Official Languages Committee on Oct. 8th, 2024

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

The second step is funding.

[Jean-Luc Racine]

Yes.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

It should be coming soon, if the next government continues to fulfill the commitments.

You also referred to the official languages in education program, or OLEP. You have never received any money through this program. Is that right?

[Gillian Anderson]

It depends on the province.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Could you please elaborate?

[Gillian Anderson]

In British Columbia, parents receive funding through the OLEP. They receive funding to manage their parent program. In Alberta, parents have never received any funding. The same federal program is used differently in each province.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Are other provinces in the same situation?

The OLEP focuses solely on the education of young people aged 5 to 18. Is that right?

[Jean-Luc Racine]

Yes. Sometimes, funding is available for the early childhood sector. Sometimes, funding is also available to support parents. It varies a great deal and it strongly depends on the provincial governments.

As my colleague was saying, in British Columbia, funding is provided for day care and to support parents. In Alberta, the amount is zero across the board. In some other provinces, the amount is also zero.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Is this set out in the OLEP, or does the province simply choose to provide funding to these organizations?

[Jean-Luc Racine]

The province determines where the funding goes. Communities are often consulted, but parents and the early childhood sector are very often not consulted.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

You have all the answers. Thank you. It's really important to explain the situation quickly.

Are you saying that the money should go directly into the OLEP? The province would then have a much greater responsibility to distribute the funds appropriately, compared to when the money doesn't go into the OLEP. Should it be added?

[Jean-Luc Racine]

It depends on the clauses and action plans. Even though the funding is included in the OLEP, there's no guarantee that it will be allocated directly to specific sectors. The provinces and territories have discretionary power. If they decide to allocate more funding to high schools, for example, the money will go to that sector and not to the early childhood sector.

We never have a clear idea of where the funding will go. It must be allocated piecemeal, province by province, territory by territory. This complicates matters.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you.

I want to thank the committee for embarking on this study today, because it's extremely important. I hope that we can make findings for each province and territory and that this will help us move this issue forward.

This topic is incredibly important. We're delighted that you could be here.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Samson. For once, you stuck to your allotted time. It's all in good fun.

I'll now give the floor for six minutes to the committee's second vice‑chair, Mr. Beaulieu, from the Bloc Québécois.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank our guests for joining us.

My question is for just about everyone.

We've heard a great deal about how Statistics Canada estimated the number of rights holders outside Quebec for the first time. What percentage of rights holders can access French‑language schools run by and for francophones?

[Jean-Luc Racine]

It varies a great deal. My colleagues at the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario probably have data on this topic. I know that the figure can be as high as 70%, but it can sometimes fall below 50%, as is the case in Alberta.

For the early childhood sector, the proportion seems to fall below 20%, according to current data. We hope to have more recent data soon. This means that 80% of parents have no other option than to enrol their child in an anglophone day care centre. As we explained earlier, we receive many reports about cases where children attend anglophone day cares and end up speaking to their parents in English only, even though both parents are francophone. It doesn't take long. All it takes is two or three years in an anglophone day care and it's a lost cause.

[Gillian Anderson]

I want to add something. Parents and people in general always take the easy road or the road with the fewest obstacles. It's challenging enough to find a spot in a day care centre, regardless of whether it's English or French. Parents must work even harder to find a francophone day care centre. If we ask them to take an extra step to find a day care centre in their first language, things get challenging and we lose them right away.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

In Ontario, what percentage of rights holders can access schools run by and for francophones?

[Isabelle Girard]

I can answer your question.

In Ontario, there are 268,250 rights holders and 158,000 day care spots. The math is easy. As of today, we're short about 110,000 spots.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

That's about 60%.

[Isabelle Girard]

Exactly.

[Denis Labelle]

Mr. Beaulieu, I would like to add something. I have a doctorate in health administration and a knowledge of all the communities. I sincerely believe that day care plays a key role in the survival of the French‑speaking community. It's where we identify the rights holders and how we keep them in our public system. When day care centres are attached to our elementary schools, we don't lose the rights holders. This is the key to our success. It helps us address the issue of the shortage of French‑speaking young people and rights holders.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

We heard that 20% of rights holders could access the day care centres run by and for francophones. Is the same thing true in Ontario?

[Isabelle Girard]

I could find that information. Since day care falls outside our jurisdiction, I don't have that information. However, my colleagues may have the answer.

[Jean-Luc Racine]

Unfortunately, I don't know the percentage for Ontario specifically. The percentage I do have is for Canada as a whole.