Official Languages Committee on Nov. 24th, 2016

[Stefanie Beck]

It is for people who speak French.

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

We know that Quebec

takes all the oxygen in the country.

Minority communities such as mine, Saint-Boniface–Saint-Vital, were represented at Destination Canada by a person from the World Trade Centre, which had to find funding here and there. It was really done on a shoestring, as is always the case.

Does the government pay travel, accommodation, and other expenses of the representatives of the official language minority communities taking part in Destination Canada?

[Stefanie Beck]

No. That provision was cancelled a few years ago.

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

In what year was that?

[Stefanie Beck]

I do not know. It might have been 2014, but we will have to send you that information later.

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

That is the key point for me.

[Stefanie Beck]

In fact, I should tell you something. We do not pay those expenses, but that does not mean people stay away from the event. This year, 65 representatives of provinces and municipalities attended. A minister from New Brunswick took part in the event. I think that was the second or third time she has done so.

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

I am talking about the community here. There were two representatives from Manitoba, but let us say they do not have the same passion as the people from the franco-Manitoban community.

[Stefanie Beck]

We offer the communities a lot of opportunities, and not just the days at Destination Canada. We also organize webinars and television broadcasts in which people from the communities can take part. They can submit their products or promotional documents to us, and we circulate them through the missions. We bring back our representatives so that, once they have returned from their missions, they can speak on behalf of the communities. A lot of resources are used, not just a single event.

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

I understand that, but the fact remains that Destination Canada is a major job fair that people can attend. Your figures—you mentioned a registration figure of 12,760—are very impressive. We have to try to get our percentage for Saint-Boniface—Saint-Vital and, in fact, for Manitoba.

[Stefanie Beck]

The community has to there and to have jobs to offer.

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

Yes.

[Stefanie Beck]

It is not just a matter of being there.

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

I know the private sector has a role to play in this regard, but, if the Government of Canada provided funding for representatives working in the immigration field to attend, that would help us reach the 4.4% target. That is just a suggestion on my part. I often hear it said in Saint-Boniface—Saint-Vital that people cannot get there. One person from the community and two provincial representatives are not enough.

[Stefanie Beck]

Yes.

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

All right. I have my answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much.

Mrs. Boucher, you have the floor.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will be sharing my allotted time with Mr. Doherty.

Thanks to the witnesses for being with us today.

I find your remarks a bit complicated. It is never a simple matter to deal with the departments. This is very much an immigration matter, but, in view of the massive influx of francophone refugees, do you have the capacity to integrate them to the same degree as immigrants? Immigrants choose to come to Canada, but that is not the case of refugees.

Do you use the same approach? Is a portion of the $900 million earmarked for refugees and minority communities?

Earlier you talked about a situation at the airport. I want to say something on that subject. A Syrian arrived in Quebec, in my region of Boischatel. However, he only spoke English. Upon arriving at Montréal-Trudeau international airport, he asked to be transferred to an anglophone province, but his request was denied. I would like to know why we refuse this kind of request from people who do not really speak the majority language of a given province. Why do we refuse to allow them to go to a particular place?

It is their choice, even though they are refugees. I would like to know whether you use the same approach with immigrants and refugees. Representatives of organizations have told us this is difficult. I would like you to explain to me how it works.

[Stefanie Beck]

Actually, Jennifer is an expert in refugee policy.

Remember, there are two kinds of refugees. There are government-assisted refugees and privately sponsored refugees. They're different categories. In terms of funding and the $900 million, there is funding for refugees in the same way there is funding for everybody else. Refugees, as you know, get more income support, so that money would be included in the $900 million. The first year, we provide income support as well as the official languages training and the other integration supports that exist for everybody else.

For those who are privately sponsored, remember that they go to the location where the sponsors are. If it's a group from Saint Boniface sponsoring a refugee, that family will come to Saint Boniface and must stay there as long as they are receiving money from the private sponsors. Once the private sponsor's commitment is finished, they can go wherever they want. They are permanent residents of Canada.

When we do government-sponsored refugees, we do not ask them where they want to go. The provinces give us targets. They say they want 2,000, 3,000, or whatever the number is. That number changed, au fur et à mesure, that we were bringing in the Syrian refugees last year. Quebec had a certain number. We brought in the number that Quebec wanted.

We do, very rarely, allow refugees to change their destination, but only in circumstances where, for instance, they have a close family member in Vancouver, say; we had not realized this at the time of processing; and the refugee was sent inadvertently to Montreal. If they then come and say, “My brother lives in Vancouver, and I want to be close to him,” we will move them. If it's because of a medical condition that cannot be treated in whatever destination they were going to, obviously we will look to see how we can accommodate that.

I think that, out of the 25,000 refugees we took in last year, fewer than 100 had to change destinations at the last minute. That does not mean these people cannot subsequently change locations. They arrive, stay in Quebec for a year, and then go elsewhere. In the meantime, however, they have learned French, and that is in fact what we wanted.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mrs. Boucher.

Mr. Doherty, you have the floor.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Perhaps you could give me a couple of extra minutes, because I would like to address the questions that our honourable colleagues across the way asked about our airports and our ports. I can speak with some authority on that, and on Destination Canada as well, based on my previous role of managing airports and promoting Canada on the world stage. There are programs available. Our government invested fairly heavily in that, and previous governments did too, in the official languages program.

Our airports, our ports, and our borders are seen as the first port of entry. Many times, they are the first experience that our immigrants have here. There are considerable dollars made available in terms of our official languages, as well as the regulations they must follow. All signage must be in both official languages. There should be translators available, as well as services. The government has provided that, and it is up to every port and airport or point of entry to have them there.

In terms of Destination Canada and the funds that are available, I also attended many events for the promotion of Canada on the world stage, and it does fall, as Ms. Beck said, to the communities and the provinces to show up to these events. There are funds made available for those communities to attend them and to promote Canada as a great place to work, live, play, invest, and learn. Those were the five pillars that we would always do, and funds were made available for that. Can we do a better job? Can Canada do a better job? Absolutely, and at that point, I'll lead into my question.

To answer your question, if you guys have any further questions on that, I can probably answer them offline. As a manager of an airport and an executive in airport and aviation who served and actually promoted Canada on the world stage—

[An hon. member]

Which airport?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

I served for a number of them, but I worked in Vancouver. I managed Prince George Airport and the Edmonton International Airport, and then I worked as a consultant and promoted Canada, working together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. It was about promoting Canada on the world stage in terms of opportunities for Canada and making Canada competitive. I served on a number of panels as well about how we can make Canada more competitive in different ways.

[Stefanie Beck]

Can we hire you?