Official Languages Committee on May 7th, 2018

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I know, but I want bureaucrats to be made aware of it. I'm sure the minister is already aware. It's his staff who need to grasp the urgency.

[David Manicom]

I can't speak for the other 6,000 people working in the department.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I understand, but I'm passing on the message indirectly.

I also wanted to talk about the famous lottery we mentioned. I know you said there would be no discrimination based on country of origin, sex, religion, or race. I understand that. However, Canada was built on the theory of two founding peoples, a theory we enshrined in black and white in the Charter and the Official Languages Act.

On that basis alone, wouldn't you agree that the lottery needs to respect the minimum target of 4.4% for francophone immigration? We are talking about the language of one of the founding peoples, and one of our official languages.

Do you agree with that argument?

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

I know I do.

[David Manicom]

The current government has created selection tools to give francophones an advantage, and that is definitely a first. At this time, we don't have a policy on favouring francophones for family reunification. If we take francophone immigration targets into account when processing applications from Canadians hoping to sponsor their spouse or grandchildren, we end up favouring one group over another. But if we manage to attract francophone economic immigrants at a rate of 4.4% or more, these people will later naturally tend to sponsor their spouses, parents, or grandparents.

As far as I know, no government to date has studied the possibility of having a process where one Canadian get to sponsor their spouse and another doesn't.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I see. No government has thought of it, but I think we will have to start thinking about it now. That's my opinion, and I think it's one the committee shares.

Would it be possible to contemplate a process that is open, transparent, and non-discriminatory? We need to at least make sure the selection process fully respects Canada's two official languages and that this lottery meets the 4.4% target for francophone immigrants settling outside of Quebec. Is that possible?

[David Manicom]

Is it possible? I can't answer that question on behalf of the government.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Fine.

[David Manicom]

Spouses are by far the largest category in the family class.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

As an administrator, can you push that argument?

[David Manicom]

Sorry?

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Can you support that argument?

[David Manicom]

Me personally? No.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

All right.

[David Manicom]

I'll give you my personal opinion about family reunification. As far as I know—and I've been working in this department for a long time—no government has ever considered the possibility of limiting reunification of immediate family members by using criteria other than the family relationship.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Regarding the hub that's going to be created, I gather that it will be a parallel hub that will have staff, who I assume will be francophone, though I don't know for sure, whose job is specifically to maximize francophone immigration.

I'd like to make you a suggestion. If possible, it would be advisable and certainly efficient to ensure that the people chosen to staff this hub, either from within the department or from outside, come from francophone communities outside Quebec. They'll stand up for you every time, you'll see. It's just a suggestion, and you don't have to respond to it, but there's no doubt that members of francophone communities outside Quebec who are working to attract and retain francophone immigrants in their provinces are loyal champions. I just hope you'll bear that in mind.

Thank you for listening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Arseneault.

Mr. Vandal, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you very much.

I have a few questions.

About six weeks ago, the action plan for official languages 2018-23 was unveiled. I think it had a five-year budget of about $29.5 million.

On March 2, the federal/provincial/territorial action plan for increasing francophone immigration outside of Quebec was unveiled.

Do these two action plans have the same objectives?

Could you tell me how they complement each other, or how it's going to work?

[David Manicom]

I would ask Ms. Prince to answer that question, because she's been involved in this file directly for a long time.

However, I can tell you that the objectives remain the same. There is, of course, an increase or concentration of strategies with regard to francophone immigration funding in order to emphasize a pathway to integration that is built by and for francophones.

In the past, we used to devote almost all of our efforts to promotion and recruitment, but over the years we came to realize that we weren't having much success, to put it mildly. Promotion and recruitment efforts absolutely need to continue. While the results of the express entry program are promising, we need to keep adding new candidates to this pool.

Once people arrive in Canada, we want them to stay in our communities, not move to Montreal two years later. Over the next few years, our efforts and funding will be focused on creating a pathway built by and for francophones.

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

Are both plans focused on retention? I'm referring to the action plan for official languages 2018-23 and the federal/provincial/territorial action plan for increasing francophone immigration outside of Quebec.

[David Manicom]

Yes, the two plans go hand in hand. Naturally, in the case of the federal/provincial/territorial coordination plan, the provinces and territories' main goal is to retain immigrants. So in that sense, the two plans go very well together, in my opinion.

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

Ms. Prince, do you have anything to add?

[Corinne Prince]

Yes, thank you.

The federal/provincial/territorial action plan 2018-23 includes a component for providing settlement services to French-speaking immigrants. As part of the action plan for official languages 2018-23, which was recently launched by Minister Joly, our department will also be receiving funds for providing francophone settlement services.

So both plans contain targets, especially for francophone settlement. But in the action plan for official languages, the federal plan for the next five years, there are three components for which our department is going to receive funding. The first is building the capacity of the francophone settlement sector. The second is creating welcoming communities in order to address the retention objective that you mentioned earlier. The third is providing adapted language training.

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

I also know there was an Atlantic growth strategy that included immigration measures, probably for retaining immigrants.

Did that experience yield any best practices that we could apply to official language minority communities?

[David Manicom]

It's much too soon to evaluate the Atlantic immigration pilot. It only just started, and we don't have enough retention data to be able to say whether it's working.

However, it is a very important experiment. The idea behind this pilot is to increase retention by putting a settlement plan in place in coordination with the employer and the community before the immigrant even arrives. It's also a very important concept for francophone communities.

Most of our integration and settlement programs aren't about retention at all. There are no concerns about retaining immigrants in Toronto or Vancouver. Implementing retention-focused programs means working with communities and employers before the immigrants arrive. That's the concept behind the Atlantic immigration pilot. This concept will certainly be part of our efforts to develop an integration pathway built by and for francophones.