Evidence of meeting #31 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 quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
I call the meeting to order.
I would like to welcome everyone to the official languages committee.
We'll hear first from the Quebec Community Groups Network, followed by Corporation d'employabilité et de développement économique communautaire and Association des commissions scolaires anglophones du Québec.
Everyone can make a 10-minute presentation. After that, we'll go around with questions and comments from members of the committee.
Welcome, Mr. Shea.
James Shea President, Quebec Community Groups Network
Thank you very much. I will leave my colleagues to introduce themselves.
I'm accompanied by our director general, Sylvia Martin-Laforge.
My name is Jim Shea. I am the volunteer president of the Quebec Community Groups Network.
Mr. Paradis, Mr. Nater, Mr. Choquette, and members of the committee, good morning.
The purpose of our brief time with you this morning is to provide Canada's English-speaking linguistic minority communities, the English-speaking community of Quebec, a voice in what has apparently become a study on the federal government's current and future official languages strategy.
We are pleased to be accompanied by the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation, our leading economic development partner, and the Quebec English School Boards Association, our community's public education voice.
It is worth noting for the record that we were not proactively invited to appear before you today. We requested this time, and so I will not waste it.
On July 5, members of the committee were provided with the strategic priorities of the English-speaking community of Quebec and its high-level expectations from a multi-year official languages plan to support Canada's English linguistic minority communities. A detailed policy paper accompanied the priorities sent to you in July, and has also been provided to the committee's analyst.
These priorities and expectations were developed in consultation with the community sector, institutions, and supporting stakeholders.
We are asking for the following issues to be addressed.
Number one is changes in the way resources are channelled to our community, recognizing the challenges our community faces working within a framework that requires federal-provincial co-operation.
Number two is indexed federal support resources, adherence to service standards, and less onerous reporting requirements to ease the burden on the community sector. We are pleased to note the advances being made on two of these points by Canadian Heritage.
Number three is financing national level representation for community sector organizations and providing resources to develop and maintain sector policy expertise where gaps exist. English-speaking Quebec is trying to engage in the national discussion with both hands tied behind its back.
Number four is to create thematic inter-institutional programs and resources that address specific community needs. Communities do not function in silos and are often frustrated when dealing with governments that operate within institutional boundaries. We are pleased to hear Minister Joly indicate this will be an organizing principle in the new action plan.
Number five is investment in youth engagement and retention, and helping us build youth sector capacity through a targeted fund.
Number six is to have targeted outreach programs to cultural communities. The inherent diversity of the English-speaking community of Quebec and the multiple identities of many of its members must be accounted for by the Government of Canada, which in partnership with the community sector must assist English-speaking cultural communities faced with the challenge of being minorities within linguistic minorities.
Number seven is specific federal programs to attract and retain newcomers to our communities. We need and want Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada to fulfill its responsibilities to our community, and we believe they want to do more. Recent discussions with this department have been positive, and we hope to move more concretely forward with them soon.
Number eight is for community-based literacy to be invested in again. Literacy in general must be approached in the widest possible way, and certainly beyond workplace skill development.
Number nine is to enable federal research to support community vitality. This means not only providing adequate funding but also including the community as a real partner in research activities, while building internal community research capacity.
Number ten is to create a part VII implementation fund to ensure federal institutions not specifically mentioned or funded in the new plan have access to resources to fulfill their part VII commitments.
Number eleven is to centralize authority to monitor the implementation of the official languages strategy.
Let me conclude by noting that our community is not participating as an equal partner in the official languages discussion at the national level and is not receiving the resources it requires to ensure its long-term viability.
The leadership to address this inequity begins with parliamentarians like yourselves having the reflex to consult with both of Canada's official language minority communities, English and French. You must make the effort to get to know us and the unique challenges we face. Do not rely on what you think you know of the myths that surround English-speaking Quebecers. The Quebec Community Groups Network, the QCGN, is at your service to help you do this.
We look forward to answering your questions. Merci.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you very much, Mr. Shea.
We will now hear from the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation with Mr. John Buck and Mr. Grant Myers.
John Buck Chief Executive Director, Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation
Thank you very much, Monsieur Paradis, Monsieur Boissonault, Monsieur Nater, Mr. Choquette, and members of the committee.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to be here. We're really excited to share with you our recommendations regarding the next action plan.
I'm John Buck. I'm the chief executive officer of CEDEC and I'm pleased today to be joined by my colleague Grant Myers, who is a provincial development officer at CEDEC.
On behalf of English speakers in Quebec, CEDEC works with a broad range of national, provincial, local, public, private, and civil society actors to help businesses grow and workers succeed in the communities in which they live. In fact, collaborative community economy development is at the heart of everything we do. It involves mobilizing citizens to take full advantage of the unique linguistic, cultural, social, and economic assets of their milieu. Collaborative community economic development strengthens and expands unique community capacities and assets, makes communities more attractive and productive in an increasingly global economy, and as a result, contributes to improving the quality of life and the sustainability of these communities.
As the Secretary-General of the OECD noted in his “Report to Ministers 2016”, the focus of future public policy must be centred on enhancing people's well-being. Given the important contributions that the linguistic, economic, and community dimensions of Canadians' lives make to their individual and collective well-being, CEDEC believes that community economic development should be recognized and funded as a pillar of the next action plan for official languages.
In addition, it believes that every effort should be made to link the next official languages action plan, especially its community economic development component, to the government's complementary policy priorities, such as, for example, its innovation and economic development agenda. This approach would help to ensure that Canada's official language minority communities are full participants and partners in building Canada's prosperity into the future.
Languages are more than demographic or cultural characteristics. Canada's official languages are gateways to new markets, innovative partnerships, and strategic business and labour market information. Canada's two official languages and the bilingualism and multilingualism of many of its citizens are critical economic assets that provide us with a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Canada's two official language minority communities are major contributors to this economic advantage.
Given this reality, CEDEC and RDÉE Canada, and its members, have partnered with Employment and Social Development Canada to develop and lead the economic action network.
The network has two main objectives: to support the creation of innovative, growth-oriented companies, and to ensure the availability of skilled, productive workers. These objectives have been documented in our Canadian Plan for Economic Development of Official Language Minority Communities. The economic action network is a space for economic leaders in government and the private sector to develop innovative, practical initiatives that stimulate interprovincial partnerships and commercial opportunities for businesses. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the Government of Canada to invest in a truly national, collaborative venture that is drawing on the strengths of Canada's official language minority communities while contributing to the reinforcement of their economic future.
CEDEC supports entirely the measure proposed by RDÉE Canada to create a sizeable leveraging fund through public-private partnership to support the launch, succession, and expansion of businesses from francophone and Acadian communities. A national capital fund supporting investments in high growth, official language minority community businesses would be welcomed by both official language minority communities.
In addition, CEDEC is recommending federal investments in a dedicated fund to directly assist Quebec businesses to pursue markets in the rest of Canada, as well as assist small and medium-sized businesses across Canada to establish themselves in Quebec and operate effectively there. In this regard, it is important to note that Quebec is Canada's second-largest domestic market.
This type of commercial activity would assist companies from across Canada to better take advantage of Canada's internal markets while simultaneously contributing to the vitality of communities across the country, including OLMCs. The initiative would promote stronger economic and business ties and networks within Canada, promote bilingualism in a context-sensitive manner, and contribute to the vitality of a number of communities, including OLMCs. Successful and competitive businesses in Quebec require talented, skilled, and bilingual workers. Quebec's English-speaking communities, especially through their educational institutions, have substantially increased the rate of bilingualism among English speakers in Quebec. In 2001, the rate was 67%, up from 37% in 1971.
Despite this advantage, an increasing number of young, educated English speakers are leaving Quebec to pursue employment elsewhere. The next action plan should provide support to Quebec's English-speaking community so that it can play a leadership role focused on inspiring bilingual graduates and young workers to stay in Quebec and contribute to the economic growth of their communities. This initiative would mirror and complement the Quebec government's immigration strategy, which is targeting international students and encouraging them to stay and support the development of Quebec.
As you discuss and consider the next action plan for official languages, CEDEC would like to offer you the following recommendations.
First, prioritize community economic development in the next action plan for official languages. The modest economic growth forecast for the coming years and the globalization of economic activity require that our communities build upon and take full advantage of their linguistic, economic, and community capacities and assets to remain attractive, competitive, and sustainable. Link the next official languages action plan, especially its community economic development component, to the government's complementary policy priorities—for example, its innovation and economic development agenda.
Second, increase investments in OLMCs in existing programs dedicated to economic development. Double the investment in the enabling fund that is managed by ESDC, double the investment in the economic development initiative managed by the regional economic agencies across the country, and index both of these according to inflation.
Third, invest in high-growth businesses. Create a capital fund to invest in high-growth-potential businesses in OLMCs. This fund should be community-managed and self-sustaining, with an initial investment from the Government of Canada and private partners.
Fourth, stimulate interprovincial trade, especially between Quebec and other provinces. The Government of Quebec should fund CEDEC and RDÉE Canada as intermediary organizations to assist Quebec-based businesses to recognize the commercial potential of markets in the rest of Canada and to deliver programs and services aimed at helping them reach these markets. These organizations should also better promote business opportunities in Quebec to SMEs and entrepreneurs across Canada and deliver business services to help access the Quebec market.
Fifth, address the interprovincial barriers. Ease or eliminate barriers to interprovincial trade and the recognition of professional qualifications. These barriers not only limit OLMC commerce but seriously impede labour market mobility for bilingual workers.
Sixth, focus on retaining talented youth. Support a significant campaign within the English-speaking communities of Quebec to retain talented, educated, bilingual post-secondary graduates.
Seventh, generate comprehensive labour market information.
Eighth, invest in tourism. Fund a national brand and marketing strategy for OLMC tourism.
Ninth, in terms of diversity of programs, as mentioned above, link the official languages action plan to other government programs. These important sources of investment should be equipped to actively enable and support the unique linguistic, economic, social, and cultural contributions that OLMCs can make to Canada's future dynamism and prosperity.
Finally, we recommend flexible and meaningful programming through community economic development. A community economic development approach and lens would greater enable federal and provincial collaboration in supporting local solutions to local problems.
In this regard, a community economic development approach would assist government programs in adapting and building upon local realities, capacities, and assets. Such an approach would bring much-needed flexibility and coordination to programs from different levels of government as well as economic sectors such as employment, economic development, entrepreneurship, and the social economy. It would focus the official language action plan on enhancing people's well-being through a community-led and supported process.
Thank you once again for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you. I look forward to your questions as well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you very much, Mr. Buck.
We'll go now to the Quebec English School Boards Association. We have Jennifer Maccarone and Kimberley Hamilton.
Please go ahead.
Jennifer Maccarone President, Quebec English School Boards Association
Thank you very much, monsieur le président et membres du comité, for accepting our joint English minority language community's request to appear before you this morning to discuss the federal government's current and future strategy towards official languages.
We must emphasize the importance of consultation with the English minority community in Quebec on a regular basis. Consequently, the Quebec English School Boards Association welcomes this opportunity to engage with you in an important discussion regarding the contributions, concerns, and expectations that characterize Canada's other official language minority community, English-speaking Quebeckers. We're pleased to be presenting with our community partners, the Quebec Community Groups Network and the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation.
Naturally, our focus will be on public education. The Quebec English School Boards Association represents the nine English language school boards across the province of Quebec and one special status school board. Our network comprises 340 schools and approximately 95,000 students. Those numbers, however, are deceiving. Don't let them fool you, since we must remind you that the English-speaking population in Quebec is a minority. In fact, we find ourselves in the particular situation of being a minority within a minority, and that sometimes leaves us ignored on these very important consultations.
Our community registered roughly 171,000 students in 1972. Today our records from June 2016 indicate approximately 98,000 students, including adult and vocational programs. That's almost a 50% decline in a span of 40 years, and we continue to trend down.
We attribute this loss to Bill 101 for the most part, but we are also competing with private schools and the false perception that young Quebeckers will not learn French in our school system. In fact, we boast an 85% success rate across the province, and our students are not only completing their French mother tongue exams very well, but they're doing so with higher marks than students enrolled in the francophone public education system.
We all know that education is a cornerstone of any society as the key element for the vitality and the longevity of minority language communities, and it is clear our community is struggling to maintain our institutions and even our critical mass. As you plan your strategy, we would like for you to consider four key contributions of the Quebec English school boards.
With the vital help of the Canada-Quebec entente on minority and second-language education, our students are graduating from English public schools with the capacity to live and work in French as well as English. Our school system is a world pioneer in French language education, and it became so with the financial support of this vital agreement.
Second, our community learning centres, otherwise known as CLCs, within our language schools are crucial in supporting the stability, creativity, and co-operation of urban, rural, and suburban communities across English-speaking Quebec. In some rural communities, federal support for CLCs has made the difference between closing down a school, thereby compromising the future of that particular community, and instead building new partnerships towards an invigorated population, so we thank you for that.
Third, our English public school network, thanks to distances, low population densities, and limited resources, have become an example of innovation and invention. With 21st century learning techniques, support of distance education, e-learning, shared programs and services, exchanges with our French school boards, and partnerships with the business community and others, English public schools are adapting to the changing needs of the challenges that they face.
Our boards have developed passionate and forward-thinking programs for the inclusion of students with special needs, and our high school rates, as I mentioned earlier, currently at 85%, continue to improve, and we're very proud of that. I would be remiss if I didn't underline that these two trademarks of the English public school system would not be possible if we did not have the funding and oversight of the Government of Canada.
Our fourth point is that English public schools are contributing to, not working against, the common future for all Quebeckers in our home province.
While there remains a tendency within Canada's majority language communities, often exploited by the media and at times aggravated by certain political figures and parties, to frame every question as a language tug-of-war, with a winner and a loser, our English schools and the communities we serve are increasingly involved in and contributing to the economic and cultural life of Quebec. Furthermore, they are contributing to the strength and the security of the French language in Quebec.
What are our concerns? Support for and interest in the vitality and the development of minority language communities has not always topped the list of priorities identified by Canadians or embraced by governments. English-speaking Quebec, in all of its diversity, is among Canada's most bilingual communities, and becoming more so every day, as we have heard recently. That is an asset for this country, but assets, as we all know, must be nurtured.
Any weakening of the level of federal support in future Canada-Quebec education accords, any lessening of the community's strong consultative role in decisions on the allocation of funds under those accords, or any structural shift that would weaken or remove federal oversight over transferred funds for minority language education in Quebec would be a real and present concern to us.
Canada's English-speaking minority community has benefited from a profound presence and a critical population mass around the city of Montreal. No doubt a dispersed francophone community across Canada has not had that luxury, and we recognize that. Nonetheless, our diverse needs are here, and they must be addressed equitably.
Based on the measure of the first official language spoken, our total population is roughly the equivalent of that of francophone Canada outside of Quebec. The needs are there, when particularly in more rural locations there are six-year-olds on buses for as long as three hours a day and students awaiting appointments with school psychologists and speech therapists for years, not months. There are still challenges in reviewing our communities and encouraging newcomers to join us.
We are looking for equitable support from our federal government as the Quebec English School Boards Association joins other community partners in addressing these challenges.
I look forward to an exchange with you.
Thank you very much for listening.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you very much, Jennifer.
Thank you, to you all, for these wonderful presentations and especially for your direct recommendations.
We'll start with questions and answers, and with Bernard Généreux.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for being here this morning.
Mr. Shea, for your information, the name of your organization was on the list for witnesses that we submitted. We're going to have to sort out why we didn't invite your.... We did have an interest in your group. I'm not sure I understand what happened there.
I felt in your speech that you had a great deal of frustration. I may be wrong, but I'd like you to explain to me what you mean when you say that you had your hands tied behind your back. I don't understand exactly what you meant by that. The federal level and the provincial level have been investing in all communities across Canada. The fact that you have 11 points to eventually invest in, or at least to look for from the government, is not probably.... You know that the government can't always respond to all of the needs of all communities.
I want you to share with us whether you have a priority in those 11 points. What would it be?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.
The reality is that we have clearly outlined our priorities based on community consultations. If you get a sense of frustration from the person who was delivering, I guess you would get the same sense from the frustration with respect to the action plan that we believe should be addressed. Rather than concentrate on my individual frustration, I would prefer...we have clearly identified our community needs, and we are asking for your support in allowing us to work in partnership to develop these community needs, which are representative of the communities we represent.
I should point out that Quebec Community Groups Network officially represents 51 community associations across the province, some sectoral and some regional. They have all had input into our objectives. We are here today, and we appreciate the opportunity to be here, to work toward a collaborative realization of the recognition that the English-speaking communities need and desire. We want to be recognized as a community working within communities, but we have very specific needs that we and our community partners have outlined with respect to economic development and education. We will concentrate on those, and we ask you to pay attention to what we believe our community needs. These are not things that have been pulled out of the air. They have been developed through community consultation. We know we have made these available to you.
Thank you for the question, and of course my director general will add to what I have said.
Sylvia Martin-Laforge Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
One of the things that we know for your consideration in looking at the road map is that the first action plan and subsequent road maps have not had quid pro quos for the work that cannot be done in Quebec. An example is immigration.
In the title of the last road map, the three pillars were immigration, education.... Immigration means the English-speaking community is not there. If we could ask one thing of your consideration around the next road map, and we will be asking the minister the same thing, it is that the activities and funding proposed within the different departments consider that in Quebec some things work better than others. When you talk about immigration, we have the same concerns as the francophones in the rest of Canada around growing or giving vitality to our community. If we can't do it through immigration because of the accords, because of Quebec, then we have to find another way.
There's a great interest in early childhood education. If that is not possible in Quebec, what's the quid pro quo? The frustration is not just about this, but over the past many years of action plans and then road maps and evaluations of those exercises. The evaluations are saying what the programs are giving, but the evaluations are not considering the gaps in the programming. We are telling you what the gaps in the programming are because the evaluations are just considering the programs.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Mr. Buck, you made 10 recommendations.
Knowing that the government can't do everything and that its resources are limited, although money grows on trees for the Liberals right now—which is good news for them, but not necessarily for Canadians in general—what is your absolute priority? You have some very interesting suggestions in your program, particularly for business development.
Chief Executive Director, Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation
Thank you for your question, Mr. Généreux.
It is difficult to choose from the 10 recommendations, it's sort of like choosing the child you love best. The idea of making economic and community development a pillar in the next action plan is very important to us.
That said, in a future plan, the investment in that pillar is equally important. We can see that the current roadmap has been around since 2004. So my comments are not political in nature. We see that the money invested in the enabling fund has been stable since 2004, meaning $12.5 million since 2004. We see that there are significant benefits from that fund.
In terms of investment, I think it's a good initiative. In connection with that, the economic development initiative has received a significant increase with the roadmap. However,
If we look at Quebec, we see that out of this $30.5 million for the past five years, $10.5 million is associated with Quebec. Clearly we're getting wonderful returns on that money. It makes sense to invest more money in those areas.
Thank you for the question, Mr. Généreux.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you, Mr. Buck.
Before we go to the next question, I've seen the chart that you've shown us, Mr. Shea. Is it possible to have it in colour? What we have is in black and white here, and we can hardly read it. Can you give that to the clerk of the committee so that he can make copies for us?
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you also for welcoming me today.
I'd like to first of all thank all of you for the work that you do every day for our community. It's very much appreciated.
When it comes to the sense of frustration, I think part of it is that I think generally speaking English-speaking Quebec feels that it's badly understood in the rest of the country—that if you're not part of the community, whether you're a part of the majority community in Quebec or part of the community in the rest of Canada, you don't understand necessarily all of the issues that have confronted the community, how much the community has changed, and how many myths are still out there about English-speaking Quebec.
For example, as I understand it, the mother tongue English-speaking population of Quebec has fallen from more than a million in 1971 to approximately 650,000 today. The number of students in the schools, as Ms. Maccarone outlined, has gone from 171,000 in 1972 to about 95,000 today.
While we have a wonderful nucleus of health care institutions around Montreal that the community built over centuries, we have issues if you're English-speaking in the Gaspé or English-speaking in the Magdalen Islands or English-speaking in most parts of Quebec, because you don't necessarily have access to a doctor close by or even a school close by, and you can be bused for many hours to go to school.
If a community has become much more bilingual and tried to change and evolve over time, it's still confronting a lot of issues with respect to retaining young people and with respect to caring for isolated seniors, and I think people don't necessarily understand that. They feel that when English-speaking Quebec comes to the table and asks for equitable funding, it sort of looks like, well, you're gâté. You're spoiled.
That's why I really appreciate your intervention today. What I'd like to hear from all of you, again, in terms of the priorities for the next action plan, is how we bring more English-speaking people to Quebec who could then enter our English schools. As we know, immigrants can't go to English schools in Quebec even if they're from the English-speaking community, so how do we attract other English-speaking Canadians to Quebec? How do we keep our young people in the province and how can the federal government help you all do that? Maybe we could hear from each of you on that.
Director General, Quebec Community Groups Network
I could give it a bit of an idea here.
We need to demonstrate to the rest of Canada the social capital that the English-speaking community of Quebec represents.
One of the pieces of work that was fascinating in the Townships, as one townshipper to another, is that we did a study, an academic study, around immigrant retention or immigrant attraction. Compared to the Townships, immigrant attraction and retention was much stronger in Quebec City than in the Townships.
If you go into Quebec City, there is an infrastructure. There's a hospital. There are services. They are only 2% of the population, but the population is incredibly strong, very representative on tables de concertation. They are within the fabric, while retaining their identity.
That was interesting for us, because in the Townships there seems to have been a loss of civic engagement. While there are a lot of volunteers, they're not attracting enough people. The conclusion of the academic research was that there was more social cohesion infrastructure in Quebec City, and therefore more attraction.
I think we could apply that to lots of places. In Montreal there is social cohesion. There is attractiveness. It attracts. I think in general we have to look attractive for other people in the rest of Canada—especially the young people, but all people—to come to Quebec, and if they come,
there must be jobs. We agree with CEDEC's view on that.
People will come if there are jobs. That would be my piece.
The feds need to help build the notion of social cohesion in the English-speaking community and point out our contribution to Quebec and Canadian society.
Liberal
Anthony Housefather Liberal Mount Royal, QC
I appreciate that.
I'd like you to intervene on the question of how we best retain our youth and bring more people to join the community.
Chief Executive Director, Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation
Absolutely, Mr. Housefather, and thank you for the question.
Your experience in our community is apparent, as is your sensitivity to the issues we face.
We've talked about the importance, as Ms. Martin-Laforge mentioned, of having jobs as a key way of making sure we're in a vibrant society and a vibrant location. We believe that the notion of creating a capital fund that would allow us to invest in official-language minority community businesses could help us enormously in this respect. This would be something that would occur in urban centres but also be distributed so that those individuals you referred to, in places like the Gaspésie, the Eastern Townships, and other places where there is a significant minority, would have an equal opportunity to create jobs and create businesses.
In doing that—and we talked about this in association with the creation of the capital fund—we would enable businesses in Quebec to gain a greater awareness of markets outside and help them to get to other parts of Canada. It would provide services to enable businesses in other parts of Canada to be in Quebec, Canada's second-largest market.
This is not always an instinct that happens naturally, for a variety of reasons, including the unique circumstances associated with Quebec from an investment perspective, together with the somewhat different legal environment. Having another language to work with is sometimes perceived as added costs for businesses in other locations, and we don't fully recognize all the benefits associated with this. This is another measure that would help enormously with the attraction.
With respect to the students, I think there is a tremendous opportunity for us to echo some of the initiatives undertaken by the Government of Quebec such as trying, through Montréal International, to launch a $1.3-million program that seeks to retain graduate students. This is not necessarily happening in English-speaking institutions at the moment. There is a wonderful opportunity for us to do that. It presents a sad state of affairs, sometimes, to witness the tremendous capacity and investment that goes into wonderful students who enjoy their time enormously while they are in Quebec, yet are not introduced to Quebec and are simply not asked to stay. That's all we need to do in many cases.
Liberal
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your time here and for your explanation.
I was really interested in what you said about the English-speaking persons being a minority within a minority. I am from Drummond, so when I think about English-speaking people, they are from South Durham and Trenholm, which are really small communities. They are living there, doing their stuff and not doing badly, but it is tough for them. When I visit them, they tell me it's tough to access services.
When I think about schools, we have an elementary school in Drummondville, but we don't have a high school. They have to go to Richmond, so that's a signal. I don't know if there is early childhood education. That is a good question. When I think about English-speaking communities, I always think about Montreal. We always forget about the rest.
What I think we need from you also is more about the other communities. We don't hear enough about them. You talk about tourism. Drummondville is great. Come to Drummondville, please. Trenholm is great. It's beautiful there for tourism, and great for the economy. The next time you do a convention, do it in Drummondville, not in Montreal. That's the first point you need to do.
I want to hear about education. What more do you need in education? What do you think about education in a small community like mine?
President, Quebec English School Boards Association
Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.
First of all, Drummondville needs to be showcased the most because it has the best poutine in the world. If we want to promote the city, I think that's the first attraction to be shared with the world.
Education, of course, is always going to be particular, even at this table, given the fact that it's a provincial consideration for the most part. However, I think certainly what's important for us as a consideration—you're absolutely right—is to continue to assist us in supporting our more rural communities.
It's not always just about Montreal. We represent the nine English school boards, and we are often educating our own members of our own community. It's having them understand that a minority within a minority...but even within those minorities, there are very specific challenges, especially in regions like the Gaspé area, or even Quebec City and the north shore of Montreal.
The school board I represent when I'm not wearing my president of QESBA hat is the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board. Our territories are huge. My school board is 35,000 square kilometres. That's the size of Belgium. We have schools that have fewer than 100 students. However, if you are part of the Eastern Shores School Board, you have some schools with fewer than ten students.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
What can federal side do for you? How can the action plan help you?
President, Quebec English School Boards Association
It's very important for us to continue the funding with the Canada-Québec Entente. These are monies that directly support our educational institutions and allow us to support our minority communities. Of course, we would love to increase those funds, because as our communities continue to decline, the needs continue to grow. Access to services becomes even more difficult. We have a lot of challenges in getting those services out to the regions and in keeping our schools open.
As I mentioned in my presentation, our schools are not only the vitality of our communities, they are the hub of our communities. In many of those areas, although we talk about education, it's where the families go—not just the students—for their health and social services. It's where they go for their community networking. It's where they go for their sports. In some cases, it's the only place where the community can get an English book, for those of us still reading paper copies.
I would say that's primordial for us. It would be a consideration to continue to directly support our community learning centres, the CLCs. Right now, they're managed under Canada entente monies, but that would certainly be something that could be considered. These are often the lifeline and the lifeblood of those very rural communities. They allow access to distance education, access to programs and services, that they would otherwise not be eligible for or easily accessed due to their location.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Very interesting.
To come back to QCGN and Mr. Shea, I think it was Mr. Buck who talked about governance.
How do you see governance going on right now, and how can it be ameliorated? What I mean is that the FCFA just told us that maybe we need to have a better system of governance. There are so many people taking decisions that we don't know who is reliable, who is in charge, where we can knock at the door and say, “Hey, what have you done?”
What can we do about the governance, in your point of view?