Official Languages Committee on Sept. 20th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Two hours?

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

At least an hour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

One hour. Fine.

Now we have the Réseau des cégeps et des collèges francophones du Canada.

Would one hour be enough?

[An hon. member]

Yes, one hour.

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

I don't know if we need to invite them.

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

The colleges and universities are surviving today because of francophone immigration.

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

Yes, that's true.

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

The ones in Montreal, Ottawa and Moncton aren't immune to this reality.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Arseneault is suggesting we give them one hour.

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

We need to give them one hour.

That's a good argument, Mr. Arseneault.

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

I would give them half an hour.

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

It depends on where the organization is located.

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

It's in Ottawa. Claude Harvey is the director general.

I think half an hour would be enough. He'll give us an overview of the situation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Do you all agree on half an hour?

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

Half an hour means only 20 minutes for questions, since 10 minutes will be for the presentation.

Every francophone university in Canada, even in Quebec, is surviving because of immigration.

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

I don't have a problem with one hour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Let's go with an hour.

What about the Francophone Immigration Networks?

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

It's a provincial group in Manitoba that arranges francophone immigration.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

A lot of people are interested in the good work that this association has done for francophone immigration in Manitoba. It's a success in various ways. I think it would be worthwhile to listen to these people so they can tell us how they managed it. I would suggest giving the organization's representatives an hour, especially since they're coming from Manitoba.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We'll give them an hour.

Now, let's talk about Languages Canada. What about this organization?

[Lucie Lecomte]

The organization is partly subsidized by the federal government, but it's not a federal organization. That's why I put it under “other”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Are we leaving this organization out for the moment?

[Some hon. members]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Let's move on to New Brunswick. We're talking about the Government of New Brunswick and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages of New Brunswick.

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

I think we should hear from witnesses from at least one of the two organizations.