Evidence of meeting #82 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was alberta.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chair, Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
That's right, Laila. We did have a campaign where we had stickers. We also have something on our website. Businesses can go ahead and download a badge that they can put on their website to promote that they actually have bilingualism in the business, so a tourist or somebody new to the municipality can get some type of service in French and English.
I want to tell you about an application we also have with Heritage Canada to do a larger-scale awareness campaign as—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Excuse me, Mr. Chair.
The interpretation isn't working.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Just a second, Ms. Brosseau, there is no interpretation right now.
It's working now. You may continue.
Chair, Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
We currently have an application with Heritage Canada to do a larger awareness campaign. What we're finding, as municipalities, is that a lot of tourists and newcomers who come to Alberta don't actually realize how much bilingualism there actually is here in Alberta: francophone people, schools and culture. That's a project we would like to work on next year. It's to have a larger, national-scale awareness campaign to show people that, in fact, there are French-speaking people here, and they can access services both in French and in English here in Alberta.
December 11th, 2023 / 12:45 p.m.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Thank you.
Most of you guys have touched on the Conference Board of Canada report that talks about how bilingualism has economic advantages. That is exceptionally clear, just as you pointed out. Most people do not realize that French was the first European language spoken in the province of Alberta. We were founded by the French. Most of our larger cities have a French heritage. Calgary's Rouleauville was completely French. The first missions in most of our larger cities, all the way to the smallest ones, were French. That is very important.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
It's important to speak in English and in French.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
You have every reason to be proud.
Mr. Iacono, you have five minutes.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
I want to thank the witnesses for being here this morning.
My first question is for Mr. Alary and Mr. Boucher.
In terms of service delivery, what is your relationship with your provincial government? Is it good? How supportive is your provincial government?
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
As I said, Alberta has adopted a new policy for the francophonie. The policy focuses on increasing French‑language services through engagement with the community.
Of course, as a francophone organization in Alberta, we don't receive provincial funding. However, we're connected to Accès Emploi, the francophone employment centre in Alberta, which receives mainly provincial funding. This ties in with the federal‑provincial agreements on francophone employability, which establish how we can serve our clients.
We need to build bridges over the long term and engage in ongoing lobbying to make room for the French language. Some agencies in Alberta are open to this idea. One English‑speaking provincial agency acknowledges that we fill a special niche when it comes to the francophonie. We can make small inroads of this nature.
In the past, we developed projects in rural areas in partnership with certain organizations. For example, we conducted a study to develop the hemp fibre industry in the northwestern part of the province. The development of this type of market isn't primarily a francophone matter. It's a bilingual matter. The provincial government funded this study, which was led by the CDEA. It involved about 20 partners, including English‑speaking municipalities.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Mr. Boucher, do you have anything to add? We can give you some time to respond.
Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine
We've had a new government for less than two months. That said, our engagement with this government is off to a good start. The government seems open to our ideas and concepts. However, we must point out that we made inroads with the previous government, which lasted seven years. For example, economic development was a niche area for the previous government. It was important for that government to make progress in this area.
Generally speaking, we had a good relationship with the former government, and we also have a good relationship with the new one. We plan to bring together the federal, provincial and community sectors to find common solutions. That's our goal.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Brosseau, a number of official language minority communities, or OLMCs, are located in rural areas. What initiatives are you proposing to support them?
Chair, Alberta Bilingual Municipalities Association, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
We have a couple of different initiatives, as I mentioned. One is helping to showcase to municipalities the importance of having a website in both French and English, and having signage on the outside of the municipal buildings that says “welcome” in both English and French. Last year, we did a project where we worked with six different municipalities to help translate some of their signage within the municipalities to French and English, including museums and different types of municipal buildings.
Again, we're just working right now on a project of awareness across Canada to help bring in more newcomers and tourism to those municipalities.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you.
The Canadian francophonie is diverse. It's becoming larger and larger with the influx of immigrants from the French‑speaking world.
Mr. Boucher, what initiatives have you implemented to help newcomers succeed? Have you created initiatives to help them start businesses?
Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine
Our francophone immigration strategy has been in place for quite some time. This week, we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Accueil francophone du Manitoba and the 10th anniversary of the Réseau en immigration francophone du Manitoba, or RIF. We've worked with various governments.
In the early days, we started building a relationship with the province when it came to our immigration work. These days, we work mostly with the federal government. A francophone immigration network involves various stakeholders. The approach is integrated and comprehensive. It doesn't just fall to one organization. Job offers, job placement and housing play a crucial role in helping newcomers settle and integrate successfully. Our strategies include looking at an individual's life as a whole. Obviously, we consider employment a key issue.
Liberal
Liberal
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Thank you.
Do any communities or municipalities still operate primarily in French?
Executive Director, Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta
In northern Alberta, some communities with somewhat older populations were predominantly French‑speaking. One example is the northwestern town of Falher, a member of the Alberta Bilingual Municipal Association, or ABMA. Unfortunately, communities such as St. Paul and Bonnyville have aging populations. As we discussed, the rural exodus is a major issue. We must try to address this issue so that our young people can stay in their communities. Cold Lake is more or less bilingual. It has a francophone or bilingual military base. The francophone population is connected to this base. In rural areas, the aging population is a major issue when it comes to the survival and development of these communities.
Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine
Municipal council meetings in the rural municipality of De Salaberry and the village of St‑Pierre‑Jolys, Manitoba, are held entirely in French. All elected officials must be able to speak both official languages. The municipalities of Ritchot and Taché have a strong mix of anglophones and francophones.
Some municipalities have a higher concentration of francophones. However, we work in both official languages in most cases.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
In terms of francophone immigration, some francophone newcomers settle in places where there are very few French speakers.
Would it be more effective to give them information so that they can settle in French‑speaking municipalities or communities?
Executive Director, Société de la francophonie manitobaine
We basically encourage them to become part of our rural francophone communities. However, as we said earlier, people need jobs to live comfortably and support their families. It isn't always easy to make choices. Our welcoming francophone communities initiative focuses on attracting people to our communities, our bilingual municipalities, throughout Manitoba. That's our goal, but immigrants can't always...