Official Languages Committee on Feb. 16th, 2022

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

I see.

Is the funding granted to the various groups, such as the Quebec Community Groups Network, allocated under the Canada-Quebec accord or is it funding that goes directly to the organizations?

[Julie Boyer]

It's usually funding that goes directly to the organizations and is allocated through our official languages support programs.

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

That's it.

Under the Canada-Quebec accord, what goes through education, is—

[Julie Boyer]

It's for education, but also to provide services.

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

Earlier you said you could send us details on grants that go to Quebec. Is that possible?

[Julie Boyer]

Yes, we can add that item to our list of recipients for follow‑up.

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

As you wish. Could we contact you to get that information, or will you send it to us?

[Julie Boyer]

We'll send it to you through the clerk. It will be a pleasure.

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

Perfect.

Thank you.

My next question is for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration representatives.

You said that refusal rates could be quite high for francophone African countries, but that those of anglophone and francophone African students for each country are the same.

What are the grounds for refusal?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have five seconds left, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

All right.

I won't have time to complete my question in five seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

No, your speaking time is up.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

Now, it's two minutes for Ms. McPherson.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In January, the Federal Court of Appeal found that the federal government had failed in its obligation set out in part VII of the Official Languages Act to take positive measures to promote the vitality of the francophone minority in British Columbia. Of course, everyone here knows that this was the second such ruling in just over a year.

In Alberta, we've seen the provincial government fail to protect French in Alberta. It's reneged on its contractual obligations to fund Campus Saint-Jean, and to date has refused to accept federal dollars to make up for part of that funding gap.

Without Campus Saint-Jean, Alberta will not have the qualified teachers it needs to serve its francophone students or those who, like my daughter, are enrolled in bilingual programs.

How can the federal government bypass or otherwise compel provincial governments like Alberta's United Conservative Party government to protect minority language rights?

[Julie Boyer]

I will start, and perhaps Sarah can complete my answer.

There are some projects under way, and we have regular conversations with officials from other provinces and territories on their needs for post-secondary education. We have an upcoming event that will be organized around post-secondary education in the language of minorities, to see what issues are underlying the systemic recurring problems with francophone universities outside of Quebec and whether we can find solutions to address those issues.

Sarah, do you want to add to that?

[Sarah Boily]

The only thing I would add is that part of the envelope of $120 million to support post-secondary is targeting community organizations so that they can network and better identify the needs for post-secondary. There is that availability—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I apologize for interrupting, Ms. Boily.

Ms. Boily, Ms. Boyer and Ms. Prince, as well as Mr. Linder, thank you for your excellent comments.

Today was very interesting. You can send any information you didn't have time to share to the committee clerk, who will forward it to committee members.

We will suspend briefly to allow the second panel of witnesses to arrive.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are back for the second part of this meeting.

We now have Tanya Tamilio, president of the Centre communautaire francophone de Sarnia-Lambton, who is joining us via videoconference; Maxime Laporte, president of Mouvement Québec français; and Marie‑Anne Alepin, general president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal.

Witnesses will have five minutes each for their opening remarks and to tell us the topic they wish to discuss. I will warn them when they have one minute left.

Ms. Tamilio, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Tanya Tamilio, President, Centre communautaire francophone de Sarnia-Lambton]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I'd like to thank you for having invited me to speak about the federal government's measures to protect and promote the French language in Quebec and everywhere in Canada.

My name is Tanya Tamilio, and I'm the president of a francophone community centre in the Sarnia—Lambton region. Our centre brings together and represents the francophone community of Sarnia—Lambton and it also coordinates projects. The centre has a francophone space for these activities. In addition, it's a pont of entry to the francophone community in the Sarnia—Lambton region and acts as a catalyst for collaborative projects.

My testimony today will describe for you what French is like in the smallest towns, a reality that you have no doubt already heard about. I would also like to give you some ideas about what the government could do to help us thrive in our own language.

Let's look at what it's like in a very small town. Sarnia—Lambton is a tiny industrial town in a region that is full of opportunities for outdoor activities, near the border with the United States. There are over 5,000 francophones and francophiles there. We have four French-language and five French immersion schools that are bursting at the seams, in addition to non-profit organizations that offer activities in French and that are working to increase the availability of services in French. Our francophone community is dynamic and its francophone leaders are encouraging people to request services in French.

On December 13, 2021, the City of Sarnia received its designation under the provincial French Language Services Act. The provincial MPP told us that it came about because of the growth of our francophone community and the cohesiveness of francophones in our region. We are working hard to make it possible for francophones to communicate in our community in the language of their choice whenever possible. However, the designation would have been impossible without the support of federal MP Marilyn Gladu and provincial MPP Bob Bailey, and our great defender and mayor of Sarnia, Mike Bradley. I would also like to underscore the dedication of the Hon. Caroline Mulroney and her team. Their political support in this area was essential and I thank them for it.

As a result of the designation, we can obtain government services, drivers' licences and health cards in French. Now what, you might ask, could a small recently designated town also need from the federal government? How is one to protect and contribute to the vitality of French in Canada and regions like ours? I'm asking you to invest here.

In previous testimony, it was suggested that the principle of territoriality be adopted to promote the language. I'm opposed to that. In small franco-Ontarian towns, we've been fighting for centuries on behalf of the development of the French language. This option would be a step backwards and run counter to the many efforts to make Canada a bilingual country.

The shortage of francophone teachers is a major problem in a community like ours. The quality of our services in French depends in part on how well our young people have been educated. To prepare myself for my appearance today, I had a discussion with the French-language education superintendent for public schools. The challenge is genuine. Families have been opting for French immersion for their children but the school board lacks resources. There are no supply teachers who can teach in French and no additional educational resources to support the teachers. The social workers also don't speak French.

How can we support our school boards to ensure that students, our next generation, will be able to grow up in French rather than just learning French? Please spend more, here.

The vitality of the French language is generally part of the mandate of local community organizations and programs, and government programs to promote official languages. The federal government offers grants for core programming, which for us means $30,000 a year to further the development of the French language in a French-speaking minority town. This amount allows us to hire an employee who works 20 hours a week, at non-competitive wages and without benefits.

That forces me to fall back on dedicated volunteers who want their children and grandchildren to grow up in French, but it's nearly impossible.

Project funds are often limited to nine months, something that a representative from Canadian Heritage mentioned earlier, meaning that this funding is helpful for a while, but we end up back where we started.

As for immigration, the statistics are there and they show that Canada needs immigration. However, why should an immigrant with no knowledge of French or English have to choose one of these two languages rather than be able to opt for both?

I think I only have 15 seconds left, so I'll stop there.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Tamilio. You'll have lots of time to continue talking about your projects and about the francophone community in the Sarnia region when we get to the questions.

Mr. Laporte, you now have the floor for five minutes.

[Maxime Laporte, President, Mouvement Québec français]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In 1971, the demographic weight of those who speak French at home in Canada was 25.7%. In 2016, it was 20.5%. According to the projections, it will be 17.8% in 2036, which is fewer than 14 years away. In other words, 65 years after the passage of the Official Languages Act in Canada the country's francophone glacier has melted and lost 30% of its volume.

In English-speaking Canada, with the exception of Quebec, the demographic weight of those who speak French at home was 4.3% in 1971 and 2.3% in 2016. According to the projections, it will drop to 1.8% in 2036.

The net anglicization rate for francophones in Canada was 4.8% in 1971 and 5.8% in 2016. The net anglicization rate for francophones in English Canada was 27.4% in 1971 and 40.1% in 2016.

In Quebec, the demographic weight of French as the language spoken at home went from 83.1% in 2001 to 80.6% in 2016. It will drop to 74.4% in 2036, according to the projections.

On Montreal Island, the demographic weight of French as the language spoken at home was 56.4% in 2001. Fifteen years on, it was at 53.1%, meaning that French will soon be the minority language there.

And lastly, the demographic weight of Quebec in Canada went from approximately 28% in 1971 to approximately 23% in 2016. According to the projections, it will be approximately 22% in 2036.

Francophones used to be the vast minority among those who spoke European languages in Canada. Here we are now, a few centuries later, on the brink of folklorization or even extinction. In his day, former Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was already prophesying that the dominion would be a tomb for the French fact. And the great Pierre Bourgault talked about “a slow cultural genocide”. Beyond incendiary words, no matter what is said or done, Lord Durham's program is well under way. Slowly but surely, it is becoming a reality. You have to admit that Lord Durham is patient.

We, the old Canadians, have had enough of regression. Enough of always being even more “minoritized” and increasingly “provincialized”.

The question is: can we really reverse the trend? Given the current state of affairs, I don't really think so and I believe even less in your measures. However, we can still theorize. What might we do, in theory? In theory, we would have to make French the only real official and common language of Quebec, and wherever there still are significant agglomerations of francophones, including everywhere within the jurisdiction of the central government. But you won't do that.

In theory, what's required is a break with Canadian-style official bilingualism, which is, objectively, a fiasco. What is needed instead is a Swiss-style model. The only official language for statutes and the courts in Quebec should be French. In other words, section 133 of the Constitution Act, 1982, would have to be amended accordingly. That's something else you won't do.

What is required is for Quebec, within its borders, to have all jurisdictions with respect to immigration, language, culture and communication. Only knowledge of the French language should be required to become a citizen of Quebec. Or have you already said no to that.

As for the language of education, the “Canada clause” should be removed. Canada ought not to be able to use its spending power to interfere in fields of Quebec jurisdiction in ways that are to the detriment of French.

Subsidiarily, the kind of linguistic and institutional segregation that gives English public institutions in Quebec a clearly privileged status that is practically colonial, should be ended, as should the millions of dollars per year of overfunding for anti-Bill 101 lobbies.

Furthermore, francophones in English Canada should have the same institutional rights and privileges as Quebec anglophones. The Attorney General should henceforth abstain from ruling against Bill 101 in court, for example. In fact, the 1982 constitutional diktat should be erased and followed by a return to the bargaining table to start over from scratch.

What's left? In the current state of affairs, if Canada really cared about the French fact more than it cared about political unity, I think that what we would be looking at would be an amicable divorce, a velvet divorce, like the one that occurred in the former Czechoslovakia. Personally, I recommend divorce.

That's all I have to say for this evening. To tell the truth, I don't think we have much to say to one another. I'll speed things up for you. Moreover, it strikes me that it has been a long time now since Quebec and Canada have not had much to say to one another about the essentials, no matter how those who willingly wear blinders feel about it. For the love of French, let's stop wasting our time and money pretending.

Thank you.

Good evening.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Laporte.

We will now continue with the General President of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal.

Ms. Marie-Anne Alepin, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Marie-Anne Alepin, General President, Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal]

Good evening, everyone.

I'd like to begin by thanking you for inviting me to appear before the committee and for taking an interest in the protection and promotion of French.

I represent the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, which was founded in 1834 to defend the French language and democracy. Other Saint-Jean-Baptiste societies sprang up just about everywhere in Canada in the19th and 20th centuries. They played a central role in all of Quebec's and French Canadians' language battles.

Lawyer Roger Lepage's testimony to this committee shook me. He spoke to you about the oppression of his compatriots in the Prairies, the assassination of Louis Riel in 1885, the Ku Klux Klan's actions, the prohibition of French-language schools in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, the education rights reluctantly granted by Saskatchewan towards the end of the 1960s, the francophone Saskatchewan students confined to old buildings abandoned by anglophones, and in particular, the lack of money for new French-language schools. In comparison to the overfunding of the anglophone school system in Quebec, one can only feel anger over what Mr. Lepage had to go through.

The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, which I feel honoured to preside over, has for over 190 years worked to promote the French language, and Quebec's culture and identity. In addition to holding patriotic events and organizing Quebec's national holiday in Montreal from its very beginnings, our organization has taken part in all facets of cultural life, including its major awards in literature, the performing arts, music, cinema, journalism and other fields.

The French language is a precious possession in America. Flowing from the mouth of our great river, it was transmitted unremittingly and lovingly from generation to generation. It gave birth to a rich and original culture that shines in the heavens of the world's cultural diversity, but today, our language is threatened, even in our metropolis.

The decline of French is more than a statistic: it is visible and felt by the population. Our major businesses, our so-called francophone radio stations, and even our French-language television channels bombard us with English songs. In many Montreal businesses, it can be difficult to get service in French. English-language CEGEP students are mainly francophones and allophones. The intensive teaching of English in elementary school is already giving rise to centres of anglicization in our French schools. English-language universities receive three to four times the funding they should. Censuses have been showing a steady decline in French as a mother tongue, and the language used at home and at work.

, Without Bill 101, we would already be well on the way to becoming a minority in Quebec. Unfortunately, as it is not yet a country, Quebec does not have the powers to take the matter in hand and restore a balance that would secure the future of French. With its powerful spending authority, Ottawa interferes in our fields of jurisdiction and injects billions of dollars into education and health, leading to an imbalance and injustice.

The Official Languages Act establishes a fictional symmetry between anglo-Quebeckers and francophone communities outside Quebec. The millions of dollars awarded each year to Quebec under this act have served to promote English, even though it's French that is threatened. English, as you know, will remain the strong majority language in North America and Canada. Anglo-Quebecers are an extension of this majority in Quebec.

The modernization of the Official Languages Act needs to increase support to francophones outside Quebec. Their communities are entitled to it. Given the historical injustices, needs are immense. In Quebec, the Official Languages Act is part of the problem, not the solution.

You may not have been there when this act was adopted and amended, but now you have the power to change things. My question here is a real one: do you want to continue the work undertaken in 1839 by Lord Durham and the leaders of his era? Do you want to see francophones assimilated by the dominant language, or rather turn things around to secure the future of the French language?

If Ottawa truly wants to remedy the situation while waiting for us to become a country, we have three things to put forward.

Firstly, we suggest that funding under the Official Languages Act should be overwhelmingly spent on protecting and promoting French language and culture in every English-majority province and territory, and in Quebec.

Secondly, we are asking the Standing Committee on Official Languages to recommend the establishment of a college specializing in Quebec radio and television to ensure that Quebec has enhanced protection and promotion of French on radio, television and the Internet.

Lastly, we are proposing that the committee recommend that companies under federal jurisdiction be made subject to the provisions of Bill 101, in compliance with the provisions of Quebec's Bill 96.

Quebec is exemplary towards its anglophone communities. It's obvious in comparison to the treatment received by francophone and Acadian communities in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Alepin. You'll have more opportunities to add comments as people ask you questions.

For the first round of questions, each political party will have six minutes.

Mr. Gourde, you have the floor.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all the witnesses for being here.

My first question is for Ms. Tamilio.

Ms. Tamilio, you spoke about problems encountered in recruiting teachers for the various francophone schools and immersion programs. Do you have a solution? Where are you going to find all the teachers you need with such a serious shortage?

It takes time to encourage people to become teachers. I imagine that it must be even more difficult to find francophone teachers outside Quebec.

[Tanya Tamilio]

Thank you for the question.

As it happens, I do have a solution.

I manage a community centre in the small city of Sarnia, but I can explain one of the problems we have with respect to teachers. For example, when people from Quebec come here to teach in French in the Sarnia region, they find themselves in a completely anglophone world when they're not at the school. So we would like to support French, but how to provide support for the people who find themselves in such a context?

We were talking earlier about IRCC and the possibility of providing language courses. It might be helpful to offer English courses to francophones from Quebec who come to our region.

We also discussed immigration. I heard someone say earlier that it would be great if we could attract more francophone professionals from abroad, particularly teachers, and have them settle in the regions.