Official Languages Committee on Nov. 17th, 2016

[Gaël Corbineau]

It was last year, just before the federal elections.

[Cyrilda Poirier]

We got the impression that the department had found the money at the back of a drawer and realized that it had to get rid of it quickly before the elections. That’s our impression, anyway.

We only had a very short time in which to decide what to do with that $3.5 million. That is when the FCFA rattled the cage, as you say.

[Gaël Corbineau]

In my experience with Employment and Social Development Canada’s administration in particular, formerly HRSDC, my feeling is that they just do not have the management capacity. I will give you two examples: RDEE and RESDAC. The department is not able to manage all kinds of projects itself, and it delegates the entire management to national community organizations.

So, the department found this on its hands. It wanted to call for tenders to improve things in the areas of literacy and essential skills. But it was not able to follow through.

My feeling is that, in terms of managing this money, there is a huge capacity problem in that department.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

That is really very interesting. We talk a lot about horizontal or transverse governance, and so on. Let me give you a concrete example of a problem situation. We have done a lot of work in recent months on the translation bureau. When problems arise, there is no one to make decisions. They tell us that each person has responsibilities. However, as we see it at the moment, they do not really have the skills. That is our feeling, and yours too. Honestly, I too have been noticing it for some time.

You talked about RESDAC no longer having funding. What specific consequences does that have for you?

[Gaël Corbineau]

When RESDAC had its funding, we were able to conduct a needs analysis in our communities. So we did a wonderful study that was supposed to be implemented. We had their support in drafting funding applications. The direct service is provided provincially, because it’s in provincial jurisdiction, but RESDAC’s support was invaluable for us.

I am not a literacy expert. When a funding application has to be made, you have to have people with that skill in order to be accurate with all the details, and so on. As we do not have our own organization, we normally look for support from organizations of that kind. Today, RESDAC is no longer able to do it. They only have one part-time person left. There is no RESDAC office any more. They have only their own money from a reserve fund they had set aside. It is a major problem.

The national network they used to get us working no longer exists either. We have needs in a lot of areas. We are working in partnership on projects for seniors as far away as Alberta, as was mentioned earlier. We are working with seniors in Alberta because our health needs are similar. We had someone come in from Thunder Bay because our situations were similar. We did things like that. Now, in that specific area, we are no longer able to be so active.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

I only have a minute left. I would like to hear what you have to say about access to justice. You slipped in a mention of it earlier. Access to justice is extremely important to me. So I have introduced a bill to make sure that Supreme Court judges are bilingual. We do not just want a policy, we also want a bill.

Furthermore, a report from the Commissioner of Official Languages said that we perhaps have to ensure access to justice in the superior courts as well. One of the things we have to do is to ensure better access to justice in French in the superior courts.

In your province, what are your needs in terms of access to justice?

[Cyrilda Poirier]

As I said in my presentation, networking is one of the things that we really need. It is something we have to be able to do. We also need to be able to identify judges, even lawyers, who are bilingual. We know that they are out there. The question is knowing how to keep track of them. We must also ensure that they have the training they need to hear legal proceedings in French. That is critical.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Choquette.

The floor goes to Mr. Samson.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to the witnesses for joining us today. We like being able to fully capture the points of view of people all across Canada. You are the far east for us. We appreciate your visit very much. Afterwards, we are going to hear from my fellow Nova Scotian about immigration. It is very interesting to see perspectives from different parts of the country, from places that are not so densely populated and where the needs for services are certainly enormous.

You have touched on a number of interesting topics. I just want to make sure that I understood completely. Are the agreements between the FCFA, yourselves and the federal government, or does the province sign them? From my experience with education, everything goes through the province. The money goes to the province, then to the school boards, then all kinds of questions arise about it.

Can you tell us a little about that?

[Cyrilda Poirier]

Do you want to talk specifically about official language programs in education?

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

Exactly.

[Cyrilda Poirier]

The agreements are bilateral, and federal-provincial. We are not involved in them at all.

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

I am not talking about education; I know about education. I am talking about your agreement.

[Gaël Corbineau]

Our funding agreements for our various networks never go through the province. This has been the case for the management of community centres, but has not been the case for three, almost four years.

Going through the province added an enormous delay. In addition, administrative problems posed major cash-flow problems for the associations managing the community centres. So we shortened the circuit.

Otherwise, everything happens between us and the federal government or between us and a national community organization. For example, in health care, Health Canada works with the Société Santé en français, and the Société Santé en français takes care of allocating funding based on the situation or on the projects submitted. This is the national community level.

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

The networking of organizations in the health care sector seems to work much better. They are directly linked to the flow of funds and are involved in their implementation, which is different.

You said that, when the province was involved in the funding agreements, it took much more time. What happened? Personally, I would have stood on a chair shouting every day to demand where my funding was.

It's unacceptable.

Have there been any changes?

I know that the minister also ensured that the projects of $75,000 or less are processed much faster, which provides much quicker funding for employees and other people.

[Cyrilda Poirier]

Let's say that the funding or receipt of the amounts has greatly improved in recent years. As Mr. Corbineau said, since the funding no longer goes through the Ministry of Education, the school and community centres that were funded through federal-provincial agreements actually receive their money.

And, yes, we shouted for the funds to be released, but it fell on deaf ears the entire time it was like that.

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

Thank you for saying that. We will certainly note it in our report.

I now have a more specific question about early childhood. The question is essential for the survival of Acadians and francophones living in minority situations in Canada's Atlantic provinces.

In your region in particular, there are three francophone regions that are quite spread out. You need something concrete to get started.

Do you agree that a child who starts in an anglophone day care will probably go to school in English?

[Cyrilda Poirier]

There is no doubt about that.

[Gaël Corbineau]

Absolutely.

You know better than anyone, Mr. Samson, that students from a francophone environment going to English-language day cares causes a real problem. It hinders the development of French in the other students in the class, and it drags them down. The more students who do not speak French when they arrive at kindergarten, the more it pulls the class down and the more it prevents others from making progress.

This can indeed be a disadvantage. It is absolutely important to work from age zero, from birth, if not before, to make parents aware of the importance of speaking French at home, especially for exogamous couples.

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

It will be difficult for us to achieve this before birth, but we will certainly work on it after birth.

I agree with you 100%. We offer a day care service in Nova Scotia for children four years and older. It is open to all students who want to study in French before entering the school system.

[Gaël Corbineau]

It is essential.

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

It is essential.

That's the point I will make and will stress, definitely.

Do I have any time left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You have a minute left, Mr. Samson.

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

Right. I'll give it to Mr. Lefebvre. I rarely have any time left.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Go ahead, Mr. Lefebvre.