Evidence of meeting #88 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 business.
A recording is available from Parliament.
General Manager, Edmundston Region Chamber of Commerce
I agree with Mr. Fortin. Once again, support is needed for online service so that companies can focus on it as much as possible.
Given our location, everything must be in English and French. We support the francophone community in our area.
As Mr. Fortin said, we would be grateful for more support for e‑commerce so that companies can export their products.
Liberal
Marc Serré Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
Wonderful. Thank you.
Mr. Vaillancourt, thank you for your years of research and study.
Since 2015, the federal government has doubled funding for official languages as part of its $4.1 billion action plan. After 50 years, the Official Languages Act has been modernized. We're currently working to expand the francophonie across Canada and also to support minority language communities in Quebec.
What can the federal, municipal and provincial levels of government do?
Many provinces don't provide the necessary support to francophone communities. Yet these people are residents. Mr. Fortin, for example, is a resident of British Columbia.
Do you have any recommendations regarding the role of the provinces and municipalities?
Professor, As an Individual
This isn't about encroaching on provincial jurisdictions. However, while listening to Ms. Pelletier, I thought of a website that could, for example, help companies identify their English‑to‑French translation needs.
Companies could then be put in touch with translation programs at schools. Students could meet these needs as part of their practical training, for example. This would both benefit the company and provide compensation and a learning opportunity for the students.
The goal is to act as a facilitator in the economy and to create synergy.
In addition, interprovincial trade should be made easier. However, that matter is a bit more complicated.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Indeed, it's a complicated matter.
Thank you, Mr. Vaillancourt and Mr. Serré.
Mr. Beaulieu, you now have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Vaillancourt, Frédéric Lacroix conducted a fairly comprehensive study on the funding of post‑secondary institutions. I believe that you said that this field of research could be useful. He found that roughly 28% of the total funding from various sources—including the Quebec and federal governments—goes to anglophone universities. That's almost 3.5% more funding than the demographic weight of anglophones.
What's the potential impact of this overfunding?
Professor, As an Individual
I assume that we're talking about Quebec universities. Is that right?
Bloc
Professor, As an Individual
Okay.
It's partly historical, because they used to provide services.
There are two strategies: the carrot and the stick. The carrot acts as an incentive.
Let me make a suggestion. This doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, Mr. Serré, but it's still relevant. You could ask anglophone universities to grant tenure to professors only if the professors really know French and can contribute to Quebec's economic development. That's my first comment.
When you hire unilingual anglophone professors who can't contribute to Quebec's economic development, you're funding, through Quebeckers' tax dollars, people who can't give the same value to their university as they would if they knew French. As I was saying earlier, language is human capital that helps make available—
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Sorry to interrupt you, but I'm running out of time, Mr. Vaillancourt.
Does it make sense that, in Quebec, 94% of official languages funding supports English in all areas, including economic development?
Professor, As an Individual
It's important to remain consistent. Outside Quebec, funding is mainly given to francophones. It's a tricky question. How do you take care of René Lévesque's so‑called “dead ducks”? Maybe they aren't so dead after all.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
That isn't the point at all. The point is that the situation of anglophones in Quebec is hardly comparable to the situation of francophone minority communities outside Quebec.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Vaillancourt. Our time's up.
Mr. Beaulieu, that was an excellent question.
Yves Beauchemin spoke of warm corpses, while René Lévesque spoke of dead ducks.
Professor, As an Individual
The relative capacities of both groups must be taken into account.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
As chair, I don't want to get involved, but I think that they're still quite lively.
Ms. Ashton, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to focus on the value of supporting francophone international students and their contribution to our communities in terms of economic development, for example.
Mr. Vaillancourt, as a professor, I imagine that you know the value of international students.
Should the federal government work with francophone institutions to ensure that francophone international students receive proper support? Also, should an exemption be applied to the recent decision to limit the number of international students?
Professor, As an Individual
I believe that asymmetrical treatment applies. This goes back to Mr. Beaulieu's question earlier.
The first international student is often highly valuable to a class, as is the second. When 50% of students are international, having one more doesn't make much difference to the profit margin. The profitability is already there. Small francophone universities outside Quebec with few international students probably benefit more from having international students than Toronto's Canasta University or Cape Breton University, which have many international students.
In my opinion, quantity and ratio are two parameters that must figure into the federal government's formula for allocating places for international students in the various universities.
NDP
Chief Executive Officer, Maple Roch
I have recently received two résumés from people in France who are looking for work in British Columbia. However, I don't think that they're students. We're seeing a big change in francophone immigration. I'm surprised to have received two résumés, but we'll take a look at them.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Fortin and Ms. Ashton.
Ms. Pelletier had to leave. She warned us that she had to leave just after 5:15 p.m. This is for the witnesses who are still here. If you have any additional information to share with the committee, please send it to our clerk. She will then pass it on to the committee members.
This concludes our meeting with witnesses on the economic development of official language minority communities.
I would like the committee members to prepare instructions for the analyst for a draft report. We'll be discussing this next Thursday in the first hour. In addition, we'll be continuing our review of the third version of the draft report on increased francophone immigration. In the second hour, we'll hear from the Commissioner of Official Languages as part of the study of language obligations related to the process of staffing or making appointments to key positions.
I want to thank the witnesses once again.
The meeting is adjourned.