Official Languages Committee on Feb. 24th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Go ahead, Mr. Samson.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To that end, I think very important work has been accomplished in Nova Scotia by the economic development council. I think there are a number of them across the country, and I think they are associated with RDÉE. That is very interesting. They look at the economy, the population in the region, wages, age, and so on. Today we have very sophisticated information that was not available 20 years ago and we should be able to explore it further to obtain a true picture not only of the regions, but also of the provinces and the entire country.

As my colleague Mr. Lefebvre mentioned earlier, the minister's mandate letter contains some very interesting things, which I think show that our government intends to move the official languages issue forward. Of course, Canadian Heritage is also in the picture.

There are some extremely interesting projects, including Canada's 150th anniversary, of which we can be proud. As you can imagine, I was very young in 1967, when the 100th anniversary was celebrated.

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

That was the year of the Expo.

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

Yes, I was so young that I don't remember it. However, I remember that my father and mother were all excited about the celebrations.

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

There was a special 10¢ coin.

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

Indeed. My parents flew to Montreal to celebrate that anniversary, which shows how important it was. My poor father was so frightened because he had been on a plane only once before in his life, I think. We have never forgotten that experience.

As I was saying earlier to my colleague from Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, the City of Lévis recognized my ancestors. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967, the city built a monument in recognition of my ancestors, two brothers who came from Normandy. You can imagine the honour. Although we have done many things in our lives, there is no monument for us yet. But they have been recognized by the City of Lévis for their contribution. I think they were two soldiers who did a lot for that community.

The celebration of the 150th anniversary is extremely important. I know that a lot of activities have been planned in the communities. As members of Parliament, our commitment to these communities will certainly help to show the importance of Canada, of Canadians across the country. This is extremely important.

The issue of reconsidering and reinstating the court challenges program is also extremely important. This program was crucial for minority communities across the country. The situation was critical. I was the director general of the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial in Nova Scotia, representing all francophone schools. It was a shock and it was very difficult for francophone schools in minority communities across Canada. They have since been asking that we reconsider it. The fact that this government is committed to updating and reinstating the program, as stated in the Prime Minister’s letter, will help many minorities. That is good support.

I also sit on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and we hear witnesses talk about the media—be it Radio-Canada or any other media—in rural and small communities in Canada. This is in line with that work, demonstrating that the department and the government are really working on a vision to meet needs and to address situations that have been challenging for a few years.

We want to ensure that federal services are provided in compliance with the Official Languages Act. The other day, we mentioned the importance of this issue, and no member from any of the three parties questioned the importance of reviewing this issue and ensuring that we are showing leadership. If changes need to be made, now is the time to do so. As Mr. Généreux said, I believe, last week, the next four years will pass so quickly that we will not even have had time to turn around. My fear is that we will not have taken tangible action by the end of these four years. I of course intend to go back to my constituents for their approval, but I would like to be able to tell them about the good things we will have done.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor.

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

I suggest that we build a monument in your honour right away, Mr. Samson. Otherwise, it will mean that we will have missed our chance for four years.

Our clerk can perhaps answer one of my questions. I will paraphrase someone you know well and say: because it’s 2016. So I wonder whether the committee could have its own Facebook page and post all the evidence from the witnesses who come to visit us. We could also provide our contact information on this page and ensure that all francophones are on this platform. I'm not sure whether that's possible. If so, we'll need someone to administer the page. We could add links to CPAC. We were just talking about possible ways of promoting CPAC. That would be one way to do it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I am told that the House already has a website, but you are talking about Facebook, which is not the same thing. At first glance, I am not completely against that, but let’s check what we can do about it.

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

Of course, this page would be administered by analysts or people who work for the committee.

Yesterday, I saw the article about President and CEO Mariette Mulaire. It was on Facebook and it caught my attention. It was interesting to be able to stumble upon it by accident.

If we want to promote the francophonie and the committee—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We are in the age of social media.

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

Social media are now being used for promotion. I am sure that, if the general manager of CPAC came here and we talked to her about our plan to include links in a committee Facebook page—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

She would like that.

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

It seems to me that it would be interesting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Right.

Dan, you have the floor.

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

I feel that it is important to discuss economic development all across the country. But, in terms of my riding, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, we can talk about Mariette Mulaire, who is the CEO, or the assistant chief of operations, of the World Trade Centre in Saint Boniface. The centre is set up in the former Saint Boniface city hall, on the main street, Provencher Boulevard. It is the only bilingual world trade centre anywhere in the world that I am aware of. It is extremely impressive when you consider that francophones make up 20% of the population in Winnipeg. They are doing extremely important work, impressive economic development. They are organizing a Centrallia conference that will take place in Winnipeg at the end of May. People will be coming from all over the world. It lets companies have speed meetings, so to speak. They conduct business, international trade, and the words “world trade” say it all. It would be good to talk to them.

Also in Saint Boniface, there is the Association of Manitoba's Bilingual Municipalities. It is run by eight bilingual municipalities in Manitoba, including Saint Boniface—Saint Vital. The Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities, or CDEM, does nothing but economic development all over Manitoba. It is located in Saint Boniface too. People like that are doing really wonderful things, including a lot of ecological projects. If we go to Saint Boniface, we can certainly meet them all. We could also invite them here.

Immigration is extremely important for my region as well. Of the three universities in Manitoba, the Université de Saint-Boniface is the fully francophone one. It attracts a lot of francophones from around the world, particularly from Africa. In Winnipeg, and in Manitoba in general, we are building on immigration a lot. I see that immigration in francophone minority communities is a major topic for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

The francophone significant benefit program, which was designed for francophone communities, was not renewed after September 2014. That penalized our francophone minority communities a lot. I do not know why funding for that program was stopped. These are good questions to ask and to study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you.

Paul, you have the floor.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

This is just a suggestion.

Mr. Lussier is going to appear at 4:30 p.m.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Yes, in 15 minutes.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I propose that we take a break for 15 minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Does that work for you?

Yes, François.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Before we break, I would like to remind all my colleagues that tomorrow, Thursday, at 5 p.m., we are having a reception to welcome the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada. It will be right here in the House of Commons, in room 238. You're all invited, you might say almost summoned, because the invitation is extended to you by Mr. Boissonnault and myself. There will be about 80 representatives from all the organizations across the country.

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

This is the FCFA, right?

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes, right, the FCFA, The reception is tomorrow.

If you did not receive the invitation or if you want me to send it again, send me an email and I will happily send the invitation to you again. It is an opportunity for you to meet everyone involved, to talk to them and also to learn what their priorities are.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Choquette.

I'll let you have a quick word, Mr. Blaney.