Official Languages Committee on Feb. 5th, 2018

[Michel Robillard]

On the other hand, some communities are significantly less equipped than others that are larger. Take the example of Ontario, where the government is heavily investing in development, education, literacy, and so on. We have resources that Alberta or Prince Edward Island, for example, don't have. So there is a lot of sharing between the organizations. Once again, critical mass is always tied to the funding they receive.

RESDAC helped bring forward certain projects. For example, it has funded projects in Nova Scotia for a number of years. This has allowed a literacy organization in that province to access funding to conduct projects and obtain results. As I mentioned earlier, the results of the Nova Scotia project pushed us to use the integrated approach in our tourism project. Some communities with fewer resources used RESDAC to implement projects that impacted them.

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

Our government spends almost $2 billion on skills and training in every province.

Are you called on to exercise your influence in this context?

[Michel Robillard]

I was director of learning at National Defence for four years. I can talk to you about it at length. When we talk about the development of essential skills for National Defence military and civilians, that's another story; it’s completely different. National Defence invests heavily in developing the skills of its employees and the military in general for very good reasons. National Defence has its own training system, whether for the military or civilians. That's why we are not involved.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Vandal.

We will now go to Mrs. Boucher.

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

Good afternoon. I’m pleased to see you here with us.

Earlier, one of my colleagues asked you a question. You mentioned 2013 and the fact that it was implemented in 2014.

When your funding was scrapped, were you given the main reason?

[Michel Robillard]

As I already mentioned, there were actually two reasons. First, the department's priorities had changed. Then the whole concept of social finance was coming into its own and developing. In addition, we were told that the department no longer wanted to provide core funding to organizations; it wanted to support project-based funding instead, which is completely different. So we ended up losing all of our core funding.

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

So you lost all your funding.

[Michel Robillard]

Yes.

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

If I'm not mistaken, with transfers, previous governments did not allocate funding to you directly, but to the province, which passed some on to you.

[Michel Robillard]

No.

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

You were funded by the federal government directly?

[Michel Robillard]

We were funded by the federal government directly, according to contribution agreements that came with a very significant and very appropriate audit mechanism. The objectives were actually in our contribution agreement, and, each year, we were judged by the objectives we achieved.

Organizations never receive a blank check. When they receive funding, they have goals to achieve. They are subject to quarterly assessments and audits, among other things. It is a highly structured approach.

For the funding we received, we were evaluated each year based on the goals we had achieved from year to year.

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

When the funding was eliminated in favour of project-based funding only, did you have projects that would have allowed you to continue to receive funding?

[Michel Robillard]

It's not that we didn't try. We proposed a number of projects that were not selected for reasons we are unaware of. We are not told why a project is not accepted.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

You did not even get any explanations?

[Michel Robillard]

Not really. It's difficult for us.

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

It's hard to know why your projects were not selected.

[Michel Robillard]

It is important to know that 22 organizations lost their funding at the same time. RESDAC was not the only organization at the table; there were 22 others.

In fact, we have made requests on several occasions.

[Gabrielle Lopez]

We filed a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, precisely because we had no answers. The directions and decision-making processes were unclear. There were changes and communication was difficult.

It has now been two years since I was Executive Director of RESDAC. There is a new team, as well as new administrators at the department. Some of them have told me that they had taken another look at one of our projects and that they thought it was a good project. They were shocked to find that it had not been selected. It was a project that brought together several provinces. I explained to them that it had taken so long to get an answer that, in the meantime, Ontario and the Yukon had started their own projects. That's what happened.

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

When you had a project turned down, you were given no reason. You were turned down, period. There was no explanation at all.

[Gabrielle Lopez]

We were told that the project did not meet the criteria or the direction. I do not know if it has always been that way. I have the impression that there was a time when it was much less—

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

No, it has not always been like that. I think it depends on the ministers and the government.

[Gabrielle Lopez]

Perhaps. In any case, communications were more difficult for a certain period.

I also imagine that the OLES was trying to figure out its approach.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Boucher.

Before concluding, I would like to share something with you. If things are not happening as quickly as you would like, there is the Canada Summer Jobs program for students that you areno doubt familiar with. The linguistics department at the University of Ottawa or an Ottawa-area MP could also help you. I am telling you this so you can keep going in the meantime and do not give up.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I think February 2 was the deadline.