I would like to welcome you all and thank you for being here this morning. We are the parliamentary committee on official languages, and it's a great pleasure for us to be here in Sherbrooke.
We started our tour this week in St. John's, Newfoundland. We were in Moncton yesterday, and we are here today.
Our parliamentary committee has existed for about 25 years. This is the first time the committee has made the decision to go across the country, meet people directly in the field, and look at their institutions, just to see what's happening out in the field. So far it's been very good.
Looking ahead, we have an action plan that was put together, and we want to know how the action plan is working in the communities. We want to know if you have any comments about it, if you have any proposals to give to us, and what works and doesn't work.
Our committee members this morning are Sylvie Boucher, Pierre Lemieux, and Daniel Petit, representing the government; Jean-Claude D'Amours, the official opposition; and Monsieur Guy André, representing the Bloc Québécois.
My name is Yvon Godin. I am from northeast New Brunswick, and I represent the New Democrat Party.
This morning we will start with the Community Health and Social Services Network, the Townshippers' Association, and Bishop's University.
To the three presenters, we would ask you to take ten minutes for your presentations. You might have heard three minutes, but you can take around ten. After that we'll go around the table for questions by members.
Mr. Carter.
:
If we had only had three minutes, we would have been ready to limit our comments, but thank you for granting us a little extra time.
The Community Health and Social Services Network is a network made up of community organizations, public institutions and other components of the Quebec health and social services system. The network promotes partnership projects to improve access to English-language health and social services.
I am making this presentation especially to comply with the directive that the results of the federal government's investment in the area of health in Quebec be made public. I will be talking about a number of challenges and perhaps also some courses of action, or future policies that the federal government could follow up on.
I wish to thank committee members for the invitation to report to you on the results of federal investments of $26.7 million in Quebec to improve access to health services in English for Quebec's English-speaking communities. A total of $4.7 million has supported the creation of formal networks bringing English-speaking communities and service providers together. Some $10 million has led to improvement of the conditions of access to primary-level health care and social services in English. Another $12 million is building the human resources capacity of Quebec's health and social services system so serve English speakers and extend services to remote English-speaking communities through technology.
What are the specific results of the $4.7 million investment and the challenges for the future of community networks and partnerships? Ten local and regional networks have been created, as well as a provincial network of 65 organizations. I represent that network. These formal networks have brought together English-speaking communities and health and social services providers in the Gaspé, Magdalen Islands, Lower North Shore, Megantic Region, the Eastern Townships, the eastern part of Montreal and the Outaouais.
The networks have built a very sizable knowledge base leading to better identification of needs and priorities. When we talk about the networks, we also talk about the public institutions that are part of those networks. Partnerships always include the community, the public health and social services network, health and social services centres and the other public institutions that provide communities with services.
The principal challenge is sustaining these partnerships in the context of a major reorganization of the health and social services system. The health system is constantly being reorganized in Quebec, just like in other provinces, I imagine, and this poses a significant challenge for communities to fully participate in this multi-year reorganization. Quebec's new approach to service delivery has created 95 services networks to meet local needs. The current 10 local and regional partnership networks operate in about 25 per cent of the new territories.
Quebec's horizon for implementing reform extends well beyond the current Action Plan, which will end in a few months. We foresee that a federal commitment is required beyond 2007-2008 to support the current 11 networks in meeting reorganization objectives, as well as to create new networks in many vulnerable communities, which do not benefit from the current partnership investments.
The second measure deals with initiatives for improving access to primary level health care. This represents a $10 million-investment. A total of 37 public institutions upgraded their capacity to serve English-speaking people in their own language. These projects were carried out over a 15-month period, ending in March 2006. Seven projects coordinated efforts to improve the rate of use of Info-Santé, a telephone health line for English speakers. A new centralized telephone system was created in four regions thanks to the investment. It will guarantee availability of such telephone services in English across Quebec, thanks to extensive language training and translation of nursing protocols and social intervention guides.
As for other projects in this area, 25 other institutions upgraded front-line health and social services and 5 long-term care centres adapted programs to better serve the public. For instance, the institution recruited new personnel to serve English speakers, as well as volunteers from English-speaking communities. Specialized language training was given to staff members and a significant number of documents were translated for health system users.
The principal challenge will be to sustain the results of investments when the next stages of reorganization unfold. The 37 projects were completed in March 2006. There are 26 of these projects awaiting an additional investment of $3.4 million for activities to be completed by March 2007. We are about to reach agreements to ensure that Quebec receive the $3.4 million budget envelope.
Now what about the service delivery commitments? We believe that a commitment is required beyond 2006-2007 and we want to ensure that our main partner, the Quebec Ministry of Health, continues to receive a financial contribution from the Government of Canada to support its measures to improve access to services in English.
This is recurrent funding that is consistent with its multi-year reorganization plan. We do not want a project that only allows us to engage in a reorganization over a few months, and we cannot continue to reorganize if we do not have the means to adapt the public network.
Some $12 million were invested in the third measure, i.e., human resources development and distance service delivery. Last year, 1,400 French-speaking professionals working in 81 public institutions in 15 Quebec administrative regions received language training. The language training allows them to improve their capacity to serve English speakers. In 2006, another 2,000 professionals are expected to receive training courses.
Next year, some 4,000 francophone professionals in Quebec, in all administrative regions, will have received the training.
In addition, 22 innovative pilot partnerships have been struck in 14 regions to create internships to increase the number of English-language students in nursing, social work and other health-related disciplines that receive professional training in the regions.
The partnerships bring together—and this is the innovative part—English-speaking communities, French-language institutions in the regions and English-language professional degree programs. In fact, these are three-way partnerships. They are a first step to increase the number of English-speaking professionals that stay in the regions to serve communities.
Let us now look at the challenges.
I have two minutes left?
:
My name is Michael Van Lierop, and I'm the president of the Townshippers' Association.
[Translation]
Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk to you today about our position regarding the 2003 action plan for official language minorities.
[English]
The Townshippers' Association is a volunteer-based, non-partisan, non-profit association. It works on behalf of some 41,000 English speakers scattered throughout a largely rural territory measuring approximately the size of Belgium. A map and background information are found in the booklet that we've given you, “Profile of the English-speaking Community in the Eastern Townships”.
In the past three decades, the size and character of the English-speaking community in the Eastern Townships has changed dramatically. It has lost about 30% of its members and now constitutes about 6% of the total population. It has a high proportion of seniors and a low proportion of youth. English speakers aged 15 to 44 have generally lower levels of education, employment, and income than their French-speaking counterparts or their English-speaking seniors.
These characteristics are key health determinants. The English-speaking community in the townships has special needs for health and social services. Social service needs for youth, for example, are acute. The youth protection office in Cowansville, for example, reports that in March 2006, just this year, 52% of its case load was English-speaking, although English speakers represent about 23% of the population in that area.
The efficacy of social services relies largely on language, in a clear and nuanced understanding.
Another area where language is a key factor in caregiving is in services for seniors, whose level of bilingualism is generally lower than that of youth.
In this context, we can give witness to the capacity of the action plan on official languages to achieve measurable and sustainable change. We have seen its effect in our community in the area of health and social services. Initiatives that the action plan brought to the area include, first of all, the health and social services networking and partnership initiative; secondly, the telehealth sessions; thirdly, primary health care initiatives; fourthly, language training for front-line health and social service providers; and finally, the development of human resources.
In the Eastern Townships, the health and social services networking and partnership initiative has permitted a development of two networks, an information and referral service, a volunteer bank, and a seniors information network. The two networks have carried out needs assessment and rallied the collaboration of service providers. They have done this by making the providers aware of the current realities of the English-speaking community and by bringing together service providers and community members to work together to improve access to services. More than eighty service providers attended a recent youth seminar about the needs of the community and also about available services.
In one year, the Townshippers' information and referral service received 150 requests from community members about health and social services. Although the services they seek may be available in English already, they are not accessible because a senior, for example, may simply not be able to locate them in the phone book. Health care providers also call asking for help to refer a client to resources in English or for English-speaking volunteers.
Other initiatives enabled by the federal action plan include translation of local health and social service documents; information sessions for seniors; mental health awareness events; and workshops. These initiatives have led to improved relationships between front-line workers and the English-speaking community as a whole. As one worker recently said, “We knew the English-speaking community had needs we weren't meeting, but we did not know how to reach the community members. Your organizing these information sessions has made this possible.”
Communication, understanding, and collaboration between service providers and members of the English-speaking community on these factors have led to improved access to services for our community. The networking and partnership initiative has also led to concrete measures to improve access. For example, two health centres have pioneered in making information available in English on their websites, and others have begun to put their English informational brochures on display.
Two elements are key to the success of these networks. First, we must receive funding for resources and coordinators who can work consistently with our partners in a way that volunteers cannot. Second, we must receive resources so that the networks are community-governed. We sincerely hope these key elements will continue to be available to us.
From our perspective, the 2003 action plan was slow in being implemented in such areas as education, economic development, and the public service. English speakers in our region have a real need for improved French language instruction in schools and for adults alike. Despite great financial constraints, the Eastern Townships School Board has increased the proportion of core courses offered in French in its schools. The action plan should be providing support for this initiative. Low-income adult English speakers do not currently have access to free or low-cost French language courses. This is desperately needed.
The townships' English-speaking community has seen an exodus of its brightest and best who seek better job prospects elsewhere. The Townshippers' Association is urgently working to improve access of English speakers to employment and entrepreneurial opportunity in our region. Until the current portrait of low education, low employment, and low income has changed, the English-speaking community cannot contribute its fair share to the economic prosperity of the Eastern Townships. Our vision is to be an economic asset to the community, rather than a burden.
The association collaborates with the Quebec Community Groups Network to encourage English speakers to apply for jobs in the federal public service of Quebec. Despite this, only 7.5% of the federal public servants in Quebec are English speaking, while it should be 12.9%. In the Eastern Townships, anecdotal reports tell us that the federal public service in our region still lacks the capacity to consistently deliver even the most basic of bilingual services. It is difficult to evaluate the federal action plan's effectiveness, however, when many of its recommendations have yet to be implemented. In the coming years, we hope to see an impact in the areas of education, economic development, and the public service.
In short, we recommend that, first of all, the 2003 action plan be renewed and be more actively supported by the Government of Canada; second, that the health and social service initiatives be continued and expanded, enabling continued community participation in these measures; and finally, that the education, economic development, and public service measures be fully implemented and the time span for this implementation be extended.
The federal action plan for official language minorities is extremely promising and has given our community very positive results where it has been implemented. However, it has been partly crippled by slowness in its implementation. We, your community partners, strive to be diligent and accountable in our use of public funds. This diligence, however, is thoroughly compromised when we are given two or three years to complete a five-year action plan. The problems the action plan addresses are very complex, as you can see, and long-term funding is necessary to resolve them.
Thank you.
:
Bonjour. I'm Dr. Jonathan Rittenhouse, vice-principal of Bishop's University.
As a general preamble to what I'm going to say, I would say that Bishop's has felt no direct impact from the operations of the 2003 action plan. We've felt none whatsoever. Therefore, our brief could be brief.
[Translation]
But I am here to talk about the past and future activities of our university and the vitality of the minority language community in Quebec. As you know, Bishop University was founded prior to Canadian Confederation and it is still, today, the main anglophone institution outside of Montreal. It is a major component of the minority community vitality in Quebec. As you also know, we are a small university but we continue to attract students from around the world.
[English]
Ten percent of our students come from over 50 countries, 45% of them from all provinces and territories of Canada, and more than 20% are francophones from Quebec. They come for our well-respected reputation as a student-focused institution, and those from away come because we are a safe and human-scaled portal into Canada and into Quebec. They come to us from Quebec because we are a safe and human-scaled portal to the rest of Canada and the world.
[Translation]
In our undergraduate program—and we have won awards for this category—we give our students enriching, intense and non-artificial opportunities to make contacts with a broad range of individuals and cultures.
[English]
Our Eastern Townships Research Centre has for nearly 25 years promoted the study of the region, with particular emphasis on the minority community. But as our most recent conference, held this past weekend, most clearly demonstrates--it was a conference devoted to the changing faces of our cultural communities in the region--our sense of that community in the region is open and wide.
Further, the Eastern Townships Research Centre at the university is the official repository of the archival heritage of the anglophone community, and we have collected, preserved, and made available the personal and institutional records of our region, for example, the Townshippers' Association.
[Translation]
For more than two generations, our education science school has played an important role in the training of teachers who have worked, and who continue to work, in all of Quebec's school boards, particularly in the rural regions.
Our Dobson-Lagassé Entrepreneurship Centre, founded five years ago, has acquired a reputation as being an innovative centre that provides courses, advice and counselling to new entrepreneurs through a wide network of notaries. Hence, all of our cultural resources—our big theatre, our studio theatre, our art gallery, our concert hall, our library and our sports field—provide our community with resources and activities that are unmatched outside of Montreal. But we can and we must do more and do it better, perhaps with the assistance of the progressive 2003 plan for the future of the Champlain Lake area.
We are currently in the process of doing some comprehensive strategic planning for the institution. As our Director, Mr. Robert Poupart, said, the purpose of this planning is to provide for our vitality in the XXIst century. We are presuming that he will say that our future vitality is important today, not only for the vitality of the minority community outside of Montreal, but for the majority community.
[English]
Most specifically--again, I say with a fully implemented 2003 action plan--we are ready to play an even more integral role in local development. We wish to expand our activities to better encompass the sense of lifelong learning and to meet the provincial government's recent request for educational institutions to better serve their communities. The phrase is envers la demande, as the government's report puts it.
We believe we can expand our service to the professional needs of the majority community, particularly through our long experience in second-language training, a training we always combine with a cultural element. Such service can and has attracted international students to our campus and so makes Quebec known to a wider community.
Further, we can work more closely with local anglophone organizations and local employers to tailor what we can offer to their pressing social and commercial needs. You've just heard in great detail those needs enunciated.
We sincerely believe that the federal government, through its action plan and other initiatives, can play a positive role in helping this institution achieve those goals.
[Translation]
Finally, we have already spoken to some federal representatives about our great plans to establish the equivalent of the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal. We are hoping to expand and revitalize our library and to make it a great intellectual, cultural and social resource, one that will be able to meet the needs of users, assure the ongoing vitality of our university and minority and cultural communities outside of Montreal and also be open to Quebecers living in the region; a resource that will enable the university to continue attracting people to our small institution.
As our slogan says: "A Small University, a Great Institution".
[Translation]
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Robert Donnely.
[English]
I'm president of the Voice of English-Speaking Québec, which is based in Quebec City.
This morning you had some organizations presenting some ideas. In the second half this morning you're going to get a presentation from me, representing one of the 25 organizations within the QCGN, the Quebec Community Groups Network.
I'm also a member of the executive of the QCGN, and when I'm done you'll be hearing from Mr. Riordon. He's the treasurer and will be speaking on behalf of the QCGN. So you're going to hear from one of the organizations, and following that you'll hear from the umbrella group, which is the QCGN. Mr. Riordon will have some interesting things to say about budgets and support for the communities.
[Translation]
I think I should come to Sherbrooke more often. I didn't know that highway 55 was finished and that it had four, sometimes five, lanes. It is very impressive.
The Voice from English-Speaking Quebec, the VEQ, is an association with 1,100 members from the Quebec community. This morning, the representative from Bishop's University said that he was part of the main English-language institution outside Montreal. The VEQ may not be as large an organization, we are one of the most dynamic. I will try to explain why.
In a regional community of some 700,000 inhabitants, 1,100 members is not a very significant percentage.
I didn't know what type of consultation process that's happening today. Perhaps I should have brought more documents with me, rather than just two photocopied pages, but the ideas will come nevertheless.
I will start by explaining what the VEQ is and talk about the Vitality Logic Model concept. I will conclude by making a few comments about the VEQ as a regional association, our objectives and our projects over the next three years.
I will read the first three paragraphs of our paper in English to tell you a little about what we do. The French version of the paper is very similar to the one in English.
[English]
VEQ is an autonomous, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of a dynamic English-speaking community in the greater Quebec City and Chaudière–Appalaches regions. Anybody who is interested in having that healthy community is obviously welcome in VEQ. VEQ believes in an all-inclusive form of community building that includes individuals, citizen groups, and structured institutions, which are all considered to play an important part in the building of a strong, dynamic local social fabric
As a result of its policy of inclusiveness, VEQ has seen its network of contacts grow steadily since 1982. We will have our 25th anniversary celebrations of the year the organization was founded next spring. Currently, VEQ maintains active partnerships with approximately 60 community groups and has a membership that is now around 1,100. VEQ's internal administration structure represents a cross-section of local anglophone and even francophone community members.
The organization is overseen by a board of directors that is made up of 21 volunteers. The board is comprised of individuals who are active in the local English-speaking community. Currently representatives from the English school board, the business community, churches, and health and social services serve on the VEQ board.
Day-to-day operations are managed by VEQ's executive director, with the help of a contingent of subcommittees and project coordinators. The VEQ central office in Quebec is staffed by two full-time people and sometimes a third person on individual projects.
VEQ's employees and executive director refer all significant issues to the appropriate subcommittees for guidance and direction. Subsequently, the chair of the subcommittee reports all progress back to the board of directors.
We're proud to say that we have an active board of 21 members, with 19 in position now. We have our six meetings a year. The vast majority show up, and they are involved in what we're doing and in giving us feedback.
VEQ's participation in the local English community can be summarized in several ways. First, VEQ provides information referrals to individuals requiring services in English. You've heard a lot this morning from Jim Carter about health and social services. Before that whole area was in place, in the last five years, VEQ has been the starting point for people to ask where they could get English services and how they could be helped.
The referral service attracts a wide clientele, from community groups looking to advertise their services, to anglophone residents looking for specific services in English, to newcomers in the community who require a complete overview of what is offered and where such services are located. One of VEQ's widely used services is our job bank, which lists available jobs in the region that require English language skills.
VEQ is also actively participating in the English-speaking community by organizing social and community events and by serving as a key stakeholder in advocacy concerns. In this regard, VEQ's primary interest is to support the various English institutions that make up the local anglophone community.
The vitality of small communities is directly influenced by the degree to which institutions cater to local needs. Cultural organizations, schools, hospitals, seniors' residences, media outlets, and other social services are all important when considering the role of institutions toward the well-being of a community and, I might add, in helping to create a sense of belonging.
This sense of belonging is what leads me to a second document, what we're calling a conceptual vitality logic model. You will see that it's listed as a QCGN conceptual model. In fact, as a member of the executive, I'm also chair of the community development committee, an initiative within the QCGN. We've been active, and we are working toward answers for the communities in guidance and in help in community development.
The important thing to note is that community development is not an end in itself. Community development is a means to an end. It's one of the pieces of the puzzle. People sometimes think community development is everything. Well, it's part of it, but it's not all in terms of that. So this little grid, of which you should have a copy in English or in French, apart from all the different colours, is just to show you that there are different things.
The situation box on the left shows the decline in vitality in the minority English-speaking communities in the province of Quebec. That is the situation. I think you heard of it this morning. If you look at the two-page handout, you'll see a couple of grids that look at the decrease in the anglophone population in the census from 1991 to 2001. We're pretty sure that the 2005 census is not going to change. On the last page you have some straightforward numbers, anglos leaving the Quebec region, for example. We've been working on that problem, as have most of the organizations within the QCGN.
As you go across the page you'll see the way different aspects will work on the problem. The first blue box is the indication of vitality in all the various areas. You will see that health and social services, in the middle, is only one of the five listed there. Although you've heard a lot about that this morning, there are other areas that are also of great importance.
The big blue box shows QCGN levels of influence--societal, sectoral, community, family, and individual--as you work your way down.
What are the vitality investments? We work through policy development, research, community development, representation, and networking. That's what I meant before about community development being part of the picture; it's not the whole answer.
Who are the beneficiaries? Canadian society, all the way down to individuals in the communities.
The last two boxes show what we are working towards in the short term and long term. In the short term, there's strengthening community participation, developing regional and government participation, increasing sectoral participation, increasing the sense of improvement and sense of belonging, and support for the needs identified by the English-speaking community.
In the long term, some of them continue, of course, this increased sense of community and belonging--this whole concept of vitality, which is in the title of this logic model; increased security, health, and well-being; increased services in English; increased education services; increased employment; and increased levels of cultural activity. I'm sure everybody can agree these are all wonderful things, but they're always spoken of in the sense of making them better, making progress, and that's where we think the vitality can be acted on.
The QCGN works primarily through funding by PCH/Heritage Canada, and that is one of those 25 organizations. We get approximately $150,000 of core funding through that organization. We sometimes get grants of $30,000 or $40,000 for individual projects. We are not limited, as an organization, to only federal funding. We apply for provincial grants from Fonds Jeunesse Québec and other areas as well, because that's just as important for the dossiers we're working on. The key is community vitality, and community development is an important aspect of that in terms of where we're heading.
As one of the typical organizations of the maybe 25 within the QCGN, we're not different from many of the others. We have to give our action plan, strategic plan, a year ahead of time to PCH before it's approved. We're now working on a two-year strategic plan just for our organization. We had meetings with our board. We communicated with our members. We've spent the last two months going out and meeting 200 members of our community in groups of one, two, five, and ten--church groups, social groups, etc.--to get their feedback on their perceptions of VEQ, what they think VEQ should be doing, whether we're on the right track. We bring the results of that to our board and we say this is what we'll be working on next year and the year after--and it's still vitality. The three things in VEQ, as you'll see, are directly tied to stopping the downsizing.
How do we work on that in Quebec? In two ways. We work with newcomers coming into Quebec, especially anglophone newcomers, with Laval University, and a lot of business bringing in people. It's very important to make sure that after two, three, or four years, when they decide if they're going to stay here or go back to Toronto, Calgary, Detroit, Los Angeles.... We need them to want to stay.
The second thing is our youth initiative, working with youth to encourage them in terms of job possibilities. If they go to university, there has to be a desire to want to come back to Quebec because there is something to offer.
The second key element is going to be maintaining and controlling our institutions. I just heard on the radio coming here today that in the Châteauguay area they are talking about closing three English schools. This is the reality all the time in Quebec. Last year in Quebec City, on Base Valcartier, there was a move to close the school and send the kids to the two English schools in the centre of the city. Vets got involved and lobbied because they thought this was important as an institution.
The last thing is simply creating a sense of belonging. Why? Because if you feel that there is a community, and you're part of it, then you think it's important.
Thank you.
:
Thank you. On behalf of the 25 member groups of the Quebec Community Groups Network, I wish to express our appreciation for the opportunity to put our reality on the record and to thank you specifically for coming to somewhere outside Montreal, although that is an important area too.
The federal action plan and the ongoing support delivered by the Department of Canadian Heritage and some of the other federal ministries provide desperately needed seed funds for important efforts being undertaken by the volunteers of the English community to attempt to rebuild or at least sustain the anglophone community in Quebec.
What are the results? Well, there are some good results. There are some great results that we should all celebrate, and I think we do celebrate them, and we'd like to share them with you.
You heard Jim Carter this morning talking about the field of access to public health care in English, in which Health Canada continues to support a significant program. That preliminary result suggests it's making worthwhile progress. The program is in the middle of a five-year term, and it's to be hoped that support will be continued beyond the first five years. Community development carried out by our member groups is funded by Canadian Heritage primarily, and it is a basic truth that these groups could not generally survive without that assistance. Most groups are making valiant efforts to do their best but with very limited resources and in difficult circumstances. The efforts are appreciated, but the results are not sufficient to conclude that the community enjoys a great deal of vitality, except for a few notable outstanding exceptions.
The recent injection of Canadian Heritage funding through Quebec's education ministry, which was actually quite an achievement given the history of that relationship, will allow for the creation of 15 community learning centres in the English sector. These learning centres are expected to strengthen both communities and their English schools by helping them to more effectively work together. Hopes are high that this model will be productive and that it may lead to replication in the future.
Sectoral groups, apart from the regional groups, are present in the areas of arts, drama, media, rural and agricultural heritage, adult and distance education, and other areas. They all benefit from essential support and buttress the community in useful ways.
I am very proud of the accomplishments of many of these groups who are working with actually very limited resources but are making a difference in their communities. All of this is much appreciated and provides much welcome support for the English community, but if we stand back and take a broader perspective, how is the English community in Quebec doing? I think we've already heard this morning a number of comments about how the English community is doing.
Let's just take a look back. Over the past three and a half decades, more than a quarter of a million English Canadians have left Quebec. The exodus continues. The remaining English population is older than its French cohort because many of those leaving have been the younger and the better educated and the more mobile. The remaining youth are less well-educated and consequently suffer a higher rate of unemployment and lower socio-economic success.
Infrastructure, such as schools, within the English community is aging. We have schools that are a hundred years old. There is no real source of replenishment for the community. Immigration is largely blocked by legislation. The birth rate for this demographic, of course, is very low due to the high mean age of the population.
It is a fact that a thriving English community in Quebec is a valuable asset to both the province and our great country. But realistically, if we stand back and look at what is happening and what the trends are, these trends do not bode well for the survival of this national asset if the present levels of support persist into the future.
The minority French and English populations in Canada are very similar in size, just short of a million each. The reports I get of the francophone minority outside of Quebec give me some encouragement that the support they are receiving is achieving positive results. I celebrate that. We all celebrate it. However, it is time to examine whether Canada wants to maintain a population of anglophones in Quebec or whether it might be more politically expedient to allow us all to emigrate or die out.
I ask you, what does Canada want?
The QCGN, and I and my colleagues, want to keep our great country bilingual and to ensure an ongoing and vital anglophone community in Quebec. Please ensure that we have the tools and the support for success.
Thank you.
:
I think we are all familiar with the history of the past few decades. Certainly, there was a climate in this province that members of the anglophone community were not comfortable with some time ago. I think that is no longer the case. The anglophone community in Quebec now, I know, is not so much worried about the political uncertainty of the future and that sort of thing. But I think you've already heard this morning the reality that the best and the brightest have left.
The youth who are not leaving, those who remain, tend to be less well educated, have lower employability, and low socio-economic success. It's not a bright picture. You've heard from Rachel Garber of Townshippers' some of the interventions in the youth area. The interventions are very positive, but the needs are very large.
I think the demographic that describes the anglophone community in Quebec now is a skewed demographic. It's skewed because of the fact that some of the better educated, more mobile leaders of the community, if you will, are not here. This leaves a deficit, and it creates a greater challenge for those of us who are still here to try to put things together and make them work better.
The other aspect of that, which I think is very evident, is that neither Bob nor I are youngsters. There's a serious shortage of youth leadership in the English sector. We're very delighted to have people like Michael Van Lierop, who was here earlier, as a youth member of the community stepping forward to accept a leadership role. That is tremendously encouraging, but when you look around the table of the Quebec Community Groups Network, you see a lot of gray hair--in fact, sometimes you don't see any hair. In a sense, that's part of society, but it is a more pronounced problem in the anglophone community in Quebec because of the fact that so many....
If you look at the demographic analysis from recent census figures, you will see in the Quebec anglophone community that there is a stressed youth sector here. There is an older population segment, which I probably represent along with Bob, who may have a reasonable education, have careers behind them, and have perhaps retired or are about to retire, and Quebec is home and that's fine; it's a great place to be. But in the middle there's a hole. If you look at the census figures, there's a hole there. Where are the 30- to 50-year-olds in the anglophone community? Well, they live in Calgary or Vancouver or Toronto; they don't live in Quebec. That is a major deficit in our community.
It means that the leaders who should be taking Bob's and my place aren't there. It means that the stronger economic cohort is not there. It creates a serious question mark over the future of our community, and I would hope that the whole question of replenishment of the anglophone community in Quebec can be addressed more constructively in the years to come than has been the case in the years gone by.