Jean-Claude D'Amours

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I can appreciate that the minister understands nothing. But the only thing I am trying to make her understand is that it is an organization that was refused funding for student programs and that was told by the Heritage Minister that it did not need this funding. It needs help.

If the minister does not understand, perhaps I should slow down to make translation easier? Is it because it is a francophone region that the minister does not want to give funding to the Edmunston Jazz and Blues Festival?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, at least when there was a different government, we were in a position to help organizations and volunteers.

Why does the minister not want to help an organization when it is suffering from cuts to student programs and it needs financial help?

Why does this government not want to help organizations and communities? Is it because they are in a francophone region?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, from what I understand, the minister is saying that the money that could be invested in Kedgwick's Sommet de la chanson would not be properly spent. That is unacceptable.

Moreover, we know that Edmundston's jazz and blues festival is a bilingual and francophone event that will take place in June, in the Madawaska region. The department says that this event does not really meet the program's objectives. It was just cut as a program for student employment. According to the department, there is not a clearly established need.

Why does the minister not provide adequate funding to this organization?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I am not convinced that the minister listened to my question. In the end, it is the volunteers who have to fill out the forms. However, department officials call the volunteers to tell them that even if they fill out the forms, they are not going to get funding.

Can the minister explain that?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, if there are criteria in place, can the minister explain to the officials of Kedgwick's Sommet de la chanson why volunteers must spend days and days filling in forms, in the hope of getting amounts that barely total $5,000 or $10,000? And then they get a call from the department telling them that even if they fill out the forms, they are not going to get funding.

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, the request does not come from a member of Parliament but, rather, from the Galerie Restigouche people.

If the minister really believes in arts and culture, when will she agree to provide financial assistance to these people, so that they can continue their work?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, since the minister mentioned, a little earlier, that her government respects culture and the arts, could she explain why she is not in a position to help an organization in the Restigouche area, such as Campbellton's Galerie Restigouche, by providing it with some financial assistance?

[Petitions, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present today in this House a petition, signed by the constituents of my riding, on the cancellation of the court challenges program by the Conservative government.

The petitioners are calling for one thing: the full reinstatement of the court challenges program. Recently, the former Conservative chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages decided not to study the cancellation of the court challenges program, when witnesses were supposed to testify in committee. We also know that the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, clearly indicated in his annual report that the Conservative government made a serious mistake by cancelling the court challenges program.

I believe that the petitioners are absolutely right to call upon this House—and not the government, because we know it is refusing to bring back the court challenges program—to fully reinstate this program to ensure that minorities are respected and have the tools to defend themselves and have their rights respected.

[Official Languages, May 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, rather than lecturing others, the minister should call to order the chairman of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Recently, the Prime Minister appointed, as the new federal ombudsman for victims of crime, a unilingual anglophone. He also appointed a unilingual anglophone as the chairman of Ottawa's National Capital Commission, and another one as the chair of the employment insurance arbitration board, in Moncton.

Do we need to remind the government that Ottawa and Moncton are both officially bilingual cities? Does the Prime Minister realize that, by acting in this fashion, he is insulting linguistic minorities across the country? Will he stop insulting linguistic minorities?

[Official Languages, May 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the government promised to protect and promote official languages. However, its performance has been appalling. Indeed, the cancellation of the court challenges program, the watering down of the linguistic requirements in the Canadian Forces and the insulting translation done at the Vimy memorial are all evidence of the Conservatives' indifference. And now they are cancelling the meetings of the committee that was supposed to review the abolition of the court challenges program.

Will, at last, the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages assume her responsibilities and stop showing contempt for linguistic minorities? All we are asking her is to take her responsibilities.