Official Languages Committee on March 1st, 2018

[Gillian Anderson]

That's it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Yes. You can continue later by answering questions and comments from members of the committee.

We'll move to Ms. Lessard.

[Sarah Lessard, Executive Director, Société de la petite enfance et de la famille du sud de l’Alberta]

Good morning.

My name is Sarah Lessard and I am the mother of three little girls who attend a Conseil scolaire FrancoSud francophone school in Calgary. They are in junior kindergarten, grade one and grade three.

This matter inspires me and touches me personally. I'm really pleased that you came here to listen to what our community has to say. I have participated in discussions and conferences, where we always see this shortcoming for early childhood; it is highlighted. I’m truly glad that you're here to listen to us and meet all the partners in the community.

I'm here today representing the Société de la petite enfance et de la famille du Sud de l'Alberta, SPEFSA. Ms. Huard has already talked about support centres for francophones in Alberta. She is our partner in Edmonton, and I am in Calgary.

Our association was founded in 2007 with funding from the Community Action Program for Children (CAPC). Those federal funds are used to support family centres.

Ms. Huard talked a little about support centres. On our side, we had to wait 10 years. In 2016, the Government of Alberta finally recognized that we did not have funding for a support centre. We received funding from the federal government, but none from the provincial government. We had to wait until 2016 to receive funding from the Government of Alberta for the Calgary support centre. SPEFSA truly insisted that we get those funds and the recognition of our support centre designation in Calgary.

Since 2016, we have also received funding to set up projects in the regions. We are in Calgary, but our support centre wants to create a network for the communities in the regions. We have received funding to enable us to provide services in a number of areas in southern Alberta, which is the boundary of the territory we serve. We try to serve families in various regions.

In 2016, when we received just CAPC funding, there were 1,400 participants. In the last two years, since we received more funding from the Government of Alberta for the designation of the support centre, we have doubled our numbers. In two years, I think we have made great strides in early childhood in southern Alberta.

I will explain the services we provide, because I think it's important. Calgary is often the gateway to the francophonie. Families arriving in Calgary do a Google search on “francophone families”. This is often how they find our organization.

We provide the francophone community with child development services, story-reading sessions, family yoga, crafts and many activities to develop all the children's abilities before they start school.

We provide our community with parenting education, which is important for family balance, in the form of “positive parenting practices (PPP)” workshops. Those workshops show families how to set up positive practices. The services are available in most English-speaking communities, but we in Calgary have only two centres providing those services in French. We also provide family support that can take the form of community cooking or prenatal classes, for example.

The information and guidance we provide to families is another aspect of our mandate. They come to us because they do not know anyone and do not understand how the system works. Our role is to guide them in their Calgary and Alberta experiences.

We also have a questionnaire on developmental stages, which is a very important tool. We work with daycares and parents. This questionnaire helps parents know what stage their children are at before they start school.

For example, this may help us realize that a child needs to develop their fine motor skills. Before they start school, we can provide support to our students to guide them towards independence so that they are ready for school.

Furthermore, we provide the only francophone library service available to families in Calgary. This meets one of their great needs. When they come in, they are amazed and are delighted to have the service. Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of funding to operate this service.

Finally, another service focuses on the transmission of language and culture. We are here to support families. At the support centre, we often see families who have just arrived in Calgary and have not been able to get jobs because they do not speak English. They therefore enrol their children in anglophone schools and activities exclusively in English. So we have to tell them that, if they want to stay in Calgary, it is essential that they support the francophonie. It's good to have those activities in English, but we have to explain to parents who come to Alberta that they have to support the francophonie, otherwise it will get lost.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Lessard.

[Sarah Lessard]

Is the time up?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Yes, your time has been up for a minute and a half. You will be able to continue during the questions and comments.

We will begin the questions with members of the committee.

Mr. Généreux, the floor is yours.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Good morning, everyone. Welcome and thank you for being here. My name is Bernard Généreux and I am the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup. For those who are familiar with Quebec, I would add that this riding is located south of the St. Lawrence, a little east of Quebec, towards New Brunswick.

Ms. Nolette, do not be offended if I do not ask everyone questions. We only have six minutes each.

Ms. Nolette and I have something in common since the Campus de Saint-Jean has had an agreement with the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière for decades. Many francophile anglophones have been coming to study French in La Pocatière for a very long time. In fact, I know Mr. Fortin, who was one of the champions of this trend and who still lives in Rivière-Ouelle, my home town in a way.

Yesterday, we were in Vancouver. British Columbia does not have legislation implementing an agreement with francophones. The fact that they are not recognized is a major impediment to all services and to their relationship with the province. My understanding is that, here in Alberta, it appeared one year or two years ago—someone can tell me. So it's relatively new.

Are you already seeing a difference in the relationship between the province and all the groups you represent with respect to the legislation that was implemented here in Alberta? If so, what does it look like?

We know that the needs of the francophone community in Canada are significant. We have seen it elsewhere. In fact, the witnesses who came to Ottawa for some of our other studies, from various sectors, all told us that the needs were tremendous and that you did not have the means to address them.

Ms. Lessard, does the implementation of new legislation by the province make it easier for you?

[Sarah Lessard]

You talked about the fact that we received funding, but that was before the policy was put in place.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

So it's not necessarily because of the policy.

[Sarah Lessard]

No.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

How about you, Mr. Nolette?

[Albert Nolette]

In fact, we are already seeing that the policy is bearing fruit. Alberta's French Policy was adopted by the Alberta government in June 2017.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

So it has not been a year yet.

[Albert Nolette]

It's completely new. However, in my opinion, its implementation depends on the Alberta government's good faith. It does not create an obligation as such. Instead, it is a policy that encourages all departments to develop French-language services that do not entail additional costs.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Is there an envelope earmarked by the government or is there no budget at all?

[Albert Nolette]

My understanding is that there is a federal envelope. However, it already exists.

In order for Alberta to obtain funding, we must essentially take money from other provinces.

So there is a need—

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I want to be sure I fully understand.

What you are saying is that the province can draw on federal funds from a common pot for all the provinces. If some provinces dip into those funds, the other provinces will get less. Is that what you are saying?

[Albert Nolette]

My understanding is that there is a fixed budget envelope for provinces that provide services in French. Alberta has just adopted a francophonie policy, and the budget envelope has not increased. So if Alberta is going to get funding, it will do so to the detriment of the other provinces. In my opinion, the envelope needs to be increased to support provinces that want to provide more services to the official language minority population.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Okay, thank you.

In our opinion, another very important aspect is the “by” and “for”. We have talked at length about it. Francophone communities in Canada want access to funding. If they do not receive it directly, we should at least ensure that the federal and provincial governments have an obligation to be accountable. We must ensure that the money allocated to the provinces for this or that francophone activity will be really used for that purpose, particularly in education.

Our understanding is that, when funds are transferred to the provinces for the francophonie, they are not always used by the services that have requested them.

Ms. Nolette, perhaps you could comment on that.

[Dolorèse Nolette]

I cannot comment on school-related matters.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Okay.

[Dolorèse Nolette]

Personally, I am working at the post-secondary level and I would rather not—

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

That's fine.

Our meeting is public. What we say here does not stay here. It's not like hunting, where what we say stays at the cottage. Everyone will be able to read our remarks. I do not want my questions to put you on the spot.

The committee's concern is that the federal money being spent is well spent. We want to make sure the money is used for the reasons it was given to the provinces. It is not always easy, because the federal government does not always ask the provinces to be accountable. However, that would really allow us to see the impact of the money spent.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Généreux.

We'll now go to Mr. Arseneault.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I may come back to Mr. Généreux's questions because I find them relevant. They are among the questions I would like to ask, but I have only five minutes.

My name is René Arseneault, a proud Acadian from New Brunswick. I am the member for Madawaska—Restigouche, which stretches from the north centre to the northwest, from Chaleur Bay to the Restigouche River and to the Upper Madawaska lakes.

Mr. Nolette, I want to make sure I understand the numbers you mentioned earlier. The number of francophones has increased by 28% in the last 10 years, is that right?