Evidence of meeting #6 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 cpac.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC
That would demonstrate the committee's unanimity to the House. We could notify the Speaker, I could read the French part, and you could read the English part. That would demonstrate the committee's unanimity with respect to this motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Mr. Clerk has heard your comments, and I'll ask him to follow up on our discussion about this.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Chairman, can we call this a recommendation or a tribute motion in the context of official languages?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
It would be a tribute motion. If we need the word “report”, we'll include it.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
The word “report” does not go with a tribute.
We'll let the clerk figure it out.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Mr. Clerk will make arrangements for this to be presented in the House. We'll try to get the support of the Speaker of the House.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Yes, probably. He's a good friend. He'll want to. I think this is for a good cause.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Definitely.
It's approved.
The next topic is the Francophonie. I'd like to read you the draft statement prepared at the request of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on Monday, March 21, which is today:
At its meeting the day after the Journée internationale de la Francophonie, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages acknowledged the importance of this day, which celebrates the French language and cultural diversity on five continents. With approximately 274 million French speakers worldwide, La Francophonie is a vibrant linguistic space with a rich culture and history. The Committee members are proud that Canada is part of La Francophonie and that French is one of our country’s official languages. During its meeting, the Committee also acknowledged Canada’s active role in the international francophone community as a member of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and through the interparliamentary activities of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie.
Do you agree with this statement? The Journée internationale de la Francophonie was Sunday, March 20.
Yes, Darrell?
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Mr. Chairman, at the end of my member statement today, I invited francophone foreigners to come settle in—
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
No, in minority communities across Canada. Nova Scotia is certainly one of them.
Canada attracts a lot of immigrants. Things are fine in English, but for the minority francophone community, I wonder if there are ways to stimulate, support and attract francophone immigrants to ensure the vitality and longevity of our communities. I'm very concerned about this.
The message could state that Canada welcomes members of the international Francophonie and that, if francophones want to immigrate to Canada, we would be ready to welcome them to our minority communities and so on. It might be nice to add something to that effect.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
I'd like to add to what my colleague from Nova Scotia said. We should also make it clear that it is possible for francophones to immigrate to Canada. That's important because francophone communities are being diluted.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
I agree, but we have to be careful about how we word it so as not to interfere with provincial jurisdiction. It's fine for the other provinces, but if the wording is off, Quebec will have something to say about it.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Yes, but we're talking about francophone immigration. Francophone immigration to minority communities means provinces other than Quebec.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Okay, then, it's fine.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
This doesn't apply to Quebec. If we were talking about Quebec, we'd be talking about anglophone immigration.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
It's an invitation to immigrate to Canada. There are communities ready to welcome people.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
We'll add something about that.
Is everyone okay with the statement?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
The statement is approved.
The next topic is the witnesses list for the study on the Translation Bureau.
I have here the list of witnesses proposed by members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages .
The witnesses proposed by Mauril Bélanger are Richard Clément, director of the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute and associate dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa; Sylviane Lanthier, president of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne; and Lola Bendana, president of the Language Industry Association.
Here are the witnesses proposed by François Choquette: Emmanuelle Tremblay and André Picotte, president and vice president, respectively, of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees; Linda Cardinal, University of Ottawa professor and holder of the Research Chair in Canadian Francophonie and Public Policies and minority languages specialist —that won't cost us much for transportation; Donald Barabé, former vice-president of the Translation Bureau; Alan Bernardi, president and CEO of the Language Technologies Research Centre; Charles LeBlanc, University of Ottawa associate professor and member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies; and Jean Delisle, University of Ottawa emeritus professor.
Here's the list of individuals who have contacted the clerk to express their interest: Louise Brunette, Université du Québec en Outaouais professor; and Shaunpal Jandu, projects and public affairs lead with Canadian Parents for French.
That's all.
François, over to you.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Like Mr. Bélanger, I am one of the instigators of this study. That's why I proposed several witnesses. That being said, I believe there needs to be a balance.
Emmanuelle Tremblay and André Picotte will testify together. Basically, there is just one group of witnesses that will appear for about 10 minutes if the committee agrees to invite them.
Linda Cardinal is a champion for everything related to the Translation Bureau. She has often spoken publicly in that role, as has Donald Barabé.
The University of Ottawa is already represented. If the committee would rather remove some of the witnesses I've proposed, I suggest removing Charles LeBlanc and Jean Delisle, who are also from the University of Ottawa.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
I proposed four witnesses. Three of them would appear as a group: Ms. Cardinal, Mr. Barabé, and Mr. Bernardi.