Official Languages Committee on Nov. 17th, 2016

[Emmanuel Nahimana]

In the past, a few years ago, community partners used to receive funding from IRCC to promote our communities outside Canada. Today, that is no longer the case, Mr. Samson. That is really hurting the visibility of our services in French, our communities and our wealth outside Canada. We would really like future immigrants to be able to know about the services in our community and to take specific measures to come here and use French in our province.

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

Do you have any comments on the eligibility criteria?

[Emmanuel Nahimana]

Yes.

There is a problem with the eligibility criteria. Once again, we cannot serve some people, such as international students and temporary workers, because our source of funding, the federal government through IRCC, does not allow us to provide services to these people. We would also like to provide services to those clients as well, Mr. Samson.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Choquette, the floor is yours.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be quick.

We have heard a lot about the “by and for” principle, that is, services provided by and for official language communities. In your province, do you think there are departments that have been offering programs, but the anglophone organizations end up providing those services in both official languages?

[Emmanuel Nahimana]

That's what happened with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which unfortunately gave anglophone organizations the opportunity to serve French-speaking refugees.

Our mandate is far from being fulfilled, because those French-speaking refugees are not served by francophone service providers. We would like those refugees to be served by us, the francophone service provider.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Nahimana.

This brings your presentation to a close, but rest assured that the text you are going to submit to the clerk will also be circulated and will be an integral part of our deliberations. Thank you very much for coming from Nova Scotia to meet with us today.

As you can see, we have a small scheduling problem because of an unexpected vote in the House.

Thank you, everyone. We will adjourn until next Tuesday.

[Emmanuel Nahimana]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

The meeting is adjourned.