Official Languages Committee on April 20th, 2016

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

When the president of the FCFA appeared before the committee, she said:

In recent years, the implementation of the act has been significantly eroded. In the absence of a single authority mandated to ensure consistent government-wide application of the act, a number of institutions have been content to do the bare minimum, and sometimes even less than that.

Even the president of the FCFA is wondering who will monitor compliance with the act if there is no single authority. That is why I believe that this single authority is necessary and that is why I am concerned about the fact that the words “official languages” are no longer part of the department's name.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

As it indicates in my mandate letter, the Official Languages Act is a responsibility that I share with my colleague Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board. I believe he will have the opportunity to appear before the committee a little later this year.

I would like to reassure Ms. Lanthier and all stakeholders that official languages are a priority for me and for our government. Under our government, progress will definitely be made when it comes to official languages.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

I was happy to hear that you will soon be meeting with the Commissioner of Official Languages. That is what you said earlier. I hope that you will have time to talk about his office's plans and priorities. In those plans and priorities, the Commissioner of Official Languages indicated that, because his budget is frozen, he would have a hard time fulfilling his official languages mandate. Unfortunately, his budget will remain frozen in the coming years, since the Liberals did not provide for additional funding for his office in budget 2016.

What do you think about that? What are you going to do to improve the situation?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Obviously, I am well aware of that situation. I have already had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Fraser. We know that his mandate is coming to an end. Eventually, I will have the opportunity to meet with his successor. I am very aware of this issue and I look forward to discussing it with the team at the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

Generally speaking, very important decisions have been made, which have a direct impact on the organizations that provide services to official language minority communities across the country. I made major decisions concerning the delegation of authority, and I would be pleased to tell you about them.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

You know that the Translation Bureau is currently being eroded by cuts to staff. There is uncertainty regarding the implementation of a new automatic translation tool. When are you going to intervene in this matter? Right now, we do not know what is happening. No new staff is being hired, employees are still being lost to attrition, and cuts are still being made. What is happening and when are you going to take action?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I would like to set the record straight. No cuts have been made at the Translation Bureau since we took office.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

But there is still attrition.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Obviously, we believe that it is important for the Translation Bureau to be able to offer services that ensure that quality of English and French for internal communication within the public service. With regard to external communication, if the Translation Bureau fails to comply with the Official Languages Act, we will obviously remedy the situation to ensure that we are always in compliance with the act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Choquette.

We will continue with Mr. Samson.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Choquette, before making any decisions about the Translation Bureau, I would like the committee to have the opportunity to write and table its report so that we can see how the situation is going to play out. That is an example of how the new Government of Canada is working with the committees.

Madam Minister, you mentioned two things. I want to talk about the roadmap, but first I would like to commend you and your department for the work you have done in making two major changes that are essential for the communities.

The first change has to do with a request from communities, organizations, and associations to obtain funding more quickly and for projects that allocate new money to be approved more quickly. I understand that a process is already in place so that applications for $75,000 or less will be processed much more quickly. That is a huge change that will be a big help to the communities.

The second change has to do with the decision to spread the funding over two or three years so that organizations no longer have trouble keeping good employees because of a lack of funding. That has been a problem for many years. This change will be very helpful for the communities and I thank you very much for that.

Could you tell us when the consultations regarding the new action plan or roadmap will begin? This is not just about a name change. Can you tell us what the schedule for this will look like?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I would like to point out two things.

First, every time I travel within the country and visit a city, I make sure to hold a round table with various official languages organizations. In Halifax, you and I had the opportunity to participate in a round table together.

I would like to tell the committee members that I will continue to do that throughout 2016. What is more, in 2017, the parliamentary secretary and I will organize consultations so that our plan is ready in 2018.

Second, I would like to come back to what you said. As heritage minister, I have to sign 8,000 grants and contributions a year. That is approximately 30 per day. As you all know, MPs are very busy people. At the end of the week, I may have nearly 200 grants and contributions that still have not been signed. I finally understood that the complaints of arts and culture and official languages organizations are well founded because there is a bottleneck in Ottawa.

In the past, the department made recommendations regarding grants and contributions and they were usually approved by cabinet later. A total of 98% of the department's recommendations were ultimately approved, but because everything had to go through cabinet, approvals sometimes took a very long time. I therefore delegated some authority. Regional authorities can now approve any project valued at $75,000 or less. As a result, organizations are receiving grants and contributions four to six months earlier than before. We are therefore providing financial support more quickly. We can now get funding to organizations sooner, which means that they do not have to borrow money to cover their expenses. Often, they would not get a cheque from Canadian Heritage until after the event was already over and they had already had to pay for everything.

This delegation of authority also makes it possible for us to allocate multi-year funding. For example, about a month and a half ago, an organization in the Yukon called Les EssentiElles, which helps francophone women in Whitehorse, was given funding over three years. That is the first time in the organization's history that this has happened.

As a result of the delegation of authority, funding is more customized. It is allocated more efficiently and in a less partisan manner. This delegation of authority also improves the process and makes the funding more visible.

This is the first time in the history of the Department of Canadian Heritage that authority has been delegated in this way.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you for your questions, Mr. Samson.

Since the bells are ringing to call in the members for the vote, I need your consent to continue the discussion.

[members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

It is unanimous.

Mr. Vandal, the floor is yours.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you very much for your wonderful presentation, Madam Minister.

In Saint-Boniface, we are very proud of budget 2016 for many reasons, one of which is the fact that funding for CBC/Radio-Canada has been increased to $675 million, if I am not mistaken.

I am wondering what impact this budget increase will have on the content presented to Canadians in both official languages.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We have allocated $675 million in new funding to CBC/Radio-Canada over five years. We came to an agreement with the public broadcaster on three criteria that it must meet in order to obtain this new funding, while of course respecting its independence. Under one of those criteria, CBC/Radio-Canada must truly be in a position to fulfill its role as a public broadcaster and thus ensure that it offers more local content in both official languages. This will allow us to negate some of the harmful effects of the budget cuts that were made to CBC/Radio-Canada over the past 10 years, particularly with regard to support for regions with linguistic minority communities.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Very good.

I was interested in another point your made. We all want to support indigenous languages. People in Saint-Boniface, the birthplace of the father of Manitoba and the leader of the Métis Nation, Louis Riel, used to speak Michif.

What plans do we have to preserve and promote indigenous languages across the country?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I am glad that you mentioned Louis Riel and the important legacy that he left as the leader of the Métis Nation. In 2017, we are going to develop a strategy to support various indigenous cultures and languages. I will be working with my colleague Carolyn Bennett, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, on this.

Three of the recommendations set out in the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had to do with indigenous languages and cultures. We will address those three recommendations in our comprehensive response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report. I will be working on that with my team—the people who are here today and others at the Department of Canadian Heritage.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Saint-Boniface is home to all sorts of francophone cultural and artistic groups, for example, the Maison des artistes visuels francophone, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain, and the Musée de Saint-Boniface. There are between eight and 10 such organizations.

Are there subsidies or other financial resources available within the official languages portfolio to support the artistic activities of these groups?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We gave—

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

There is also Le Cercle Molière.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We increased funding for the Canada Council for the Arts to $550 million over five years. Many organizations will benefit from that new funding. Simon Brault, director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, and his team will be called upon to present a plan for this reinvestment.

We already know that the Canada Council for the Arts has undertaken a major reform. In the past, it funded 148 programs, but now it will fund only six. These programs will be bigger and more worthwhile. Various artists, artisans, and arts organizations will be supported by the council, particularly those that promote the vitality of official language minority communities.

What is more, in terms of indigenous languages and cultures, the Council for the Arts has made it a priority to provide better support to artists and artisans who work in various indigenous communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Vandal.

Mr. Trost, the floor is yours.

[Bradley Trost, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am going to try to use my second official language.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I commend you for that.