Evidence of meeting #26 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was roadmap.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
Has your organization received funding from the roadmap?
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
In your view, what impact has your organization had on immigration to Manitoba since it was established in 2006, I believe?
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
The Réseau en immigration francophone has officially existed under the name RIF Manitoba since 2013, but it has been in existence since 2003, since the creation of Accueil francophone. In fact, it is Accueil francophone that advanced the cause of the Réseau, which was previously a partner network.
Pardon me, but what was your question?
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
What impact do you think your organization has had on immigration to Manitoba?
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
The partners around the table have joined forces to establish a common objective and avoid working in isolation. The Réseau en immigration francophone has developed a strategic plan for Manitoba. The idea is to bring everyone together around the table. The essential components of the Réseau are recruitment, integration, retention, and regionalization. This is making a difference in that area.
The best example I can give you is the intake of Syrian refugees. The community and partners have all joined forces to support the efforts of Accueil francophone, the mandate of which is to take in refugees sponsored by the federal government and to help it carry out its mission, its mandate, more effectively.
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
Recruitment, intake, and integration constitute the work that you do.
Is there one field in which you have had more success?
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
It really is a set of factors. We are in the process of determining in what ways we have been less successful and in what areas we could make a bigger effort. The retention rate in Manitoba is quite high. However, as I mentioned earlier, we are unfortunately not doing a lot of recruitment work.
IRCC has cut funding for promotion outside Canada, particularly for Destination Canada. Consequently, partners and stakeholders who should be at that fair to promote our provinces outside the country are not all present. There are also domestic initiatives that we cannot carry out for lack of funding and resources. We are trying to achieve our objectives with limited means and the resources we have, or rather do not have.
Liberal
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
The Province of Manitoba attends this international fair. Brigitte Léger is our partner at the World Trade Centre. This year, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities, or CDEM, will also be taking part.
Liberal
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
I am talking about what you are most successful at.
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
We work together, in cooperation, to achieve successful integration and to meet the needs of newcomers to our communities, whether it be Winnipeg or outside Winnipeg. That is what we are most successful at, through our municipal, provincial, and, we hope, federal partners.
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
What can the federal government do to help you play your role as an immigration worker more effectively?
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
I would say the most urgent thing would be to be able to offer more services to meet integration needs so that we can promote retention, of course. Among this immigrant population, international students and temporary workers are seriously hurt by the lack of funding and services. That shortage is related to eligibility criteria for settlement service and services funded by IRCC. A very large number of those international students are unfortunately left to their own devices. The demand for work permits and the transition to the job market are a concern for them. However, no assistance is offered for that purpose.
Temporary workers wishing to renew their work permits, for example, face enormous administrative challenges, but there is no contact person they can speak to directly. They can only use the 1-800 number. There are agents, of course, but their answers may vary with the person who is on the other end of the line. For temporary residents, processing times for work permit renewals merely add to the other difficulties.
We need support in order to remove these barriers so we can facilitate permit renewals and assist temporary workers and international students, improve retention and integration, and facilitate occupational training in French, which does not exist in Manitoba.
Liberal
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for coming to testify before us. I want to thank the Alberta people for getting up so early this morning to come and meet with us. I very much appreciate that and find it very pleasant to have you with us.
Last Thursday, we heard from the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones. Those people told us about the roadmap, but also about the memorandum of understanding between the federal government and school boards, that is to say the provincial education departments across Canada. They said they had to review that.
As I am sure you know, British Columbia has filed a huge lawsuit against the federal government to ensure that provincial education departments provide education services in the minority language, that is in French in the case of British Columbia.
Those people are seeking better funding for infrastructure, which is not funded in an equal manner. The argument that is raised against their position on the MOU is that education is unfortunately a provincial jurisdiction.
How can these two aspects be reconciled?
Have you at the ACFA reflected on the education situation and other areas where federal and provincial jurisdictions are at issue?
President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
I think the people from the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones really want to take part in the discussions and negotiations on those agreements. We support the "for and by the francophone communities" approach and the idea that that approach should be systematically adopted.
Alberta—and this is the case of British Columbia as well—is one of the only provinces that does not have a policy, let alone an act, respecting French-language services.
Having said that, we are in the process of negotiating this agreement with the Province of Alberta so that a policy on French-language services can be implemented. However, the work does not stop there. This opens a small door, but it is a delicate proposition. This kind of policy can be changed at the whim of any government that comes to power.
The important thing for us is federal government intervention and support so that these clauses are adopted and supported by and for the francophone communities. We would make enormous gains in Alberta, and I am convinced that would be the case of the other provinces as well.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson.
Ms. Meddri, you said it was impossible for you to attend Destination Canada. However, your purpose in doing so would be to promote the settlement of francophone newcomers to minority communities.
Can you tell us more about that?
What is the situation with regard to Destination Canada?
Coordinator, Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba
Destination Canada is an international fair that is held in Paris and Belgium over almost a week. As I mentioned, representatives from the province attend it along with partners, the World Trade Centre in particular, and, this year, CDEM.
Community organizations previously had an opportunity to attend the fair as a result of funding granted to the province for settlement programs. The province facilitated that because it understood the importance of the community organizations' contributions to the fair. The province's attendance there is of course necessary and essential because its representatives can discuss Manitoba's nominees program and the opportunities it affords.
As for the community component, it is very important to reassure future nominees attending the fair and to tell them they will have to follow a process but that they will subsequently not be alone. They must be made to understand that an association of organizations will take it upon itself to go and pick them up at the airport, drive them to temporary accommodation, and guide them through administrative procedures. They must also be told that organizations will support them in looking for a job or a family physician, in particular. They must be reassured they will not be abandoned.
We are a minority community—so be it—but together we can change things, and that is reassuring. The personal connection makes a difference. It can influence an immigration applicant's choice of province and the destination he or she may choose.
Liberal
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, everyone.
First, I will speak to our friends from Edmonton.
Earlier you talked about needs related to new challenges. The growth in Alberta's francophone population is indeed a new phenomenon. However, your resources are not adequate to cope with that growth.
How could additional support under the roadmap help you provide the services you need?
President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
Earlier I mentioned that the agreements between Canada and Alberta were very important. However, I think the federal government can play another role. I am going to ask Isabelle Laurin to say a little more about that. The federal government's leadership on the Official Languages Act is becoming crucially important for us. I know that is beyond the scope of this discussion, but there are a lot of points on that subject we would like to discuss.
I am going to hand the floor over to Ms. Laurin.
Isabelle Laurin Executive Director, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
The needs of Alberta's francophone population are only growing, and that growth creates pressure. Since funding under the Canada-community agreement has not increased in so many years, it is extremely difficult to earn competitive salaries in Alberta. The cost of living is relatively high here and private-sector salaries are extremely high.
We therefore have few staff who can provide the services. Furthermore, the variety of services necessary is increasing. We need early childhood services. A report by the Commissioner of Official Languages that was published this week concerns the need for day care services. In Alberta, the need is absolutely glaring. We have francization needs in our primary schools, at the kindergarten and early kindergarten levels. We also have needs with respect to our seniors. Needs are being filled in justice and health as well.
We also have to make ourselves known. As we are a number of small networks spread all over Alberta, we should be able to invest in the promotion of our communities so that people from outside the province know we exist. It often takes two or three years for people to discover that there are francophone communities in Alberta. We need infrastructure. In Calgary, we need a centre where people can gather.
In short, the needs are enormous, and we need the roadmap's support.
