Official Languages Committee on April 13th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much.

That is all the time we have for this meeting. On behalf of the committee and myself, I would like to thank the minister for coming to discuss the modernization of the Official Languages Act with the members of the committee. I would also like to welcome Mr. Denis Racine, director general at the Official Languages Branch.

We will suspend for a few minutes while we do the connectivity checks with our next witnesses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

The committee is resuming.

Today, the committee is meeting on its study of the government measures to protect and promote French in Quebec and in Canada.

I'll remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.

Interpretation is provided.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses, who will begin our discussions with seven and a half minutes of opening remarks, followed by rounds of questions.

This afternoon, we have Sheila Risbud, president of the Association Canadienne-française de l'Alberta. With her is Isabelle Laurin, the executive director.

We also have Alexandre Cédric Doucet, president of the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick. He is accompanied by Ali Chaisson, the executive director.

Ms. Risbud, you have seven and a half minutes for your opening remarks. The floor is yours.

[Sheila Risbud, President, Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. My name is Sheila Risbud, and I'm the president of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, the ACFA.

Founded in 1926, the ACFA [Technical difficulty—Editor]—

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Please wait, Ms. Risbud.

We've lost the sound.

Since we're having technical difficulties, we're going to start instead with the presentation by the president of the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, Alexandre Cédric Doucet.

You have seven and a half minutes for your opening remarks. Please go ahead.

[Alexandre Cédric Doucet, President, Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, dear committee members, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for inviting me to appear before this committee to discuss government measures to protect and promote French throughout Canada, particularly in Quebec, as well as in Acadia and the Atlantic provinces.

The entire Canadian Francophonie is pleased that, at this time, the federal government is showing a genuine desire to focus on promoting the sustainability of French in Canada. We have every right to hope that Minister Mélanie Joly's vision will finally, once and for all, chart a course towards real equality.

At the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, or SANB, we believe that the protection and promotion of French across the country cannot be achieved without the actual implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act.

In preparing for this appearance, I came back to reading a brief by the late Acadian Senator Jean-Maurice Simard entitled “Bridging the Gap: From Oblivion to the Rule of Law” published in 1999. As Senator Simard pointed out:

[In] ... his 1998 Annual Report, the Commissioner of Official Languages demonstrates that the strategy for implementing Part VII of the Act, more than 10 years after it went into effect, is inadequate throughout the government as a whole.

Ladies and gentlemen, 22 years later, we must admit that the strategy for implementing the act is still inadequate.

As part of the current modernization of the act, it is essential that we aim for innovative and structural solutions by the communities themselves a greater say in their own future. In 2021, more than 50 years after the adoption of the Official Languages Act, francophone minority communities should be able to stand on their own. However, for several reasons, that's not currently the case. With some exceptions, there has been no change for many years in the funding model for programs designed by, for and with Canada's francophone and Acadian communities.

For the SANB, given the thousands of taxpayer dollars invested over the past few decades, we say that the Canadian francophone, but even more so the Acadian, taxpayer deserves better. Senator Simard, with his great foresight, understood that there were problems with the application of the positive measures in Part VII and the funding regime for advocacy organizations. He also suggested that the Privy Council Office should be the one in charge of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, because its authority is cross-cutting and applies to various departments. We agree with him. In fact, the SANB made the recommendation in its brief to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages in 2018.

Several issues could benefit from the federal government's reappropriation of the spirit of Part VII. The federal government can, but above all must, renegotiate trilateral agreements with the provincial governments and with the communities themselves that would provide a lasting framework for the vitality of the French language across the country. This includes rural economic development, immigration, post-secondary education, new technologies and digital technology. This redefinition of our relationship would allow us to move beyond a sterile logic of consolidating gains through endless court battles.

Before concluding with a few concrete recommendations, I'd like to emphasize the crucial importance of continuing to talk more about official languages in order to combat disinformation and strengthen national unity, especially in the context of health crises where we all need to come together across the country.

Senator Jean-Maurice Simard said it well:

… the Government of Canada specifically has a duty not only “to correct the (multidimensional) erosion of the minorities”, but also to promote their vitality and actively support their development so as to that strengthen an important (and the most fragile) part of the foundation of Canada’s linguistic duality. In so doing, it would also strengthen Canada's national identity and prospects for unity.

In 2021, how do we get to the point of real implementation of Part VII of the act? To answer that question, the SANB humbly recommends that you first create a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Commons on official languages to oversee the process of modernizing and implementing the federal Official Languages Act; the revision of provincial-federal agreements to ensure that funds for the promotion of official language minority communities don't end up in the general funds of the provinces; the signing of direct agreements between the federal government and community institutions such as school boards through the official languages in education program, without the intervention of the provinces; the implementation of an asymmetrical funding regime that would give small francophone communities across the country the opportunity to flourish in an equitable manner, while recognizing that some provinces, including New Brunswick and Ontario, have special needs because of their francophone critical mass.

Moreover, the SANB reiterates its recommendation regarding the distinct character of New Brunswick in the preamble of a modernized Official Languages Act. New Brunswick and Quebec are the only two provinces that have a specific language regime.

Finally, the last recommendation is to sustain our post-secondary institutions in francophone minority communities. On that point, I would add that it is not because we don't hear publicly about the Université de Moncton and the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick doesn't mean that their funding, admissions and sustainability aren't issues.

With all of this in mind, the SANB asserts that the implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act must be seen as the real driving force behind the role that the Canadian government must play in order to give communities the tools, autonomy and institutional freedom necessary to ensure the continued development of French in Canada.

Thank you, and I will be happy to respond to any questions or comments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Doucet.

Now we'll go back to Sheila Risbud for seven and a half minutes.

Ms. Risbud, you have the floor. You can start from the beginning.

[Sheila Risbud]

Thank you.

My name is Sheila Risbud, and I'm the president of the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, the ACFA.

The ACFA was founded in 1926, and today it represents 268,000 French-speaking Albertans, a number that increased by more than half between 1991 and 2016.

Today, I'd like to focus on the situation of Campus Saint-Jean, the only French-language post-secondary institution in Alberta and west of Manitoba.

Founded in 1908 by the Oblate Fathers, the institution became a faculty of the University of Alberta in 1977 as a result of an agreement between the University of Alberta, the Government of Alberta, the federal government and the Oblate Fathers. The role of the Oblate Fathers in this agreement is now assumed by the ACFA.

The Campus Saint-Jean is essential to the vitality of the francophonie in Alberta and western Canada.

In recent years, Alberta's French-speaking community has experienced some of the largest growth in the country. This growth is creating an increased demand for French-language services in a variety of areas, but especially in education, as you mentioned earlier. For example, over the past 20 years, enrolment in French-language schools and French immersion schools in Alberta has doubled.

Alberta is therefore facing a significant need for a qualified workforce and a shortage of French-speaking teachers and other education professionals. It is also important to remember that it is these teachers and professionals who are needed to provide French-language education guaranteed by section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Campus Saint-Jean therefore plays a fundamental role. To do this, it welcomes more than 900 students per year, an increase of more than 40% since 2014, despite the two increases in the average number of students required to be admitted.

However, Campus Saint-Jean suffers from a severe operational and structural financial deficit, which affects its ability to meet this demand. In terms of operational underfunding, Campus Saint-Jean receives provincial grants for only 70% of its full-time students. In Alberta, faculties have enrolment quotas and receive funding based on those quotas. However, for Campus Saint-Jean, registrations and demand far exceed the quota.

While for other faculties, the quota allows for a certain amount of allocations and students can always enrol in another university, the situation is completely different for Campus Saint-Jean, because there is no other similar French-language institution in Alberta. So denying enrolment is contrary to Campus Saint-Jean's mandate to ensure the vitality of the francophone community and is therefore intended to assimilate and weaken the French fact in Alberta.

Last year, the Government of Alberta also made further budget cuts of 13.3%. As a result, Campus Saint-Jean was forced to reduce its course offerings by nearly 20%. The ACFA had to launch the “Sauvons Saint-Jean” campaign to take legal action against the Government of Alberta and the University of Alberta. I would also like to mention that additional cuts are expected in the new fiscal year and that there are still concerns in the francophone community about the restructuring initiative undertaken by the University of Alberta to clean up its spending.

In addition, the federal funding received by Campus Saint-Jean under the official languages in education program, the OLEP, hasn't changed since at least 2009. In real dollars, this funding has been gradually reduced, despite the increased demand for education services offered by Campus Saint-Jean.

Campus Saint-Jean is in dire need of renovations if it is to maintain its infrastructure. However, in recent years, the Government of Alberta has repeatedly refused to address these needs and has provided no provincial contribution equivalent to that offered by the federal government. The most recent stalemate is an $8 million infrastructure project that has been approved by the federal government but is currently on hold due to the provincial government's failure to contribute to the project.

In recent years, the Government of Canada has made several commitments, whether in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-23, in the mandate letters to Minister Joly or in the recent language reform document. While these commitments are much appreciated, they are not yet accompanied by concrete measures, which we fear are too late.

Investments in French-language post-secondary institutions, and particularly in Campus Saint-Jean, are needed now to maintain and develop a network of institutions that protects and supports French in Canada, strengthens the vitality of our communities and increases bilingualism among Canadians.

Over the past year, the ACFA has proposed various solutions to the federal government to save Campus Saint-Jean, including a complementary contribution to Campus Saint-Jean under the OLEP funding; the creation of a French-language post-secondary education fund for western Canada, as demand is on the rise; and finally, the increase of funding for French-language post-secondary institutions and its indexation, under the OLEP.

While education is a provincial jurisdiction, the ACFA also believes that the federal government should use its spending power to protect linguistic minorities and, in so doing, protect French in Canada. For example, the Government of Canada could make exceptions for funding initiatives in the area of post-secondary education without parallel provisions. The paralyzing framework created by this type of provision hinders positive action towards our community. This type of provision should be eliminated or, at a minimum, provide more flexibility and discretion for the Government of Canada.

In conclusion, the need for concrete action is urgent. Campus Saint-Jean can't wait for the modernization of the Official Languages Act, which is dragging on, or for the release of the next Action Plan for Official Languages, which is scheduled for 2023.

The ACFA hopes that concrete measures will be included in the next federal budget, which will be released on Monday, and counts on the support of committee members.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Ms. Risbud.

We will now proceed to questions from members of the committee.

However, I want to advise members that, given the time, we can either do one full six-minute round per parliamentary group represented. Alternatively, if you have no other commitments, we can extend the meeting by a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes.

Is there consensus to extend the meeting?

[An hon. member]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

We will start the first six-minute round of questions.

Mr. Blaney, you have the floor.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

First, let me welcome the witnesses. Their testimony was very interesting. I would have liked Minister Joly to be able to hear them.

If there's one word I took away from those two excellent statements, it is “now”. We need money now. Yesterday, at Laurentian University, we saw the urgent need. We can see it again today at Campus Saint-Jean, and in the Atlantic provinces.

I want to congratulate Ms. Risbud for her efforts on behalf of Campus Saint-Jean. She has specifically requested that the committee look at funding for post-secondary institutions.

I would like to inform the members of the committee that, as a result of my conversation with Ms. Risbud, I introduced the motion, which was unanimously passed, asking that the committee call on the federal government to take responsibility for section 23 of the charter, as the witness mentioned. The Minister's mandate letter also mentions the need to support post-secondary institutions. It is important to stop making excuses for not participating because the provincial government does not want to participate.

Enough is enough. It is our responsibility as a federal government. We, the Conservatives, want to help you and we are committed to doing so within the first 100 days following an election. Minister Joly came to us promising us the world in a white paper, but we are not sure when such promises will be fulfilled. It talks about consultation, but we have been asking for a modernization of the Official Languages Act for five years.

Ms. Risbud, my question is very simple. You have asked the federal government for additional funding for Campus Saint-Jean, which is a pillar in the west. What is the Minister's response to your request for a contribution to support Campus Saint-Jean?

[Sheila Risbud]

At this time, it appears that the federal government is open to the idea of providing additional funding. Unfortunately, the mechanisms available to the minister require matching funds from the province. We are currently at an impasse because the provincial government does not want to participate.

There is a willingness on the part of the federal government to help. We need to remove this requirement for matching funds or find another way to transfer federal funds without requiring the province to contribute.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

You raise a very good point.

My second question is about indexation. You talked about the decrease in your funds, which have been frozen for years.

There will be a budget next week. Would you be in favour of the government announcing that budgets will be indexed to correct the situation before embarking on other ventures? Would you support that?

[Sheila Risbud]

At this point, it would help us tremendously in the west.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

That's pretty simple to do.

I'm going to share my time with Mr. Dalton. Almost all of his family went to Campus Saint-Jean. I would be remiss if I did not let him speak.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Blaney.

My thanks to the witnesses for their presentation.

My family and I are connected to Campus Saint-Jean. My father took courses there in the 1940s. In addition, I am Franco-Albertan through my mother, whose last name is Beaudoin. You could say it's in my blood.

This situation is very important. You are here before a federal committee. We are discussing how the federal government can help you, and you have made some very good suggestions. I hope they are implemented. There is also a lot of talk about the white paper. As my colleague has already said, there are a lot of fine words, but we want real action.

I was very pleased to hear about the increase in the number of people who speak French in Alberta. That is very encouraging. You mentioned that there are more than 46,000 students in French immersion.

In Alberta, the training of francophone teachers who wish to offer courses at the elementary and secondary levels is a major problem.

Can you tell us about the training of teachers in Alberta for these programs?

[Sheila Risbud]

Campus Saint-Jean is actually the only place in Alberta where teachers can be trained to teach in our francophone schools and immersion schools. Without Campus Saint-Jean, we cannot train local people to teach in our schools. We have noticed that people who come from elsewhere to teach in Alberta do not always stay. They don't necessarily feel at home. So it's important to train local people to meet those needs.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I am a member of Parliament from British Columbia. I have discussed French immersion and the competition among French immersion teachers with people from the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique. Campus Saint-Jean is really important, not only in Alberta, but throughout the west and in francophone minority communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mr. Dalton. You stayed within the time allotted to you.

I'm going to turn the floor over to Mr. Arseneault for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Ms. Risbud, we have met before in this committee virtually, but also in your region, in the west. As Mr. Dalton and Mr. Blaney have pointed out, Campus Saint-Jean is very important. That's why it is important to know what the situation is and what the position of the provincial Conservative government is. We need to talk about it.

Before I get into that, I want to go back to some of the things you said that I didn't understand. You talked about 70% of the provincial grants for Campus Saint-Jean, but I didn't understand the rest. What did you say?

[Sheila Risbud]

The province of Alberta provides funding on a per student, per faculty basis. In the case of Campus Saint-Jean, it provides funding for 70% of the students. In other words, for 30% of the students enrolled at Campus Saint-Jean, there is no funding from the province. Campus Saint-Jean is operating at a deficit. It is doing what it can to provide a quality program and courses, despite the fact that it is not funded for all the students enrolled.

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

Are the other post-secondary institutions in Alberta 100% funded?

[Sheila Risbud]

It depends on the faculties and the quotas. In the case of Campus Saint-Jean, the effects are more noticeable because of two factors: the increase in enrolment, which has gone from 500 to 900 in five years, and the fact that studying in French, especially in a minority situation, costs more.

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

To reassure my colleagues Dalton and Blaney, could you clarify the following? You mentioned the $8 million advanced by the federal government for an infrastructure project. The Government of Alberta refused to add its share. Did I understand you correctly?

[Sheila Risbud]

Actually, the total cost of the project is $8 million. The federal government was prepared to put in half of that, about $4 million. It's up to the province to come up with its share.