Official Languages Committee on Feb. 16th, 2022

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

I know I have very little time left, but, Ms. Alepin, is there anything you'd like to add very quickly?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Ms. McPherson.

I'd also like to thank Ms. Alepin.

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

I had raised my hand, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm sorry, Ms. Alepin. That's all the time we have.

We will now move on to the next round of questions.

The official opposition party and the party in power will get three minutes each. The other two opposition parties will have a minute and a half each. We could talk about this for a long time, but that's all the time we have.

By some happy coincidence, the next person to ask questions is from Sarnia—Lambton.

Ms. Gladu, you have three minutes.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks also to all our witnesses.

My first question is for Ms. Tamilio.

Ms. Tamilio, I'm very pleased to see you. You have a great deal of experience in connection with increasing the size of our francophone community.

What would you say to the smaller communities that would like a stronger French presence and more services in French?

[Tanya Tamilio]

That's a good question.

Given the shortage of workers here, I would suggest that you help us increase the size of the francophone labour force by means of access to education in French, from early childhood to postsecondary.

I would also suggest meeting francophone immigration targets while providing the communities with the tools they need to integrate newcomers.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Excellent. We are currently working on modernizing the Official Languages Act.

What do we have to do to improve this act, Ms. Alepin?

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

Thank you for asking.

First of all, we have to stop treating the French language in Quebec as if it were not a minority language. It's in the minority in Canada.

At the moment, anglophone institutions in Quebec receive funding, which further speeds up the decline of French and creates an imbalance. We need to recognize that Quebec is in the minority in Canada. That's the most important thing. No matter what we do in our act to defend our language rights, the fact is that the continued existence of the French language will truly be threatened. Without that admission, you'll continue to contribute to its decline, and even its loss, over time.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Ms. Tamilio, You have 30 seconds.

[Tanya Tamilio]

Perhaps a central agency should be designated to coordinate the implementation of the Official Languages Act.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you.

I'll leave you my 20 seconds, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Ms. Gladu.

Next up is Mr. Marc Serré, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Official Languages.

You have the floor, Mr. Serré, for three minutes.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Many thanks to the witnesses here today.

My first question is for Ms. Tamilio.

Thank you for your efforts. It's always very difficult to find volunteers and funds, as I know. Organizations like the Coopérative des artistes du Nouvel-Ontario, or CANO, Nippissing Ouest, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, le Centre culturel La Ronde, and all of the francophone cultural organizations have a lot of work to do.

We said earlier that some provinces were not necessarily supporting minorities. Several are not. In our 2020‑2021 main estimates, we allocated $180 million to second-language learning in immersion courses and $121 million to postsecondary education.

Ms. Tamilio, in your particular case, what can we do to work more closely with the provinces, and Ontario in particular? Ontario granted you a designation under Bill 8 on French language services in Ontario, which is excellent, but what can be done for the province to receive federal funding to support the education sector, which is a provincial jurisdiction?

[Tanya Tamilio]

You're talking about the education sector and the community sector. I can only give you my opinion for the community sector. Once again, these are funds the sector needs. Perhaps the schools should also receive more funding so that they can state their precise requirements. My only recommendation for the education sector would be to help them by giving them more funds.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

The Department of Canadian Heritage also allocates funding to community organizations. Is there a way for the province to work more closely with the community?

[Tanya Tamilio]

As I mentioned earlier, on the community side of things, we receive $30,000 a year. If we want to undertake any projects, we have to request funds for these specific projects. So if we factor in the time required before receiving approval for our funding application and the fact that we have until March 31 to complete the project, we sometimes have six months left to organize a special project for the region's francophone community.

Why couldn't the government gather our project ideas together and give us funds from the core programming reserve rather than require us to submit applications for short-term projects? It could simply give us the funds and the means to go into the communities to promote the language.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I have 15 seconds left. I simply want to thank you for your efforts.

I would also like to thank Ms. Alepin, from the Société Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste de Montréal. Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste day is regularly celebrated in Ontario. I'm proud to be a francophone and I too celebrate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I hope that one day you'll be able to help francophones outside Quebec, because your comments sometimes work against us.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Serré.

The next speaker is in fact the second vice-chair of the committee.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor for a minute and a half.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Société Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste de Montréal was founded in 1834 by the Patriotes, who were engaged in an armed conflict. There were patriots in Ontario too. The Société Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste has always supported francophones outside Quebec. But since the implementation of the Official Languages Act, and since the Laurendeau-Dunton commission, it has never again been invited to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

What do you think about that, Ms. Alepin?

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

I'll begin by thanking you for having invited me today.

Several Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste societies have defended the French fact outside Quebec, and some still do.

Nonetheless, it's true that the Société Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste de Montréal has never been invited to appear in the past. But I must say that I'm pleased to be here today.

We feel that the only way to secure the future of the French language in Quebec is by means of independence, the control of one's own territory and laws; and ultimately, the control of one's own country.

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

Okay.

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

The struggle of the French language outside Quebec is an important one. The Société Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste, I wanted to say, truly supports you.

I would also like to congratulate you and Ms. Tamilio.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu and Ms. Alepin.

Next is Ms. McPherson for one minute and 30 seconds.