Official Languages Committee on Nov. 1st, 2018

[Mélanie Joly]

Since you have opened that door, dear colleague, and in order to show you to what extent official languages are not a priority for the current Conservative opposition, the last time the expression “official languages” was used by your political party in the House goes back to last May.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Could you give us an example of cuts that took place during the 10 years we were in power?

[Mélanie Joly]

And in fact, the critic Steven Blaney asked me another question about official languages since his appointment to this file.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I'd like to obtain an answer to my question.

[Mélanie Joly]

In addition...

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Chair, could you intervene, please? That is not an answer to my question.

[Mélanie Joly]

It will be my pleasure to discuss this matter with the opposition.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Chair, please?

[Mélanie Joly]

The Conservative opposition did not really provide any direction in the matter of official languages.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Chair...

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mrs. Boucher, please let the Minister finish her sentence.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

... I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Madam Minister, have you finished?

[Mélanie Joly]

Yes. I was asked a question and I was answering it.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Do you have an example of a cut?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Let us move to the next speaker.

Ms. Lambropoulos, you have the floor.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Saint-Laurent, Lib.]

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being here with us today, Minister.

As you know, I worked for the English Montreal School Board prior to entering politics. We know that education in the minority language is essential to preserving the strength of the community as well as the language.

Can you please elaborate on the new investments this plan has outlined? How will this money be used?

[Mélanie Joly]

Thank you, dear colleague. Congratulations again for all the leadership you're showing to support the anglophone community in Quebec. It is very important.

Regarding education in general, first of all, we've stabilized funding that will be sent to provinces and territories. That was really important to us. We've also heard about the importance of supporting infrastructure projects in education, and therefore there will be more money in that sector. In the official languages plan, there is more money for infrastructure in education—more than $10 million.

Also, we've heard all around the country about the importance of supporting first- and second-language learning in French, and about the need for more teachers. We'll be working on that, as well. That was a demand coming from the different ministers in charge of official languages across the country, in all the provinces and territories. Following that demand, we decided to support it.

Finally, one of the things we announced a month ago was more money to organizations that will be supporting cultural activities in English and in French in minority settings all across the country. For the Quebec anglophone community, this program will be managed by ELAN, the English-language association in Quebec.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Perfect. That's excellent news. Thank you very much.

Obviously, we always speak about the French minority in all of Canada, but in Quebec we know there is a very strong English minority and oftentimes, because of the provincial politics, maybe they don't always have the same access to services and all of that.

In what ways is our plan helping anglophone Quebeckers, other than through education? How are we ensuring that we're doing things the community actually wants us to do? Are we hearing from people on the ground who are telling us what they need in their communities?

[Mélanie Joly]

What we've heard is that anglophone communities, English-speaking communities in Quebec have specific needs. In particular, the ones outside Montreal really need our support because they don't necessarily have access to many services in the official language of their choice. Therefore, we decided to provide a specific funding mechanism, which is $5 million to support English-speaking communities, and that will be to the benefit of the communities. We will work with the communities to support their specific needs. It could be access to employment or support for youth initiatives, which are two things that the English-speaking community has mentioned to me.

I've had the chance to have many discussions with QCGN, and I was also in Richmond recently, where I went to see the fantastic community of townshippers, who were advocating for more community services in their official language and were also demonstrating the strength of the English community in Quebec, which is so important to who we are as a country.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Thank you so much.

How much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You have a minute.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

This is my last question, quickly. Can we get an update on the reinstatement of the court challenges program? When should we expect to see people being put on a panel and money becoming available?

[Mélanie Joly]

We've entered into a contract with the University of Ottawa. The university is putting in place its expertise centre and hiring people, and we've also created a panel. All the interviews have been done, and we're really in the final stage. Basically, I just need to do the final take on it, and we'll have really good news to announce very soon.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Thank you very much.