Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can talk about one that will help the integration of our new immigrants. Language training is essential for newcomers. Often, the contract is given to anglophone organizations, which fact contributes to distancing those persons from our communities. We believe there are two a

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The objective for 2018 had been set at 4%, but we only reached 1.8%. No real plan was put in place to attain that objective. Our priority is to establish concrete strategies with IRCC that are designed by and for the communities, to allow them to be proactive in recruiting our f

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's an immense challenge. I will let Mr. Dupuis provide further explanations.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is a big issue. There are two aspects to it. First, there is the citizen who is trying to learn French and keep in touch with his or her language. In your case, this was your family's language. Moreover, francophone organizations need to be strengthened by the proper orie

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, may I thank you for inviting the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the FCFA, to appear today. We have much to tell you about the subject you are studying. The COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on francophon

Official Languages committee  We see the same weaknesses all over the country. In addition, at the moment, the relationship between our association, which represents Acadians, and the provincial government is in disarray. We have to find a way to assist them in order to convince their government that New Bru

Official Languages committee  In terms of relationships, in this type of situation, I believe that the two levels of government must find a way to work together for the benefit of their official language minority communities. We also see the need for a fund that would be available to our community groups acr

Official Languages committee  On an operational level, in our communities, there are no longer any activities involving registration fees. Think of plays, for example, or other arts and culture activities, or events for young people. So a group of organizations have put their activities on hold. How will we

Official Languages committee  I'm your neighbour. I live in Alberta. I think that the three provinces that have been hit the hardest are British Columbia, Alberta and New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  I'd say that services in all sectors have been affected and that access to services and the ability to deliver them have declined.

Official Languages committee  This pandemic situation has demonstrated that several provinces consider that the francophone communities issue falls under federal government jurisdiction. Several provinces haven't made any financial investments to support the advancement of our communities. It's sad to say, bu

Official Languages committee  I'll let Mr. Dupuis answer that question.

Official Languages committee  We're currently working very hard with the federal government on the immigration issue. A great deal of work still needs to be done in this area. On that note, Canada is the only country that uses immigration to maintain the demographic weight of French-speaking communities in al

Official Languages committee  We're very much in favour of this decision. It confirmed that the minister was really listening to our comments and our requests. It also showed that the minister was strongly motivated by a desire to find solutions. This was one way to do so, and yes, this applies to francophone

Official Languages committee  We are surely disappointed and concerned that the bill will not be introduced in the next few weeks. We will certainly look carefully at the contents of the white paper, but it is still not a bill. The concern we have right now is about rumours that there may be an election. If t