Official Languages committee  I believe it would indeed help to get services in French. First and foremost, when the federal government gives a province funding for official languages, it should be required to provide services and programs in both official languages. That's essential. It would of course enable the community to receive services.

Official Languages committee  It's an important component. For the situation at Laurentian University, it's very hard to determine where the federal government funding went on French-language services and programs. We hope to receive details once the Auditor General has published her report. We met her, in fact, and asked her to look over the money provided by the federal government for French-language programs and services at Laurentian University.

Official Languages committee  We do indeed need targets to restore it. At the moment, and it's been like that ever since we set a target, our demographic weight has been declining. One hundred years ago in Ontario, 10% of the population was francophone. Today it is below 5% and is continuing to decline. Something more drastic is required.

Official Languages committee  To begin with, we have francophone communities just about everywhere in Ontario. These are strong communities. We are making considerable efforts to welcome immigrants. We have three welcoming communities and are making sure that immigrants feel at home in our communities and that they can find work and prosper.

Official Languages committee  That's it exactly. The objective is to increase levels of francophone immigration. The means of accomplishing that can vary.

Official Languages committee  It's the opinion of an expert in the field. We worked closely with people who have a great deal of experience in official languages, and who are thoroughly familiar with the bill, in order to prepare the document submitted by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.

Official Languages committee  We have not spoken with any experts who have worked in this area. But to restate the position taken by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, it's extremely important for things to be clear so that we don't end up with a lottery in terms of knowing whether things are only going to be done by half, completely, or not at all.

Official Languages committee  You mentioned the Treasury Board and it's financial authority. What we are talking about is making amendments to Bill C‑13 to ensure that the Treasury Board would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the act. If the Treasury Board already has this authority, why hasn't it made more use of it over the past 50 years?

Official Languages committee  Right, okay. I still feel that coordination is an important aspect. There should be as little delegation of responsibility as possible. We know what the word “delegation” implies. Our fear, because changes in government happen on a regular basis, is that if a new government were to decide that the Treasury Board should delegate more to the various departments, it could mean all responsibility for implementing the act.

Official Languages committee  There is an enormous amount of work to do, beginning with Bill C‑13. The bill mentions targets and accountability, but does not contain any objectives. Nobody knows how the Department of Citizenship and Immigration will deal with it. It's an extremely important issue. While there is a shortage of anglophone workers, it's much worse on the francophone side.

Official Languages committee  I hope that this mistake will not be repeated. In its speech from the throne, the government committed itself to the Francophonie and it will have to take follow‑up action. In the bill, this means appointing bilingual judges to the Supreme Court. That represents another opportunity to do so.

Official Languages committee  For some 50 years, Canadian Heritage has been responsible for implementing the act. However, Canadian Heritage doesn't have any power over the departments. Canadian Heritage does its work and makes recommendations to the departments, but they are free as to whether they will implement 25%, 50% or 100% of the recommendations, or none at all.

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, Hon. members, good afternoon. I am truly pleased to be able to see you in person. I am happy to be able to join you as you study Bill C‑13. I'd like to thank you for having invited the AF0, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, to testify in connection with your work.

Official Languages committee  One of the important points in the bill tabled yesterday is the need to establish a francophone immigration policy. It talks about targets and accountability, but it doesn't talk about numbers.

Official Languages committee  The Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario is in the process of completing a rigorous study on the issue of targets. The study is based on data from Statistics Canada, and the analysis model has been validated by the organization. We want to wait for the study to be published before officially deciding on a target, but it is clear that more needs to be done and it needs to be done better.