Official Languages Committee on June 6th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Dear friends, this is the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

We planned to discuss routine proceedings, or the agenda for the next few days. We will try to proceed rather quickly. We don't have much time left before we adjourn for the summer.

On Wednesday, we will hear from the Commissioner of Official Languages, who will talk about issues such as the Air Canada matter, as we have been told.

We will have next week left. According to what I understand from our previous discussions, we will not begin a study on the roadmap or its equivalent until the House resumes in the fall. I am told that we should not get too far ahead when it comes to the week of June 20, as we still don't know what will happen.

This meeting will be held in the mindset of consultation, as we have decided not to strike a steering committee. I want everyone to participate in the discussions on our future business.

We will not look into the roadmap until the fall. On Wednesday, we will hear from the Commissioner of Official Languages. So we have two days left next week—June 13 and 15—to consider specific issues, if necessary and if you are interested. At some point, we made a grocery list of issues you suggested when we brainstormed. I will ask the clerk to highlight those issues. You could make suggestions after I'm done talking.

First, I asked the Mayor of Quebec City, Mr. Labeaume, to come explain his project to turn Quebec City into the capital of the Francophonie in America.

Second, RCMP officers have told me that they were interested in discussing the promotions of francophones and anglophones within their organization.

Third, we have the issue of bilingualism in the courts of justice, including the Superior Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Fourth, we have legal challenges, which we have discussed a bit here.

There are a number of points, and I don't think we will be able to cover them all.

Ms. Boucher, go ahead.

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

We decided to incorporate certain points into the study of the roadmap, including health and immigration. With Mr. Samson, we decided that those aspects were a natural part of the roadmap.

Is Mayor Labeaume available? I have no problem with him coming to the committee if he is willing. We will talk to him, and it will be a pleasure for me to see him.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We said that this would be incorporated into the roadmap. Are you okay with that?

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

No, no, no.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You're not?

Go ahead, Mr. Samson.

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

Someone did say they would like the subject of my motion to be integrated into the roadmap.

For me, it is essential for the committee to examine the whole issue of immigration in minority settings. I moved a motion to that effect. Today, I am ready to share the list of witnesses who could begin to appear on the issue. I am okay with us waiting until the first week of our return in September to begin the study on immigration. We could consider the roadmap afterwards. Whether we like it or not, immigration will be part of the roadmap. However, I understood that immigration was an important subject and that we had to start with that when we reconvene in September.

You mentioned two dates next week. I propose that, by June 13, we submit a list of individuals who could come testify on francophone immigration. We could discuss with them either here, or as part of a committee trip. I already have a list of eight individuals. I can submit it today, if you like. I believe that this list identifies most of the potential witnesses, but you can certainly add some.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Samson, I understand from your comments that you are suggesting that we prioritize the study on immigration when we reconvene in September, that we begin making a list of witnesses and issues to cover in immigration and that we study the roadmap afterwards. Is that right?

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

Yes, and I believe that you have the support of my colleagues around the table.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Ms. Boucher, go ahead.

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

We have discussed immigration. We moved a common motion. We did discuss it, and we agreed to wait for the study on the roadmap. I personally think that we should also be given time to decide who we want to invite to appear before us. We need until Thursday to submit that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Okay.

Mr. Choquette, do you have anything to add?

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

No, I'm good.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Ms. Lapointe, go ahead.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

This is about something else.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Okay, just a moment.

First, I would like us to come to an agreement about immigration.

Mr. Samson, the floor is yours.

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

That's fine, but could the clerk read the motion to us? I just want to check how much time we will have for that testimony. To my mind, it should be about six meetings. However, others may have different subjects to propose.

I just wanted to check whether that is already stated in the motion before I say anything about it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

The clerk is looking at his documents.

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

I'm not quite sure; that's why I want to check. I believe it was six two-hour meetings, but we will see, once we have the list of witnesses, how many meetings we will have to set aside. If the list is fairly long, we could figure out together which witnesses we want to prioritize.

In principle, this should be well planned, so that I can sleep properly during the summer and go door to door with the colleagues from my riding.

If you care about my sleep, you will approve my proposal.

Isn't that right, Ms. Lapointe?

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Your sleep is being disturbed by the fact that you are becoming a grandfather; I assume it's a bit like becoming a father.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I personally have no objections, if others don't have any. In six meetings, we could take the time we need to discuss the immigration issue. Those will be the first meetings when we reconvene in September.

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

In addition, the priorities in terms of the witnesses will be established before we leave.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Speaking of that, I would like to receive by next Monday the list of witnesses and the priorities to be established for those six weeks. We could then discuss them.

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

Could you give me two minutes? I would like to say who the eight witnesses I have in mind for now are. I could also distribute the list afterwards.

First, I think we should invite senior officials, so that they can tell us about immigration and answer our questions.

The RDEE, the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité, is also very important.

I would add the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario.

I would also like to invite a representative of the New Brunswick government, in order to learn about that province's strategy in terms of linguistic duality.

Of course, I would like to invite the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, the FCFA.

In addition, I would like to invite the Ontario francophone immigration support network, which receives funding from the federal department. A tremendous amount of work has been done, and many immigrants live in that province.

I would also like to invite a representative of Immigration francophone Nouvelle-Écosse.

I would close with a very important group, since we're still talking about education. I'd like to hear from the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones, which is made up of school boards outside Quebec. Those people could accurately describe the needs and challenges of francophone and Acadian communities across the country compared with those of French schools in Quebec. Of course, the same goes for anglophones in Quebec, but I leave it to you to add them.

Those are the witnesses I am proposing for now. If they were on your list, you can remove them. However, if you have any other names to propose, we are more than willing to hear you out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Very well.

Mr. Généreux, the floor is yours.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I believe you have noticed that we have been collaborating pretty well since the committee started working. We will have other business in the fall. I appreciate the fact that Mr. Samson has shared his list of witnesses, but I would like to get a written copy of it, if possible, through the clerk. For our committee to be as effective as possible, I thought that we would benefit from working together, especially when it comes to witnesses. The goal is not to hear from witnesses who will necessarily contradict each other, even though that can happen.

As we know, immigration is an extremely important issue, given the number of immigrants who settle in Canada. We have to come up with policies that will ensure that, once they arrive in the communities, those people are integrated as soon as possible.

We will of course also submit a list of witnesses. I don't remember how this is usually done. Is there a maximum number of witnesses?