Evidence of meeting #5 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 community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Dan Vandal Liberal Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB
In St. Boniface, people often bring up the fact that the francophone significant benefit program was eliminated. You, yourself, mentioned it. Where do you stand on that?
5:10 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
The francophone significant benefit program was part of a broader immigration program that made it possible for employers to recruit temporary workers. When the government did away with the overall immigration program, it eliminated the francophone significant benefit program at the same time, without any consultation or consideration of the community impact.
It was the only program at the time that gave employers the ability to hire French-speaking workers. It attracted a lot of people. It was a huge incentive.
5:10 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Yes, outside Quebec.
The loss of the program has had a major impact on employers' ability to recruit and hire French-speaking foreign workers.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Ms. Lanthier, in response to my colleague's question about Senator Chaput's bill to amend the Official Languages Act, you answered yes very quickly. Why?
5:10 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
We encouraged you to pass the bill because it sets out a more modern definition of the term “francophone” and the vision or manner, rather, in which the government must provide services in both official languages. I think the bill would bring the government's approach in line with our reality, in 2016.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Wonderful. Thank you.
When you appeared before the finance committee, you called on the government to release funds that had been committed under the roadmap but not yet provided.
Would you mind telling us what roadmap funding has yet to be released, as you explained to the finance committee?
5:10 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Specifically, the $4 million in funding under the social partnership initiative in official-language minority communities.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
5:10 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Precisely.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Is the money for one program, in particular, or multiple programs? Is a specific department or agency responsible for the initiative?
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
The Department of Employment and Social Development administers the program, or the social partnership initiative in official-language minority communities. The $4 million in funding that was previously earmarked for early childhood education was shifted over to this initiative.
What the department has had trouble with is determining the initiative's objectives and desired outcomes. Currently, of that $4 million, some $3 million is supposed to go to francophone minority communities and $1 million is supposed to go to English-speaking communities in Quebec.
On the French side, four national organizations have joined forces. They came up with a plan and project to meet the specific objectives of the initiative, as set out by the department. The four organizations are the Fédération des aînées et aînés francophones du Canada, the Commission nationale des parents francophones, the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française, and the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne. They put together proposals, and for the last year and a half, they have been waiting for an answer from the department.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
What impact has the department's failure to release the funds had? Does it mean nothing is happening?
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Some organizations have had a very hard time getting by, the Commission nationale des parents francophones and the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne, in particular.
Our anglophone counterparts talked earlier about core funding and project funding. Multi-year agreements and the timely release of funding by departments are crucial to our survival. Any uncertainty means we lose staff. If we can't tell them whether they are going to have a job in a month, we lose them.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
What do you think the reason is? Is it that an evaluation has still not been done?
5:10 p.m.
Executive Director, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
We don't know. We have no idea. Department representatives are constantly asking us more questions. They seem to still be missing information.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
Fine.
You have repeatedly talked about the importance of Radio-Canada to French-speaking communities outside Quebec. As you know, our government has committed to increasing the public broadcaster's funding.
Do you talk to the people at Radio-Canada about the needs of francophone communities outside Quebec?
5:15 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
Two weeks ago, we met with Radio-Canada executives. The crown corporation produces an annual report on the initiatives it undertakes in support of official language minority communities. Not only did we want to discuss that, but we also wanted to talk about their goals for the future and their plans for the additional $75 million in funding if it came through.
Our understanding is that, for the time being, Radio-Canada is not providing any guarantees that it will spend funds directly on regional stations in our communities. And yet, there is no denying the cutbacks these stations have endured or the fact that, aside from daily news programming, they produce little in the way of television content, whether programs for children or young people, or variety shows. On the news side, things are lacking: you need reporters on site, for instance. Other types of programming are also lacking.
We recommend that the government attach conditions to the funding increase in order to ensure that some of the money goes to our communities.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON
The roadmap, which I'm familiar with, is a frequent topic of conversation.
Could you describe what was going on before the roadmap was introduced? What concrete results has the roadmap produced? Does the roadmap matter? Is it an approach worth keeping or not?
5:15 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
As I understood the situation, when Mr. Dion was the minister, he considered the idea of having an official languages action plan. He wanted to set a new objective for the government, in addition to what it was already doing. Specifically, that meant providing support to such sectors as health care, something that was new at the time. No significant efforts were being made in the health care arena back then, so he wanted to create a measure that would have real teeth.
The plan also included targets around the number of Canadians who would learn both official languages, in terms of students graduating from immersion programs and so forth. Objectives were attached to that official languages plan, which brought together all of the government's initiatives under a single banner. That's what was done in the first incarnation of the action plan. My understanding is that subsequent governments did more or less the same thing, but in a different way.
The government's efforts should not end with the roadmap. Other measures are surely needed, hence the importance of properly evaluating the roadmap's impact. That means figuring out exactly where the money was spent, what it was spent on, and what impact it had, in order to determine whether the tool is meeting communities' needs, not to mention the government's. If not, the government will need to think about how it can do a better job under the next action plan, if there is one.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative John Nater
Thank you.
Mr. Généreux, you have six minutes. Please go ahead.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being with us today, ladies. We had the chance to meet this week, which I quite enjoyed. I mentioned to you quickly that I was confident, in terms of the needs you could potentially fulfill going forward, and that I stood in solidarity with you.
You said you received $950,000 in support from the federal government, but do you receive any funding from the provinces?
5:15 p.m.
Chair, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada
In her answer, Suzanne was referring specifically to the FCFA's funding. The only support she didn't mention was the funding we receive from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for the immigration initiatives we oversee. Otherwise, the FCFA does not receive any provincial funding.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
Very well.
Since we are meeting this week and you are here today, I'd like to take this opportunity, with the permission of committee members, of course, to put forward a bit of an unusual motion. I'm not sure what the protocol is, but perhaps the clerk could enlighten me.
I'd like to take advantage of your being here today to put forward a motion to acknowledge all the work Mauril Bélanger has done over the years in support of the francophonie and official language minority communities.
I'm not sure how to go about it, but I'd like to know whether it's possible for the committee to put forward a joint motion with your organization and the QCGN—in short, all of the advocates for official language minority communities across the country. I'm not sure if anything like that has been done before, but I think we should all recognize Mauril's hard work.
I jotted down some text for a motion on the edge of my paper. I'll read it to you, but there's surely room for improvement. It reads as follows: “That the committee recognize the tireless work, dedication, and passion of the Honourable Mauril Bélanger in support of official language minority communities throughout his entire career as a member of Parliament”.
I'm not sure whether we should add the title “minister”, seeing as he used to be one. The motion goes on to read: “That, together with the organizations representing francophone and anglophone minority communities, the committee publicly acknowledge his dedication.”
We could probably tinker with the motion a bit. Perhaps Mr. Boissonnault could help us with that. I don't imagine it would be too difficult to get the committee's unanimous consent for the motion. While you're with us today, I'd like to get your support. I don't imagine that will be too difficult either. It's important to acknowledge the work that people like Mauril do.