Official Languages Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Are we all in favour of the amendment?

(Amendment agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Now I will reread the amended main motion:

That the Committee invite the Governor in Council to publish the job posting for the position of Commissioner of Official Languages and select a candidate as soon as possible, in accordance with the applicable procedures in place, in order to provide for time to transfer files, knowledge and expertise between the new commissioner and the outgoing commissioner, Graham Fraser.

That is the amended main motion that is being put.

(Amended motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Are there any other matters?

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

We must discuss the calendar.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Lefebvre, you have the floor.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Do we have the time to do it, Mr. Chair? At the last working meeting, we considered the calendar question and said we wanted to address the issues of immigration and roadmap. That was clear.

With respect to the roadmap, we are talking about the vitality of our communities and also about education. I strongly encourage you to read the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018.

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

We have it.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I think all of us have already read it. That being said, the calendar is full, as we all know. We have prepared a list of names of people we would like to invite here to discuss immigration. The Chair told us that some 20 hours would be reserved for witnesses. We already have 13 witnesses, to address immigration alone, which raises major challenges if we also want to discuss education and the vitality of our francophone communities.

In my opinion, our challenge is to review the calendar and perhaps reduce somewhat the number of witnesses who will discuss immigration so that we can ensure we invite people who will discuss education and the vitality of our francophone communities.

I suggest that the three parties work together outside this committee room to develop a calendar and a list of guests and that we propose the action plan to the clerk at our next meeting. In that way, we will not waste any time during meetings.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

So members who would be participating in—

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Each party may propose one or two persons, such as Mr. Choquette for the NDP and Mr. Généreux, Mrs. Boucher, or Mr. Nater for the Conservatives.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

And also from the Liberal Party.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

We will name one or two person on our side.

Is that all right?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I would ask you informally to meet as soon as possible and to submit to us a suggestion that suits everyone.

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

It appears that I am the one who has been delegated to do that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I would remind you that government officials will be appearing before the committee on Tuesday.

Is that settled?

Yes, Mr. Samson?

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

I would just like to raise a point. Perhaps we should think about this a little more. I am troubled by the description of our study.

I listened to Mr. Harvey, who made a very good presentation. Roughly 80% of his message focused on the roadmap and only 20% concerned immigration. I would even say that our questions focused 75% on the roadmap and 25% on immigration. I am not pleased about that. I am not sure we looked closely enough at immigration.

We should pay special attention to that when we invite the witnesses. We said we would prepare four standard questions for witnesses who would like to submit a written report to the committee. Last night, I read the document entitled “Study on the Roadmap and Immigration in the Official Language Minority Communities,” and it scared me a little. We are going to hold four meetings on immigration and then we will study roadmap. I know we said we could study both topics at the same time, depending on the witness groups, and that is fine with me. However, we must ensure that we focus on immigration over the next four meetings if we really want to make a recommendation to the government on the subject.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

We asked the analysts to inform us about the statement that was submitted to the people who were invited to come and testify. Then we asked them to submit questions to us that we could put to witnesses so that they could respond, in their briefs, to the main questions raised. I will read you what was presented to us.

Yes, Ms. Lecomte?

[Lucie Lecomte, Committee Researcher]

The members have a copy of it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You already have a copy of the statement suggested by the Department of Canadian Heritage in summer 2016, which is entitled, “Study on the Roadmap and Immigration in the Official Language Minority Communities.”

I will read that statement to you.

In summer 2016, the Department of Canadian Heritage undertook a nationwide consultation to develop the Government of Canada’s next multi-year action plan for official languages. In this context, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (the Committee) will study the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008–2013: Acting for the Future and Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013–2018: Education, Immigration, Communities. The objective is to identify the priorities of Canadians with regard to official languages and, more specifically, those of official language minority communities (OLMC), in order to make recommendations in order to develop the new action plan. Immigration in OLMC figured in the last two roadmaps and remains a priority issue for the vitality of OLMC. Therefore, the Committee will examine federal government programs and tools that encourage immigration in OLMC, specifically francophone immigration in Francophone minority communities (FMC). The Committee hopes to make recommendations that will help to improve the ability of OLMC to recruit, intake and integrate immigrants. Furthermore, the Committee is aware of the potential that refugees represent for the development of OLMC and the challenges they—and their host communities—face. The Committee will look into government and community initiatives aimed at refugees in order to shed light on this issue and to make recommendations to help refugees settle in OLMC. Lastly, the Committee believes that it is important to hear the testimonies of individuals to understand what they have gone through and to keep in mind the human aspect that is intrinsic to the immigrant experience.

Does anyone want to comment on the subject?

Mrs. Boucher, you have the floor.

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

I do not know whether you received the report on immigration that was prepared in June 2015. The Hon. Michael Chong was committee chair at the time. The committee prepared a report on immigration. If you have not received it, you can find it online. I have looked at it and I advise you to read it because it refers to many matters that we will be discussing.

Yes, that was under another government but these are very good avenues. Here we are concerned with exactly what you talked about, such as the express entry program, Destination Canada and the economic prosperity of immigrants. There is even a list of witnesses to appear before the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mrs. Boucher.

We have about five minutes left to—

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

I just want to say that this is important because some of the witnesses that we had on our list may already have appeared here. It could be informative.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

The clerk will distribute the report again.

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

All right.