Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Official Languages
Issue 10 - Evidence - Meeting of October 5, 2009
OTTAWA, Monday, October 5, 2009
The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 5:11 p.m. to conduct a study on the application of the Official Languages Act and of the regulations and directives made under it, within those institutions subject to the Act. Topic: Study on Part VII and other issues.
Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (Acting Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Acting Chair: Honourable senators, I welcome you to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages. My name is Rose-Marie Losier-Cool. I am a senator from New Brunswick and I am the acting chair of this committee today.
First of all, I would like to introduce the members of the committee who are here. First, on my left, the Honourable Senator Mockler from New Brunswick. On my far right, the Honourable Senator Brazeau from Quebec, the Honourable Senator Tardif from Alberta and the Honourable Senator Seidman from Quebec.
I would like to advise committee members of the presence of Ms. Francine Pressault, a communications officer now assigned to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Jean-Guy Desgagné for having looked after the committee's communication activities since April 2008.
[English]
The committee welcomes the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, who has accepted the invitation to appear before the committee today.
The committee is currently studying the status of implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act — in particular, the measures taken by federal institutions in that regard. It is interested in learning about the achievements and the initiatives of the Department of Health and on other matters related to official languages.
On behalf of the committee, I thank and welcome the Honourable Minister and the representatives who accompany her, Catherine MacLeod, Senior Director General, Regions and Programs Branch; and Roger Farley, Executive Director, Official Language Community Bureau, Programs Directorate.
I will now invite the minister to take the floor, and the senators will follow with questions.
Hon. Leona Aglukkaq, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health: Thank you, and good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Before I begin, let me thank you for the opportunity to discuss the support my department provides to the two million Canadians living in official language minority communities.
Appearing with me today are Catherine MacLeod and Roger Farley. During our time together, I may turn to them for technical support in responding to your questions.
As Minister of Health, I lead a department with an important role to play in contributing to the vitality of official language minority communities. As minister, I take this role very seriously. In my mind, respecting the laws and fulfilling policies are important.
I believe, however, that my role as minister means more than this. To me, it means acting and getting the results to make a positive difference in the lives of Canadians.
In my mind, this is why members of Parliament are elected and what ministers are appointed to do. From my perspective, this is exactly what the new Health Canada official language health contribution program is doing and what it has been positioned to continue doing.
Madam Chair, I think everyone here knows very well the importance of reducing linguistic barriers to improve health services and promotion. When Canadians receive health advice and instructions in their first official language, they are better able to prevent and recover from illness and injury. So, when health services are available in their first official language, minority linguistic communities are strengthened as residents are both better protected and respected.
In order to best serve these communities, beginning in the year 2000, Health Canada led extensive consultations with both anglophone and francophone minority linguistic communities across Canada. These communities helped us to create a new program launched in 2008 called the Official Languages Health Care Policy Contribution Program. This program was forged as part of the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future. It was announced in June 2008 as the new Government of Canada strategy for official languages.
This program supports three streams: Health networking, which brings together health stakeholders; training and retaining health professionals to serve official language minority communities; and community projects to promote better integration and improved access to health services.
On networking, I am pleased to say that, to date, 28 health networks have been created within official language minority communities. At the same time, anglophone communities in Quebec are creating 10 new networks to cover regions where there are needs. These connect various stakeholders, including administrators, nurses, doctors and community representatives. The network brings these professionals together to determine the health needs of a specific community, including access priorities. The network brings them together to work with provinces, territories, regional and local health authorities to stimulate improvements in services to meet those needs. Let me point to some examples.
In New Brunswick, federal resources have supported the creation of two new community health centres: The Médisanté Health Centre in St-Jean, the Noreen-Richard Health Centre in Fredericton. In addition, in the Magdalen Islands, federal support has led to a new long-term care facility. This is more than a simple facility. This facility will allow seniors to stay in their communities to the end of their lives. Before this facility was built these senior faced the difficult choice of moving to the next closest facility, 45 minutes from their home.
With respect to training and retention, more than 3,100 francophone students outside of Quebec have been registered in health programs supported by our program. As of March 2008, more than 1,300 have graduated, increasing the number of health professionals providing services to minority francophone communities across Canada. Meanwhile in Quebec, language training has been provided to more than 5,300 health professionals so they can offer services to the minority anglophone population. This comes in addition to the 148 projects funded through the Primary Health Care Transition Fund from 2000 to 2006.
I am pleased to say that these efforts have gained the praise of the Commissioner for Official Languages. In evaluating the Action Plan for Official Languages the commissioner said, ``If there is one area where the Action Plan has an outright success it was in health services in the language of the minority.''
He goes on to note:
All these efforts are bearing fruit. However, to move to the next stage, which comes after needs are expressed and structures are created, increased investments will be needed.
As part of our contribution to the Roadmap for Linguistic Duality, we are delivering. In all, another $174.3 million over five years has been committed to the Official Languages Health Care Policy Contribution Program. That is $55 million more than the Economic Action Plan for an increase of 31 per cent.
As part of the redesigned program, projects will be conceived at the community level and priorities will be placed on improving services to children, youth and the elderly.
I am pleased to say that new contribution agreements have been signed with all targeted beneficiaries of the program, expert organizations we work closely with who provide support to individual communities.
For francophone communities, la Société Santé en français is Health Canada's principal recipient organization for the networking and community health projects streams. It redistributes a part of its contributions to francophone minority communities in each province and territory outside Quebec. Meanwhile, training and retention funds are allocated to the National Education Consortium and its member institutions. For anglophone communities, the community health and social services network is the lead on the networking and community project streams while we support McGill University for training and retention stream.
In all, these new investments will bear concrete results to improve the health of the 1 million francophones and the 1 million anglophones living in a minority situation.
In closing, I want to confirm that we will continue to build from consultation and work in collaboration with partners to support access to health services in official language minority communities.
As minister, both at the federal and territorial levels, it is commitments to collaboration which has guided my decision making and led to the successful results. I am convinced that the positive results in this important area have flowed directly from the strength of our relationships forged with our principal partners, our consultative committees and our official language communities themselves. Furthermore, I am convinced that this approach will lead us to further success in the future.
Of course, Madam Chair, as minister I know I can profit from the experience and knowledge held by everyone seated at this table today and so I would like to conclude my remarks by seeking suggestions and questions from the committee.
Thank you again for this opportunity, and I look forward to responding to your questions.
The Acting Chair: Thank you, Madam Minister. Knowing the members of this committee, I am sure that you will have questions and probably also suggestions.
[Translation]
Honourable senators, the minister is available for one hour only. We hope that this will give us time to ask all our questions. But I understand that the officials are prepared to stay longer than the hour to answer other questions as needed.
Senator Tardif: First of all, I would like to thank the minister for agreeing to appear before us today. Thanks also to Ms. MacLeod and Mr. Farley. It is a pleasure to welcome you.
Madam Minister, you were right to say that it is the health component of the Action Plan that has had most results. I am very happy about that.
I would also like to congratulate the government for having brought the health component back into this new action plan, now called the ``Roadmap for Linguistic Duality.''
If I understand correctly, financial support to francophone communities will be provided in three main areas: networks, training and access to health services. Could you tell us how much of this annual federal funding in those three areas will be made available to minority francophone communities?
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: For the community health networking portion, the investment is $22 million; under the projects it is $33.5 million and the training and retention of health professionals is $114.5 million.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: Is that solely for francophone communities, or is that the entire amount? Is it for both? Do you have the figures for minority francophone communities alone?
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: Under the community health network it is 13.5 million; under projects, the francophone portion of that is 21.5 million; and under training and retention, health professionals, the francophone portion is $91.5 million.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: Can I ask the question more directly in connection with the ``taxes projets de services'' category? I would just like to clarify the figures for that category.
[English]
Roger Farley, Executive Director, Official Language Community Bureau, Programs Directorate, Health Canada: They have organized their projects in four categories and the organization of service is part of that. The total francophone funding for the five years is $21.5 million.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: For proposed services?
[English]
Mr. Farley: Yes.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: That is about $5.5 million per year?
[English]
Mr. Farley: The amount per year will vary because the projects will be submitted by the committees themselves. We have not received the projects for 2010-11, but they have been approved for this fiscal year.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: Has the ``projets de services'' category been reduced? I ask because I was very involved in setting up the Saint-Thomas Community Health Centre in Edmonton and I know that Health Canada expenditures then were about $7-8 million.
As I try to understand the amounts and how they are distributed, it looks to me that the ``projets de services'' category has been reduced. Is that the case?
[English]
Mr. Farley: There is no reduction per se. Under the former program, it was called the Primary Health Care Transition Fund, and the funding varied widely from one year to the next, for many reasons. In total, we are investing more in the roadmap than we investing before in the action plan.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: I recognize that, but I wanted to check just the ``projets de services'' category. Are you not able to tell me at the moment?
[English]
Mr. Farley: I can tell you how much has been approved for this fiscal year. The communities know that they will receive $21.5 million over five years. Being aware of the funds that they will have available is a major improvement. They can do their long-term planning.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: Did you want to add anything, Madam Minister?
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: Mr. Farley is trying to say that the programs are based on new applications per year, the new projects we will start with the next fiscal year and what goes into that particular section will be determined after the applications are received for 2010-11. We are saying that the programs for this fiscal year have already been approved. From the $21.5 million allocated to that section, there are a number of promotions, programs and then access to services. They know that the total budget is $21 million, but how they break it down each year will depend on the application and projects they want to fund that particular year.
Senator Tardif: Do we have the numbers that were approved for this year for that category?
[Translation]
Mr. Farley: For the ``appui à l'organisation des services'' category, it is $1 million. For the ``diffusion et transfert des connaissances'' category, it is $1,024,000. For the ``promotion de la santé'' category, it is $976,000 and for the ``accès aux services de santé et soins de santé primaires,'' it is almost $2 million.
Senator Tardif: The agreements have been signed very recently, I understand.
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: Yes.
[Translation]
Senator Brazeau: Thank you for being here this evening, Madam Minister. We know that you have a very full schedule.
[English]
Since 2003, the Government of Canada has funded initiatives for official language minority communities to improve access to better health services. Have these initiatives worked and been beneficial and, if so, were these investments secured for the future?
Ms. Aglukkaq: Thank you for that question. The programs have been successful. Whenever we can improve health care access for our citizens, it is successful. We have seen more and more people complete training. We are ensuring there is there is more access to services in a number of communities, and we have examples from New Brunswick, Alberta and elsewhere across the country. I provided some statistics in terms of the number of people that have graduated from the programs and will continue to work to ensure that we continue with the service developments and so on.
It was important in the initial few years of this to put together the processes and the partnerships at the various sectors, at the community and provincial levels. Once you have that framework in place, then you can continue that relationship. The first few years were to establish that network of people. In my view, it has been very successful. We have developed services to projects like in New Brunswick where I mentioned that, where people can receive the care closer to their home instead of going to other jurisdictions.
Mr. Farley: Like every federal program, this program was formally evaluated at the end of the first action plan. The first conclusion of the evaluation is that the objectives of the program are consistent with governmental obligations under the Official Languages Act, as well as government-wide priorities stated in the Speech from the Throne.
The program remains relevant for the needs of the official languages minority communities as language barriers continue to exist. These are two important conclusions of the evaluation. Based on that, the government approved the new roadmap.
Senator Brazeau: Can you describe the collaboration with the provinces?
Ms. Aglukkaq: In Quebec, under one of their health promotion activities, they are using video conferencing to remote communities across the province to deliver health care. Official languages are delivered to remote locations.
As well, in New Brunswick, we created the opening of the two new community health centres, again for citizens to stay closer to home to receive the care in their languages and their homes.
In Ontario, they have customized a wrap-around program in French, which is a collaborative, team-based approach to facilitating services and support planning, and it is entitled Aging at Home. These are examples of the collaboration and partnerships with organizations.
We have a partnership with McGill to deliver training that has been very successful. We have had over 5,000 individuals graduated and again this funding to train health professionals in the official languages. Does that answer your question?
Senator Brazeau: Yes, thank you.
Senator Jaffer: Thank you very much, Minister, for coming here and sharing some time with us.
I read your remarks, and I may have missed it, but I did not see where any help was being given to minority groups in British Columbia.
Mr. Farley: There is one network in British Columbia with the same mandate as the others across the country. They look at the needs of the communities and establish priorities and action plans. This network was established in British Columbia, through the Société Santé en français, which established 17 networks across Canada outside of Quebec, one in each province and territory. The Société Santé en français is one of our partner organizations. Through the consortium, there is an agreement between Cité collégiale here in Ottawa and a small organization in Vancouver called Éducacentre that delivers training services for people who assist patients in hospitals or provide home care for elderly people.
Senator Jaffer: What amount are you spending?
Mr. Farley: For the networks, the total funding for francophones for this fiscal year is $2.5 million; in B.C., it is $160,000.
Senator Jaffer: That is all.
Mr. Farley: Yes.
Senator Jaffer: With the Olympic Games coming very soon, there will be people from minority groups, especially French-speaking groups. Will you provide any additional help to the medical services during the Olympic Games?
Ms. Aglukkaq: As it relates to the program that we are dealing with here today on official languages, this is to do the training and access program piece of it. The actual delivery of health care is a provincial responsibility. The province received the transfer funding from the federal government; this year, we transferred $24 billion to the provinces to deliver health care, which is an increase of 6 per cent from last year.
The provinces, through the Canada Health Act, determine where they want to spend that funding within their individual health ministries.
Senator Jaffer: I understand that and thank you for clarifying. I am talking about from the language point of view. So many French-speaking people coming to our province is an exceptional circumstance. The Olympic Games are Canadian. Will you be providing additional funds for people who need health services in French?
Ms. Aglukkaq: From the language point of view, there has been a significant amount of investment through Heritage Canada and perhaps representatives from that department could answer that question more accurately.
In terms of health transfer, the transfer to the provinces and territories has increased by 6 per cent. How the provinces determine how that money is distributed is the responsibility of that province. It is up to the province to decide if it wants to provide that service.
It is not to say that they are not providing English or French services; most provinces already do that. Whether they have added additional funding for language services, is up to them to decide. However, we will continue to transfer funding next year and we have increased that this year by 6 per cent.
To answer your question, we have increased the funding. How they determine the distribution is up to them.
Senator Jaffer: Minister, I have something I would like you to consider on the issue of the roadmap, which identifies three vulnerable groups in terms of access to health care — children, youth and seniors. One very vulnerable group is not included, which is the French-speaking immigrants who come to our country. It is a very vulnerable group; a lot of them come from conflict zones such as Rwanda, Burundi, the Congo, Vietnam, Haiti; I am talking about outside Quebec.
In my own province, I know we have a large French-speaking community, and I would ask that you reflect on this point. I believe that because they come from conflict zones their medical needs are different. It is well documented that many women have had some terrible violence happen to them; and we know that when you are emotional, you speak in the language with which you are most comfortable. For these women, that language is French.
I do not want to put you on the spot and you may not have an answer today, but I would like you to reflect and maybe send us something in writing. I believe this is a vulnerable group that has been left out, especially when it comes to health services.
Ms. Aglukkaq: I will take that as advisement, yes.
[Translation]
The Acting Chair: I would like to support Senator Jaffer's request because we must recognize that those immigrants need health services that are different from those of other Canadians. Can you tell us about any initiatives that your department has put in place for immigrants? Increasingly, immigration is becoming a demographic factor because of the francophones in that population.
Mr. Farley: I can briefly mention a program of the Consortium national de formation en santé that received funding from Health Canada. This is a different program from the one we are talking about today and it focuses on human resources. The funding is used to study the training needs of francophone immigrants who are health professionals trained overseas and now in Canada. The financing seeks to put measures in place that will help immigrants to practice in Canada. This is multi-year funding.
The Acting Chair: I know that the Consortium national de formation en santé does very good work. Can the consortium come up with something that would encourage health professionals to set up their practices in minority language communities?
Mr. Farley: We should say that it is one of the partners; but it is not the only one. The consortium, which represents colleges and universities, has a role to play. There are also networks with direct links into the communities that could also play an important role in that regard. It is not a task for one single organization; it is rather a partnership of different groups representing minority language communities.
The Acting Chair: Do you regularly consult the provinces and especially the minority language communities to find out how to make sure that the programs take root?
Mr. Farley: Health Canada is one of 13 partners in the Roadmap. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is another partner. We regularly discuss immigration with representatives from the various departments.
[English]
Senator Seidman: Minister, thank you for appearing here today to discuss the Government of Canada's strategy for official languages as it relates to health services in the language of the minority.
In Quebec, the anglophone population values these services very highly. You say that this program supports three streams — health networking, training and retaining health professionals, and community projects.
Could you give me a few examples of where the funding goes in Quebec?
Ms. Aglukkaq: Thank you for the question. Some examples include $90,000 to the Canadian-Italian Community Services of Quebec east of Montreal; and $300,000 goes to McGill in Montreal for language training. Another example in Quebec is $170,000 goes to the Eastern Townships for networks and $300,000 goes to second language training in the South Shore of Montreal. I can ask my officials to provide more details.
Mr. Farley: Yes, it is the same as for the anglophones in Quebec. The Community Health and Social Services Network, the organization we work with, has 10 networks in various parts of the province, like Lower North Shore, the Magdalen Islands and the Gaspé, but they do not cover the entire anglophone population of Quebec, which is very dispersed. With the new funding, they would be able to establish new networks, like for the western and southern parts of Montreal, like the Estrie region, where there is a need for new networks.
Senator Seidman: How much of a role have the anglophone communities played in the design and implementation of this program, and how much of a role will they continue to play as you now move into other areas, like Montreal and the west part of the island?
Mr. Farley: The anglophone communities have a consultative committee. We consulted the committee and we have regular consultations with McGill University and the Community Health and Social Services Network. Essentially, the roadmap has been approved based on the results of those consultations.
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: I would like to come back to the ``positive measures'' in Part VII of the Official Languages Act. I see that Health Canada has come up with an Action Plan for the period 2009-2010 to 2012-2013 in support of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, and I am very pleased about that.
Just out of curiosity, Madam Minister, I was wondering how you define the term ``positive measures.''
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: The way I would define it is if there is a positive impact on the person receiving the services. My first language is Inuktitut. If I go to a health centre, the services are provided in English and French. Positive measures we have implemented in the North are to provide services in Inuktitut to the citizens who understand the language of the service. Therefore, I see that as being no different from the situation in English and French.
If we are providing services in people's first languages, they get better health advice, they make better informed decisions about their health, and, in my opinion, the efforts of this roadmap assists not just individuals receiving the care but the people who are giving the care to the population.
Therefore, any success where we are able to communicate to citizens in their first language is a positive measure. In my opinion, if the results allow individuals to make an informed decision on their health and well-being, then that is a positive measure.
Senator Tardif: Thank you, minister, I think that was a very positive answer.
In your mind does that include certain elements such as consultation with the community before a specific policy or change in policy is put into effect?
Ms. Aglukkaq: In terms of developing the roadmap, there was consultation developed back in 2000 to set the stage. In terms of the front line and/or the consortiums to do the work in terms of the next phase, I think that would be just an ongoing dialogue with the organizations. I would be an ongoing dialogue with networks in terms of where we should concentrate our efforts this year and whether we should make improvements or need to move on to something else.
In my mind, that process involves ongoing improvements to how we can better deliver programs, particularly under the section on grants and contributions. If we look at the next year's projects, consultation with the agencies would be part of the development of that.
Senator Tardif: What are the obstacles in moving forward with the approach, if any? Do you foresee any obstacles in the full respect of Part VII of the Official Languages Act?
Ms. Aglukkaq: The success has been that we have been able to sign off on all these projects. One of the challenges was getting the framework set up. However, we are there now and we have the training piece, the project piece and the community piece. Once we have those processes and organizations established, I think it would be a continuation of that.
I am sure there was a challenge at the beginning but as people become more aware of the programs, more organizations will become interested. Therefore, how we move forward will continue that path and work with the agencies that we have developed so far.
Senator Tardif: Would having separate clauses in your discussions with provincial governments be a positive measure for the minority communities; should they be beneficial in encouraging the provinces to respect their official minorities and insert clauses? For example, when monies are transferred, the money would be directed toward those official minority language communities. Have you seen support for that or is that something you would consider as a positive measure in moving forward, or is that already being done?
Ms. Aglukkaq: I will answer that in two parts. First, in terms of the transfers to the delivery of health care, that is under the Canada Health Act. Under these language development programs, the roadmap was developed to provide additional resources to training in the language piece of it that linked to health.
In terms of clauses for specific provinces, I have to refer to my officials.
Mr. Farley: I think the simple answer to that question is that all provinces have endorsed everything we do. For instance, with the consortium, all the institutions received letters from their Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education supporting the fact that the federal government is investing for training of francophone health professionals. It is the same thing in McGill. In Quebec, there is legislation where a public institution receiving federal money should receive an ``arrêté ministèriel'' from the Province of Quebec. The province of Quebec is supporting that.
For the projects that are implemented by the networks, each project should have a letter of support from the province in their jurisdiction. Each time we invest money; there is support from the province.
Senator Tardif: Is the support from the province conditional on getting the money?
Mr. Farley: Yes, it is.
Senator Tardif: What if a province says no.
Mr. Farley: It has never happened.
Senator Tardif: It has not occurred, not even in Alberta?
Mr. Farley: No, in Alberta the St-Jean campus received a letter from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.
Senator Tardif: I understand that for the training, but what about if someone in Northern Alberta, for example, wanted to establish a community health care centre and monies were to be received by the province. However, what if the province said, ``We are not interested in setting something up in French in Northern Alberta?''
Mr. Farley: I think it is a dialogue between the communities and the province and that is the ``raison d'être'' of the networks. That have this dialogue, so when they are ready to propose something, there is an endorsement.
Senator Tardif: In your mind, the networks are working well in each of the provinces?
Mr. Farley: Yes.
Ms. Aglukkaq: To add to that, the key to it is that we have to be respectful as well that the provinces deliver health care services in their community health care centres. Therefore, it is really important to have a partnership and agreement from provinces and territories in anything we are looking to do in those centres. Our goal is to work with as many agencies as we can to get programs out through the consortium.
Senator Tardif: I understand, Madam Minister. I understand the consortium is working well, but I wonder if the same success exists elsewhere in other areas of access to health services.
[Translation]
The Acting Chair: I would like an explanation about the community programs and services. On page 23 of the document entitled ``Status Report 2008/2009 in support of Part VII of the Official Languages Act'', the program ``Improve Access to Health Services'' receives $2.1 million. The program is called Quebec Community Groups Network, Health and Social Services. Its funding is $100,000.
The difference between the total of the programs and the funding for the project is considerable, so I would like an explanation. I will give you time to find it. It is in the Status Report 2008-2009, on page 23.
Mr. Farley: This refers to a larger Health Canada program called the Health Care Strategies and Policy Contribution Program. It is not the access to health services program. We provided funding to the Consortium national de santé en français for francophone health professionals trained overseas. There is a Health Canada program; this group applied for a project and received funding for it.
The Acting Chair: The same thing happens in all the other programs. There is $222,000 for the Tobacco Control Program in the Atlantic region, but the funding is $133,000.
Mr. Farley: These are general Health Canada programs that are open to both francophone and anglophone minority organizations. Those organizations also apply and receive funding to carry out their projects.
The Acting Chair: Thank you for the explanation. Do senators have any further questions?
Senator Mockler: Madam Minister, I would first like to congratulate you for your leadership and for the work you are doing in health. Two months ago, I had the opportunity to visit the centre in Saint John and the centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
[English]
You said at the outset that you take your role seriously. There is no doubt in my mind that you do. Congratulations also for doing it in your language. That is also very important.
I remember well not too long ago, as chairman of a school board, how important it was when we embarked upon having our books in French for our people in our schools.
[Translation]
I would be remiss if I did not recognize your work with communities and with partners. You mentioned immigration; one program has been in existence for three years, I think. It is the Carrefour d'immigration rurale, with headquarters in New Brunswick and satellite offices in Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
In the spirit of the Acting Chair's remarks, and of Senator Jaffer's, I invite you to acknowledge programs like that; they and their partners are working to improve health services in French.
[English]
Madam Minister, when we talk about services de santé en français, I am somewhat nervous because I remember very well, and I am looking at some of the people behind you, minister.
[Translation]
These people represent the Société Santé en français. I see Mr. Baril and his team here, and I must congratulate them. I remember, in 2004, when I was Minister for La Francophonie and for Intergovernmental and International Relations, that they came to see us in New Brunswick for the first time. There have been results since then.
One of the results has been an agreement with the Université de Sherbrooke and the Université de Moncton to train our health professionals in order to provide improved health care.
Madam Minister, I would be remiss not to thank other people who are present here, the members of the Société Santé en français. This is a very important association that will make it possible for our government to work towards the future. There are also anglophone organizations in Quebec that are very important.
[English]
I do not want a constitutional debate. It is not the responsibility of the federal government per se. However, when we look at the national programs, when we look at the national standards, like the issues that you have now, you have demonstrated great leadership. I think that when you say you take your role very seriously, it is very important.
[Translation]
My questions are about the government's Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, which recognizes the importance of minority francophone communities. I think that we also heard that in Premier Bernard Lord's report on the present government's Roadmap.
Given that we consult partners of ours such as the Société Santé en français, the Consortium de formation en santé and the anglophone organizations in Quebec, I feel that there should be more synergy between the provinces and territories. Madam Minister, you will undoubtedly be able to influence decision-making so that some services can be speeded up.
[English]
I want to be prudent, Madam Minister, because I am aware of your jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of our provincial ministers. You are providing a better present through your leadership. You are providing a step in the right direction.
The Government of Canada has funded initiatives to improve access to health services for official language minority communities.
We see different programs across Canada.
Are these investments secured for the future?
Ms. Aglukkaq: Thank you for your comments. In terms of your last point, as you know, I work closely with my provincial and territorial counterparts in the delivery of health care. I will continue to do that under the Canada Health Act. We provide many resources to provinces and territories in any way we can to assist in better service, such as this program to provinces and territories.
I will continue to work with the provincial and territorial ministries and training organizations to develop these programs so that people have access to the training. I will continue to work with the ministries to see how we can better provide services in the appropriate languages.
We will continue to provide the support on a going-forward basis. We have our road map that we have developed up to 2013, I believe it is. We will continue on that path.
Senator Mockler: I know that many projects were funded under the Primary Health Care Transition Fund and were deemed a great success by communities. We see that specifically in our areas and our communities. Is the government planning to follow up on these investments?
Ms. Aglukkaq: Absolutely. We need to continue to evaluate the programs in terms of how we are doing, to ensure we are making the right investments and making good use of Canadian taxpayers' money. We will continue to evaluate the success of the graduates of the language program, as an example, through McGill. We will continue to monitor the number of people who have participated in a number of other training services.
As another example, in New Brunswick we have building healthy communities or healthy villages, and we are making investments of approximately $300,000 for planning and distribution of information across those communities.
There is information development that we can evaluate on projects that have been completed and infrastructure that has been developed and so on, but it will be an ongoing part of it.
In addition, we have the language commissioner who also evaluates how we are doing. So far, he has been very positive on the efforts we are making across the country to deliver the language programs.
Senator Mockler: Minister, this brings me to another question on our partners in our communities. We see that we have had an important role in the program design since the beginning with our partners, our communities and provinces and territories. Can you enlighten us as to what role this group of partners will have in the future vis-à-vis the implementation phase of going forward?
Ms. Aglukkaq: In the development of the program, as mentioned earlier, we worked and did a lot of consultation to implement the program. The development of the network has been effective at engaging not only the universities, the community delivery agencies or the regional health authorities as stakeholders as well as the provincial and territorial organizations to develop the communities of practice. We have to be in partnership with the health care deliverers. We need partnerships with McGill or different universities across the country. They will play an important role, particularly around training. The role of health care providers who receive the training will be important because they deliver health care. The link is not directly to provide health services but rather to train. There are groups of people you can train to deliver services, but the training they receive would be the language piece so they are able to deliver what they do in the official languages of their community. We will continue that path in the development of these projects and maintain that relationship. The key to delivery of service is to have good networks at the ground and community levels and we will continue that.
[Translation]
Senator Mockler: Whether it be at the Université de Moncton, with its partnership with the Université de Sherbrooke, or at the University of Ottawa, or at other institutions, there is one vital ingredient for the training of health professionals in French. We have to make sure that those doctors, nurses and other health professionals are available to French-speaking Canadians each and every day.
That said, we must make sure that community partnerships are closely in tune with those who make the decisions. In all likelihood, communities must be more involved in the decision-making process in order to meet the objective of improving health care. I feel that healthy young people in a healthy society drive economic development.
With the federal government working with the support of the provinces and the territories, will we be able to make greater use of new technology in providing health care?
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: In terms of the individuals that receive the training from various programs, whether it is through the Faculty of Medicine in Sherbrooke or the University of Ottawa or training through McGill, how the provinces and the territories utilize their staff will be key. Again, the provinces and territories deliver health care. They are developing their staff to learn the language or improve access. How they best position their organization to utilize that service or skill, again, rests with the provinces and territories that deliver health care and/or the community or the regional health authorities and so on.
In terms of our role to try and get to as many people as we can who are providing services to train, to improve services in remote communities through teleconferencing and whatnot, we will continue that through our action plan. It is a partnership approach with the regional health authorities, the universities and the communities. We cannot do this alone because the provinces and territories that ultimately deliver health care. We are providing a great resource to provide the services in the official languages.
The Acting Chair: Thank you, Madam Minister. I know you have to leave in a few minutes.
Will you respond to one small question?
[Translation]
Senator Tardif: We have found out in the media that the government is planning to transfer Ste. Anne's Hospital for veterans to the province. Can the minister tell us whether the Government of Canada will be taking the necessary steps to ensure that the transfer will not be done without a permanent guarantee that Canada's Official Languages Act will continue to be in force in the hospital?
[English]
Ms. Aglukkaq: That is a question for Veteran Affairs. I do not deliver health care in provinces and territories. I am afraid I cannot answer that question, but I will certainly pass it on.
Senator Tardif: You will be much more aware now, minister.
The Acting Chair: Madam Minister, thank you very much for your time.
[Translation]
Are there any further questions? If so, I would ask Ms. MacLeod and Mr. Farley to stay a few minutes longer. Since there are no further questions, the meeting is adjourned.
(The committee adjourned.)