Official Languages Committee on June 14th, 2017

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Okay.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

In terms of the accountability piece, we're happy to—

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I agree that good progress has been made, but it must continue and we want to see it first-hand.

We are talking about the sustainability of our minority communities and about countering assimilation, a fight in which immigration and early childhood become very important.

Early childhood plays an important role because our children in minority settings don't have access to French-language schools or to education in French from a very early age. So that's already a bad start. Recommendation 9 from our report focuses on that.

In terms of the next action plan—we have already looked at it with Minister Duclos in terms of infrastructure—we have to keep an eye on early childhood in minority settings. That was a unanimous recommendation.

Madam Minister, can you please comment on the importance of early childhood?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

In the course of the public consultations, we clearly heard that immigration and early childhood were important issues.

I would also like to thank my colleague Parliamentary Secretary Sean Casey, who is working very hard on all those matters.

When it comes to early childhood, we took two measures before we even announced the plan.

The first measure is part of Budget 2017. We announced $80 million over 10 years for community infrastructure that sustains the vitality of minority language communities—I'm talking about kindergartens, cultural centres or school-community centres. We know that this will help communities in a general sense and provide useful infrastructure. We are currently in discussions with the provinces and territories regarding their requests and the management of those requests.

That is an example of horizontal leadership, as I am working very hard with my colleague the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Amarjeet Sohi, to ensure that funding is set aside for those elements in the community infrastructure envelope.

Concerning early childhood, as you saw, our colleague Mr. Duclos made an important announcement this week. He announced $7.5 billion in funding over 11 years and a national framework on early childhood.

That framework specifically mentions the importance of having early childhood services to counter the assimilation of francophone communities and ensure education continuity for children from different minority language communities. Now that the framework has been implemented, one thing is very important. I am following up with Minister Duclos on that issue by ensuring that bilateral agreements with the provinces contain concrete targets that could be implemented.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We now go to Mr. Choquette.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the two ministers for joining us today.

Mr. Lefebvre's question was very important, but I did not understand the answer. Mr. Hussen, will someone be in charge of francophone immigration to ensure that our objectives are achieved? Could you please answer with a yes or no?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

The target is in my mandate letter, and I'm ultimately responsible for achieving that target.

Thank you.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

So we are to understand that the answer is no, unfortunately. That first answer is really disappointing.

Minister Joly, we are really in trouble; things are going badly. In January 2016, and even before, Mr. Fraser said that he would leave and that an open and transparent process would be needed to find the next Commissioner of Official Languages. You initiated a process, and there was a lot of controversy. We know about that, so we won't go over it again

There is currently no commissioner. The acting commissioner will finish her term on June 17. What happens now? What is the next step?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We have a Commissioner of Official Languages.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Ms. Saikaley is the acting Commissioner of Official Languages and will hold that position only until June 17. What will happen after that date?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I will have an opportunity to tell you about the process.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Will you have that opportunity soon?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Yes, of course.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

June 17 is soon, in four days.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

You heard my answer. I will have an opportunity to tell you about the process.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Okay. I assume that Ms. Saikaley will hold that position for another six months, and I believe that would be the best solution.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Choquette, official languages are a priority for our government. I would like to reassure all the committee members of that. The array of initiatives we have announced over the past 18 months are evidence of that.

We want to appoint a Commissioner of Official Languages. We also want the appointment process to be open, transparent and merit-based. So that is a priority for our government, and we will follow through.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Joly, but you will understand that the current instability is harmful to official language communities. It is harmful to both francophone and anglophone communities.

Over the past six weeks, we have been ripping each other to shreds instead of making an effort to improve the situation, or to finish the report on Air Canada or the one on the legal implementation of the Official Languages Act. We have not dedicated that time to our communities. So that time has been lost, and we wouldn't want this to happen again.

June 17 will be here in a few days. Can you tell us what the government's plan is to put an end to this divisiveness and give the communities an idea of what to expect? Is the plan to start from scratch? Is it to just evaluate the top 10 candidates? What is the government's plan?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, I just want to remind you of the topic of this morning's meeting. Can you focus on the agenda of this morning's meeting? I think that Minister—

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

This is important. We are talking about the next action plan, which is specifically about ensuring leadership in official language communities.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Choquette, I really do recognize the leadership of official language communities. They show that leadership every day, and I am very proud of their work. The department, myself, my team and, in a general sense, ministers, are in contact with the communities. I know full well that there is a lot of anxiety within communities, after 10 years of inaction.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

We very much look forward to having an action plan. No investments have been made in a long time.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Ms. Joly—

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

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.