned with the needs of the community, and that it recognize and assume its responsibilities by taking positive measures to promote the vitality of the anglophone community, as stipulated under the act, across all government institutions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

Let us now move to the other side of the country.

You spoke about incentives that are available to Canadian entrepreneurs to attract French speakers to western Canada. Can you give us more details on what could be an incentive? How can we encourage more French speakers to settle in our official language minority communities across the country, other than in Quebec?

[Graham Fraser]

I think that we have to encourage employers to participate in job fairs organized by Destination Canada and to make them more aware of the importance or the benefits of having bilingual employees who are able to communicate with francophones. I know, for example, that western companies want to penetrate the Quebec market. However, to do that, they need people who speak French. We can already see that in western Canada francophone immigration has become a considerable asset for official language minority communities. Newcomers account for 30% of francophones in British Columbia, 20% in Alberta, 15% in Ontario and 17% in New Brunswick. In other words, immigration already plays an important role for communities and their institutions. I think this is important, since only 2% of immigrants settling outside Quebec are francophone.

It would really be very important to bring this proportion up to at least 4%, which is the national percentage. There are, however, some differences to consider in this regard. In New Brunswick, for example, where French speakers represent a third of the population, that 4% figure would not be helpful. Any government initiative must recognize the specific needs of the provinces and communities, which are quite distinct.

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

I have one last question for you, Mr. Fraser.

Do you think that western Canada entrepreneurs offer internships to young francophones, whether they are from Quebec or from other French-speaking countries? Often these are post-secondary and university students, who might later be recruited to work in their company. They could live the French experience in western Canada through short-term jobs and work placements of two, four or even six months. In your opinion, is this a practice that is already in place or that would be desirable?

[Graham Fraser]

That would be a very desirable practice. There have already been similar programs. For example, there is a network of hotels and inns in Manitoba that signed an agreement with a school of hospitality in Belgium. Students come to Manitoba every year to work in small inns. All this is connected to a francophone tourism campaign organized by the CDEM in Manitoba. This is one of the Société franco-manitobaine's initiatives to support such exchanges. In addition, journalists were hired to work in minority newspapers in western Canada.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Gourde.

Ms. St-Denis, you now have the floor.

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

Mr. Fraser, thank you for joining us today. I would like to thank your team as well.

All of us here certainly support the existence of our two official languages and consider it important to develop communities in both official languages. Do you feel that the government has a similar desire, namely a willingness to do that?

[Graham Fraser]

In that regard—