Official Languages Committee on Nov. 29th, 2023

[The Clerk]

If the committee adopts the motion to adjourn, it ends the debate, and it goes back to what it was doing before, that is, questioning witnesses.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

However, resuming the debate at a later date is not ruled out.

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

If we adjourn the debate and we can come back to it later, I agree.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Mario Beaulieu]

The practice is that if the debate is adjourned, we can come back to it at another meeting, but not during this one.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 10, nays 0)

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Mario Beaulieu]

So we will continue.

Mr. Godin, you have one minute left.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Traynor, what indicators does your organization use to determine whether your investments are having a positive effect on the development of French in the territory?

[Stephen Traynor]

Thank you very much.

Certainly, we work well with the Association franco-yukonnaise, as well as the other two French organizations, one in Nunavut and one in NWT.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Excuse me, Mr. Traynor. I do not want to interrupt you or not respect you.

My question is this: what indicators does your organization use to measure the effectiveness of its investments in the francophone organizations in the territory?

[Stephen Traynor]

The measures and results we use are with the Association franco-yukonnaise, which represents all three organizations. It gives us information on the number of job fairs it does in Quebec, for example, to encourage workers. It gives us the number of conversations and meetings it has with the municipalities in the north, as well as with entrepreneurs. Certainly, it also tells us how well it is doing as an organization, how many meetings it has and that type of information.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Mario Beaulieu]

Thank you. Time is up.

Mr. Godin, I invite you to resume the chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

I thank Mr. Beaulieu for his work as chair.

I now give the floor to Mr. Samson, from the Liberal Party, who has six minutes to question the representatives of the two organizations who are with us during this first hour.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the witnesses for being with us today. We are also happy that you are managing so well in French. That continuity is very important.

Mr. Kapoor, in your presentation, you said that 39 projects were designated as francophone or came from francophone organizations. How do you determine that? Is it by using a form in which the language is specified?

[Anoop Kapoor]

In general, we have a form that is offered in English or in French, in which the applicant can tell us whether they belong to an OLMC or other information we can use to verify that aspect.

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

Is it determined by the fact that the form is filled out in French or is it specified somewhere that it is a francophone group?

[Anoop Kapoor]

In the form, the person can indicate whether they belong to an OLMC, for instance.

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

Fine.

I think I understood that you had funds reserved for OLMCs. Is that correct?

[Anoop Kapoor]

Yes, we invest funds associated with the EDI. We are talking about $30.2 million over five years. Those are funds reserved for OLMCs.

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

Fine, thank you.

Mr. Traynor, you talked about a number of projects carried out in francophone communities. The last one you mentioned was a community centre.

Can you give us more details about that investment, tell us the amount, and tell us what proportion of those funds came from your agency?

[Stephen Traynor]

Certainly.

Thank you for the question.

There was approximately $350,000 for a one-year project that went to the Association des francophones du Nunavut.

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

I'm only interested in [Inaudible—Editor]. You said “centre communautaire.” The last one in your—

[Stephen Traynor]

Yes. That is correct.

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

Okay.

[Stephen Traynor]

It came from the Canada community revitalization fund, so it was from our agency in addition to the normal funds we get through the EDI.

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

Yes. Those were the funds given toward that centre.

[Stephen Traynor]

That's correct.