Evidence of meeting #19 for Science and Research in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was english.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Full Professor, Research Chair in Language Management, As an Individual
Getting back to multilingualism at the national and international level is a fine dream that we can try to achieve, in my opinion.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Mr. Perreault or Ms. Lamoureux, could you tell us the scientific disciplines where the share held by francophone publications has declined the most?
Full Professor, Research Chair in Language Management, As an Individual
I will let Mr. Perreault answer that question.
President, Acfas
The decline affects health sciences, natural sciences and engineering. In fact, it affects health sciences the most, because there is virtually nothing in that field. In natural sciences and engineering, there are still a few bilingual journals, but that is all. It is really in those fields that there has been a major loss.
I think you raised an interesting point when you mentioned the revision of the Official Languages Act. That may be an opportunity to insist that research have strong roots and take its rightful place.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Ms. Lamoureux, do you agree with what Mr. Perreault just said?
Full Professor, Research Chair in Language Management, As an Individual
Yes. Without a doubt, it is easier to publish in the fields of education or language policy. Nonetheless, I think the discussions around the revision of the Official Languages Act give us an opportunity to initiate a dialogue. Acfas and the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne have a role to play.
That being said, how can we present this as a topical issue? We have been talking about it for 40 years. Are we going to wait another 40 years to find solutions? I think it is genuinely urgent that these questions be raised in the political arena.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
As one possible avenue, I have proposed that we get back to basics a bit.
I have barely 20 seconds left. Mr. Perreault, you said that the federal government can have some influence, through the universities and the Official Languages Act. In concrete terms, what can it do to help you in this regard?
President, Acfas
This has to be incorporated into the Act and then the resources that are needed have to be provided. We talked about better...
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kirsty Duncan
Professor Perreault, I am sorry to interrupt.
Mr. Lauzon, I'm afraid the time is over. Perhaps you would like to ask Professor Perreault to table a written response.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Yes, I would like to have a written response on this one because it's a major issue.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kirsty Duncan
Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.
I am now going to give Mr. Blanchette-Joncas the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to welcome the witnesses who are with us this evening and are participating in this important study.
I am going to yield my speaking time to Mr. Perreault so he can conclude his presentation.
President, Acfas
Thank you very much. That is kind of you.
It was noted earlier, and I said it at the start of my presentation: funding for scholarly journals enables them to exist, to flourish and to engage in promotion; that is one thing. However, we also have to think about doing more to support scientific activities in French and the organizations that initiate them. Obviously, there has been a breakdown in the last 10 or 20 years, during which we have seen a gradual decrease in funding. The combination of rising costs and decreased funding brings us to the situation we are now in.
We therefore have to adopt very concrete measures to correct the situation. As I said, it is one thing to incorporate research as a fundamental element in the revision of the Official Languages Act, but we still need to take the necessary measures to fully achieve the objectives of the Act.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you very much for that additional information, Mr. Perreault.
Your report entitled "Portrait and challenges of research in French in the minority context in Canada," dating from the summer of 2021, speaks volumes. One of its recommendations is to create a service to assist research in French, with the aim of disseminating knowledge in French.
In November 2021, the Quebec government granted funding to Acfas to create that service to assist research in French.
What about on the federal side?
President, Acfas
I am going to begin answering the question and then let Ms. Pelletier finish.
The purpose of the service to assist research in French, or SARF, is to offer services to the research community in minority language environments. For example, a researcher at an anglophone institution who is doing a study of French and the use of that language in their region has to have the questionnaires and the research proposal translated in order for their institution to be able to submit them to one of the three granting councils. The SARF will offer that kind of support service to the research community.
The SARF is so important to us that Acfas started it up with the help of the government of Quebec, which provided its initial funding. We are currently seeking financial support from the federal government to support this service, which will be offered from coast to coast. We really think the Canadian government has everything to gain by supporting us financially so this service can be offered to the entire academic community.
Project Manager, Canadian Francophonie, Acfas
I would add that we have the support of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie and of partners in the private sector.
We really want to obtain federal government funding, but our efforts have not worked so far. We think, for example, that the granting councils have a role to play, given that we will be helping them meet their official languages obligations. At present, they do not receive as many applications in French as they would like, because some researchers would like to submit applications in French but can't do so because they are in an anglophone university. We will therefore certainly need funding from the federal government for this service to be able to support all francophone researchers in minority language environments.
President, Acfas
I would like to point out that we are not talking just about small institutions, since what we are describing also applies to a researcher at the University of Toronto who teaches in the French Studies Department.
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Thank you.
To put things in perspective, if I understand correctly, it is currently the government of Quebec that is engaged in promoting the development of scientific research in minority language environments in the rest of Canada. Is that right?
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Perfect.
Prof. Villeneuve, my next question is for you. I know that you direct scientific research, particularly in western Canada. You are also in charge of two scientific journals, one francophone and the other bilingual.
Can you tell us about your experience in more detail?
President , Alberta, Acfas
Thank you for the question.
The first of the two journals I edit is called Arborescences. Its home base is the French Studies Department at the University of Toronto. In fact, I co-edit it with a professor at the university. It is a journal of French-language literary, linguistic and pedagogical studies that focuses specifically on French and francophone studies. Most of the articles in the journal are in French and each issue has a theme.
At this time, we have the capacity to publish only one issue a year. Editing, managing and operating a scientific journal requires volunteer work on the part of researchers. They are the people who receive the papers, evaluate the submissions, make recommendations, and handle the entire publication process. It is an extremely big job. As long as that research is not valued, fewer people are going to volunteer to do the work.
The second journal I co-edit is theCanadian Journal of Linguistics, a bilingual publication of the Canadian Linguistic Association. That journal focuses on the scientific study of languages. We publish four issues a year. There are four co-editors, two women and two men, and one assistant...
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kirsty Duncan
I'm sorry to interrupt you, Prof. Villeneuve.
I just want to say to our witnesses that we so appreciate your being here. We appreciate your testimony. It's just that I notice a hand keeps going up, but our members will say who they want to speak to, so please don't feel that people are being rude. We are very welcoming and we are very grateful to have you.
Bloc
Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Bloc Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Madam Chair, I would like to ask Ms. Villeneuve whether she would send us an answer in writing, particularly regarding the challenges she referred to on the subject of the francophone and bilingual scientific journals.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Kirsty Duncan
Very good.
Now we will go to Mr. Boulerice—we're so pleased to have you join us—for six minutes, please.
NDP
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would also like to thank the witnesses and the experts who are with us today to discuss this very important issue.
Several years ago, I was a social sciences student in university. At that time, it was already impossible for a student who was not able to read English to do a bachelor's degree. We are talking about social sciences, not biochemistry or health sciences, a field that Mr. Perreault mentioned. The figures the witnesses have presented to us do not give the impression that the situation has improved.
Ms. Lamoureux, earlier, you used a word that I didn't much like. You talked about researchers being "afraid" to publish in French, since they have the feeling, or even the certainty, that their publications in that language will be disseminated less and be cited less, and will have less importance. For those reasons, they tend to publish in English.
How can we reverse that trend and climb back up that slippery slope?
We can't invent new journals. In fact, the universities and research centres can do that, but not the federal government, whether here or abroad. How can we support these researchers so they publish in French when their career, from what I understand, might suffer?