Yes.
Evidence of meeting #92 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 students.
Evidence of meeting #92 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 students.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
The number of francophones has increased by 55% over the past 25 years, correct?
9:55 a.m.
Vice-President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
I no longer have the figures in front of me.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Okay. In any case, that figure was not what mattered to me.
I actually wanted to know whether 45% of those francophones were in fact immigrants.
9:55 a.m.
Vice-President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
A very large proportion of francophones are immigrants.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
I rounded up to 45%, to have a round number, but that's it more or less, correct?
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Okay.
We have heard a lot of witnesses talk about areas other than early childhood. At one point, we talked about immigration. Immigration is important. We have learned that it is a challenge to bring francophone immigrants here, but the challenge of retaining them is even greater.
Ms. Lessard, earlier, you have summarized something that we are all very familiar with, but I want to hear you say it again. You said that your organizations have become the gateway for francophone newcomers.
What impact can knowing that children are able to receive an education in French from an early age have on francophone immigration? In your opinion, what is the relationship between the retention rate of those francophone immigrants and the active offer of educational services, specialized services and all that? Do you see a relationship?
Is my question clear?
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Société de la petite enfance et de la famille du sud de l’Alberta
No.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Are you seeing a direct relationship between those two factors? In other words, does an active offer of early childhood services lead to a higher retention rate for francophone immigrants?
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Société de la petite enfance et de la famille du sud de l’Alberta
I'm not sure whether I am going to give you the correct answer.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Société de la petite enfance et de la famille du sud de l’Alberta
I think we really need our services to be accessible so that we have a high retention rate. This is true not only for early childhood services, but for all areas. You have to catch children at the early childhood stage, if I may put it that way. You really have to take charge of the children at that stage. If they enter a system where there is no French, it is too late. We need to welcome them from infancy to increase the retention.
I have no statistics to give you and I have not done any calculations, but in my experience, the younger the children are when we take them in, the likelier they are to remain in the francophonie.
10 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Also, parents will stay in the regions.
In your case, you represent the southern region of the province.
Ms. Huard, do you have anything to add?
10 a.m.
President, Institut Guy-Lacombe de la famille
I would like to add to my colleague's comments. Ultimately, our organizations are very similar.
I really liked the expression she used when she said that we were the gateway. You can already imagine how difficult it is to arrive in a new country; it’s all the more difficult when newcomers can’t speak in their own language. Often, when people come to our centre, they breathe a sigh of relief. They feel at home, they feel understood and welcomed. We support them and answer their questions. We offer workshops just to inform them how to dress in winter. Some people who come to Canada have never experienced snow. We welcome them accordingly.
We also provide daycare services to allow parents to learn English, for instance. Other organizations take care of welcoming newcomers, teaching them English and helping them find a job. We offer daycare so that the parents can take steps like these.
We don’t have statistics either that would enable us to determine whether our services help to increase the retention rate of immigrants. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that our organizations help French-speaking newcomers to integrate here, in Alberta.
10 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Here, you may feel like you are in court, but it's really more laid-back. Your comments and the documents you submit to us become evidence that enable us to write reports. If there are things you didn’t have the opportunity to provide, you can send the information to our clerk. It will help us draft our reports.
Mr. Nolette, do you have any statistics that show that the retention of francophone immigrants is more successful in regions where there is an active offer of early childhood services?
10 a.m.
Vice-President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
I don't have those statistics.
10 a.m.
Vice-President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
I’m sorry; I don’t know.
10 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Okay.
I would like to come back to Mr. Généreux’s comments. It is true that it's difficult for the federal government to track the funds allocated to francophone organizations, one by one, because the francophonie is scattered across a huge country, outside Quebec.
Is there an Albertan organization that oversees all the francophone organizations? For example, are all the members of the Alberta francophonie members of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta?
10 a.m.
Vice-President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta
Yes, Mr. Arseneault. The ACFA is the representative of Albertan francophones. The ACFA speaks on behalf of all French-speaking Albertans. It wants to advance matters that affect the francophonie, including early childhood services. We work with all the other organizations, including the ones here today.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Mr. Nolette, I invite you to share with us, on behalf of all francophone communities and organizations, potential solutions that would help us figure out where federal government funding for Alberta's francophonie is going. For example, we want to know what the repercussions of those funds are, as well their benefits, so as to ensure that they count and help make some improvements.
10 a.m.
Liberal
