Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Official Languages
Issue No. 8 - Evidence - Meeting of November 14, 2016
OTTAWA, Monday, November 14, 2016
The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 5:34 p.m. to continue its 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.
Senator Claudette Tardif (Chair) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chair: Good evening. My name is Claudette Tardif, and I am the chair of the committee.
Before the meeting begins, I would like my colleagues to introduce themselves, starting with the senator to my left.
Senator Mockler: Percy Mockler, and I am a senator from New Brunswick.
Senator Poirier: Good evening. Rose-May Poirier from New Brunswick.
Senator Maltais: Welcome. Ghislain Maltais from Quebec.
Senator Fraser: Joan Fraser from Quebec.
Senator McIntyre: Paul McIntyre from New Brunswick.
The Chair: Today the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages is meeting with the coordinator-researcher of the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network, who will speak about recent issues related to research on Quebec's anglophone communities.
[English]
We have the pleasure of welcoming Lorraine O'Donnell, Coordinator-Researcher, Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network, and Mr. Patrick Donovan, Assistant Coordinator.
Ms. O'Donnell and Mr. Donovan, on behalf of the members of the committee, I thank you for being here today. I understand you have opening remarks. In the interests of allowing as much discussion as possible and questions by the senators, I would ask you to limit your time to 10 minutes. The floor is yours.
Lorraine O'Donnell, Coordinator-Researcher, Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network: Thank you very much for the invitation. Good evening, Senator Tardif, and members of the committee.
The Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network, which we call by its acronym, QUESCREN, was founded in 2008. It is a joint initiative of Concordia University; the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities, CIRLM, located in Moncton; and Canadian Heritage.
QUESCREN is a collaborative network of educational and other institutions, researchers and stakeholders that improves understanding of Quebec's English-speaking communities and promotes their vitality.
In the next few minutes, I will let you know about QUESCREN, including our two important new initiatives: an upcoming conference on Bill 101, and an innovative structure called the Inter-Level Table on Education. I will also speak about QUESCREN's challenges and our sustainability plans and then welcome your comments and questions.
In terms of history, housed at Concordia, QUESCREN was and remains the only university-based unit devoted to Quebec's English-speaking communities. QUESCREN now consists of an office with me as its one full-time employee — coordinator-researcher; a part-time associate coordinator, who is here with me today, Patrick Donovan; and occasional project staff; a volunteer advisory board with 12 members; and an extended, loosely organized network of hundreds of researchers and research users. These come from the English-and French-speaking communities of Quebec and beyond.
In terms of support, CIRLM and Canadian Heritage provide project funding for QUESCREN. Concordia supports it with in-kind provision of university spaces and services. Moreover, in 2015 the university accorded me the status of affiliate assistant professor to acknowledge and further facilitate my work as the network's coordinator-researcher.
QUESCREN engages in four types of activities. The first is mobilizing knowledge.
Sharing knowledge, information and best practices has been the main focus of QUESCREN's office to date. Our activities include co-organizing many research events, almost 30 so far. These are bilingual, multi-disciplinary, innovative and are conducted in partnership with academics, government offices and community groups. Worth mentioning are our annual conferences held at the L'Association francophone pour le savoir congress. This is Quebec's most significant congress, and it provides excellent opportunities for exchange between English- and French-speaking scholars.
Other knowledge mobilization activities include sending out regular newsletters to over 685 subscribers, producing an online bibliography that now lists over 10,700 publications, and capturing our activities on our bilingual website.
The second activity for QUESCREN, and of increasing importance, is educational networking. QUESCREN's advisory board was established in 2015 with representatives from Quebec's English-language universities and colleges, the Quebec Community Groups Network; a French-language university, in this case UQAM; Canadian Heritage; and the provincial Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports. The board is a new space for key English-language educational institutions to collaborate in support of community vitality.
Our third activity is producing new knowledge. In addition to research by members of our informal network, QUESCREN employees have conducted our own research on seniors, immigration, poverty and the creative economy. These studies were carried out in collaboration with partners, including government departments and community groups.
QUESCREN's research helps us understand issues that affect the vitality of Quebec's official language minority community, including economic development and engagement with culture. We have learned about strengths and weaknesses in our communities, opportunities and challenges they face, and existing and potential spaces for cultural rapprochement with Quebec's majority francophone community.
Our fourth activity is training and supporting students. QUESCREN's initiatives regularly provide support and learning opportunities for the next generation of scholars, such as opportunities to participate in our research projects and events.
We are proud of our accomplishments to date. I believe that the network lives up to its mandate statement, which is that "QUESCREN provides opportunities to promote the understanding and vitality of Quebec's English-language minority communities through research, knowledge mobilization, training, networking and outreach. We have reached our broad goals, including promoting rapprochement with Quebec's majority francophone community, including the research community, and participating in the national conversation on research and official language minority communities.
I will now discuss new directions for QUESCREN.
Canadian Heritage, CIRLM and Concordia have committed to supporting QUESCREN until March 2018. This will allow us to continue and build on our four activity areas already mentioned.
The most important new development will be an educational networking activity. We are setting up a new Inter-Level Table on Education, bringing together a broader group of stakeholders from the educational, community and government sectors. The table will meet twice yearly to solidify links, exchange knowledge on Quebec's English-speaking communities and collaborate on actions in support of community vitality. Our models for the table are L'association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne and Table nationale sur l'éducation. QUESCREN's tasks will be to coordinate the table and help it conduct its priority activities.
We will also continue knowledge mobilization through conferences. Our next one, to take place in May 2017, is entitled Bill 101 at 40: The Charter of the French Language and Quebec's English-speaking communities, 1977-2017. You are all invited to participate or attend. I have brought copies of our calls for papers for your information, and I will be happy to distribute these.
We are also thinking ahead. Key activities from our five-year plan include the following: providing opportunities for the new Inter-Level Educational Table — that is, Quebec's English-language universities, colleges and other institutions — to be more aware and active with regard to our English-speaking official language minority community, and I would like to see collaborative research-oriented projects built that meet community needs; broadening our network and the reach of our events through relevant new events and increased social media presence; developing curricula for classes and possibly a program of English-speaking community studies; and expanding our staff to three full-time positions.
In terms of challenges, QUESCREN has an important responsibility. We are the sole research and educational networking unit devoted to the subject of Quebec's English-speaking communities. Our activities, including the new Inter-Level Educational Table and our research support tools, including the newsletter and bibliography, are unique. As a point of comparison, there are over 20 educational networking and research organizations serving francophone official language minority communities across Canada. At least one of these has over a dozen staff members.
Funding for QUESCREN has always been through project contracts involving fluctuating budgets and covering from one to three years. For example, while we are very grateful for the support, it is worth noting that we received only a quarter of what we requested in our most recent application to Canadian Heritage, and this was to cover a shorter time period than proposed. So we requested around $750,000 over three years, and we received $190,000 for two years until March 2018. In the short term, this means that we have to keep our staffing limited to one full-time coordinator and a part-time associate. We regularly have to turn down requests or limit involvement in projects and activities.
Planning, continuity and growth are difficult. QUESCREN needs increased, predictable and continued funding. To that end, we are developing and implementing a financial sustainability strategy, working with Concordia to explore fundraising options, and we regularly apply for research and project grants.
Another component of our strategy is to seek stable government funding. What Concordia stated in a 2012 appearance before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages remains true today. While we are proud of our achievements, ". . . even better results could come from a more sustainable, structured relationship between Concordia and government . . . .''
In partnership, we can help develop an environment where universities and research institutes can conduct research with a cohesive, long-term vision.
I would be grateful to this committee for support to QUESCREN in this effort.
I would like to close my remarks with some invitations: subscribe to our newsletter, which is an opportunity to hear about research and research events related to our English-speaking communities; visit our website to consult our publications; participate in our upcoming conference; and please contact me if you would like more information or to discuss possible collaboration.
Thank you for inviting me here today.
The Chair: Thank you very much, Ms. O'Donnell, for your very interesting presentation.
The first question will be posed by the deputy chair of the committee, Senator Poirier.
Senator Poirier: Thank you for being here and thank you for the presentation.
I have a couple of questions. The government just wrapped up its consultation regarding the next plan for official languages. Did you participate in the consultations?
Ms. O'Donnell: I have been invited to several aspects of the consultations, so the answer is yes.
Senator Poirier: Could you share with us what you recommended to the minister and what your expectations are for the next plan?
Ms. O'Donnell: I would like to talk about the different consultations. I participated in a consultation on health, with Health Canada; I participated in a consultation about Acfas and the research communities; and I made some online recommendations as well.
My recommendations are always in the same direction. They are that we continue to support research for English-speaking communities. We need to have research on English-speaking communities for several reasons. One is because we need to have knowledge-based policy decision making, and therefore research for the communities is essential.
Second, research is important to the communities themselves. It allows us to know ourselves and to be able to have a clearer understanding of the different communities that together make up what we call our English-speaking community.
I also regularly recommend that we support what I call "knowledge mobilization.'' Knowledge mobilization refers to activities like I described today, such as conferences, websites, bibliographies and newsletters. Having a report or research study that is produced and then sits on a shelf is only part of the activity. What we need to do, and what we do at our research unit, is make the research available to communities through different activities that speak to different groups of people at different levels so that we can make more informal and scholarly settings to bring people together in order to receive the information.
Senator Poirier: In your presentation, on page 4, you talked about the funding received in the two years. From my understanding, if I read this right, the funding comes from Canadian Heritage.
Ms. O'Donnell: That is right.
Senator Poirier: The anglophones in the province of Quebec are a minority group, and then in other provinces across the country we have minority groups in French.
Do you know if the level of funding, compared to the other provinces where a minority group is francophone, is different, or is it very similar to what you're receiving in Quebec for the anglophone minority?
Ms. O'Donnell: I'm unable to talk about specifics. That's not a question I have asked specifically, about how the different provinces fund research on their linguistic minority.
What I can say, as I mentioned in my presentation, is that there are simply more resources available in terms of research centres and institutes, and also umbrella organizations like L' association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne.
My understanding is that de facto there is overall more money going into francophone minority communities. We're both national official language communities, but at the provincial level I cannot say.
Senator Poirier: Do you have ongoing dialogue with the different ministers when the time comes to share research and to receive funding?
Ms. O'Donnell: The federal departments?
Senator Poirier: Yes.
Ms. O'Donnell: I have good contacts with some of the federal departments. I have collaborated on research projects with Industry Canada. We did a report on the creative economy, which I brought here today, if anybody would like a copy.
At Industry Canada we worked on the creative economy. I worked with what was formerly called Citizenship and Immigration Canada on several projects on immigration. I've worked, of course, with Canadian Heritage over the years. I have some contact through two projects I work on with the Quebec Community Groups Network with Justice Canada and ESDC.
To answer your question, I have varying levels of contact with the different departments, but I have also reached out to the official language champions, which are located in every single department and government institution, making available my newsletter and reaching out to invite them to attend our events.
In answer to your question, I would say I am in contact. I have done outreach, and I have closer relations with some ministry departments than others so far.
Senator Poirier: Of the challenges that you have, funding was one. You mentioned a couple of other challenges, but are there regular meetings that go on from the different minority groups across the country to discuss these challenges and see how they deal with them, if there is anything you can learn from one province to another in terms of helping out?
Ms. O'Donnell: We've made preliminary steps in that direction. I mentioned before that we have an annual conference at Acfas, the Association francophone pour le savoir.
I'm speaking a bit of jargon here. The ACUFC, one of our francophone counterparts, also does an annual conference at Acfas. We have had preliminary discussions with their office around the possibility of joint conferences. We have not succeeded to date, but we have made the contact and shared some information.
When we got our latest round of funding, I was in discussions with Roger Paul, who is head of the Table nationale sur l'éducation, to ask for advice and guidance on the new table that I'm setting up. There is not a structured regular setting for that kind of discussion, but we have done outreach in that direction.
Senator McIntyre: Thank you, Ms. O'Donnell, for your fine presentation. In both your oral and written presentations, you spoke about the role of the Inter-Level Table in Education. I understand that the work of the table is similar to that of the L'association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne. Do you foresee setting up similar mechanisms in areas other than education and, if so, which areas?
Ms. O'Donnell: Thank you for that question.
I would like to state that at this point the table is at the planning stage. In fact, just today I was meeting with officials at McGill University to talk about the table and to invite participation from McGill.
As we emphasized there — and I will mention here today — we would like to encourage these institutions to sit down and talk and set priority areas, but my role is a coordinating one. The leadership I can provide is to make research available so that it identifies what communities have identified as research priorities and general community concerns.
In terms of the actual initiatives, the ACUFC, for example, looks at questions around justice, immigration and health. At this point, I can't identify the priority areas because that will be up to the table.
I would like to emphasize that what's particularly innovative about the table is, surprisingly to me, to the best of my knowledge, there is no forum where the three English universities of Quebec — that is, McGill, Concordia and Bishop's — sit down and discuss common interests. Certainly I know there is no forum where they sit to discuss needs of the communities that are their natural client base. Among others, they get students from all over, but of course among their important groups are the English-speaking communities, the students.
I'm going a little off topic, but I did want to have the opportunity to say that we hope the contribution of this table will be twofold. One is simply to bring the people around the table and have the talk, and two is to encourage them to identify priority areas, which at this point I cannot predict. We're looking forward to hearing what they identify.
Senator McIntyre: Are you satisfied with the cooperation or collaboration that you are getting from other organizations such as Quebec's English-speaking communities, Bishop's University, Concordia University, McGill University, Quebec's English CEGEPs, post-secondary institutions in Canadian francophone minority communities and federal institutions?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes, people are very receptive. Certainly the federal institutions have the mandate, as you know, to be open to and supportive of the English-speaking communities. We've had very good relations with the different departments I mentioned before.
The universities are big and complex institutions, with many competing priorities, so the challenge there is to find out the right people to speak to about our priorities and concerns. They have been open, but it takes a lot of time and effort to understand who to speak to and how to speak to them in a language that relates to their priorities.
The colleges are already organizing themselves as English-language institutions. They have what's called the Quebec English Colleges Steering Committee, and they informally call it the Anglo Deans. Those are the academic deans who meet regularly from the different English public and private CEGEPs. They have been particularly open because they already identify themselves as English-language institutions.
In the community sector it's very supportive, and our conferences always have community groups participating, particularly the Quebec Community Groups Network, which I've worked with from the beginning.
My answer is that we've always had cooperative response. Our challenge is to have the resources to do the networking because it takes time to develop networks, to know who to speak to, to attend meetings and to prepare for meetings. The challenge is more at the level of logistics than it is any kind of resistance.
Senator Fraser: Thanks to both of you for being here. I have several questions.
My first is really petty, but it's the use of the word "table.'' Is that an example of what I have come to call "Quebec English,'' where we take a word out of French and use it to mean what it means in French even if normally that's not the case in English?
Ms. O'Donnell: Well, I have to say, you're the second person to ask me that question today. The answer is yes.
However, I want to emphasize what I said to my colleague today. We really do mean sitting around a table. I really like that word because to my knowledge there's no structure where the universities do that. So I was trying to come up with an inviting, friendly word.
Senator Fraser: Back to the nasty subject of money. I'm going to come back a bit on Senator Poirier's question because I am not sure I quite grasped everything.
In your last funding from Canadian Heritage, you got one quarter of what you asked for — $190,000. Meanwhile, there are more than 20 educational networking and research organizations serving francophone official language minority communities, at least one of which has more than a dozen staff members. Quite apart from any matter of whether they get money from provincial governments, do you have any idea of the funding those centres receive from Canadian Heritage?
Ms. O'Donnell: I'm sorry; I do not know that answer.
Senator Fraser: Should it not be on the public records somewhere?
Ms. O'Donnell: That is possible, yes.
Senator Fraser: After all, English Quebec and francophone minority communities are about the same number of people.
Ms. O'Donnell: Several of the institutes and centres are actually research centres for which university professors have made the effort to apply for federal funding, for example, to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
I did not mean to imply that they're all provincially or federally funded. I have not done the work, actually, to find that.
Senator Fraser: Have you applied to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council?
Ms. O'Donnell: I did.
Senator Fraser: Did you get any money?
Ms. O'Donnell: I applied once and we did not. We have reapplied for funding and are waiting to hear back from them. It's an extremely competitive process.
Senator Fraser: I'm sure.
How does $190,000 compare with the funding you received previously?
Ms. O'Donnell: It's more than in some years and less than in some years.
Senator Fraser: Is it way more or way less?
Ms. O'Donnell: It's comparable. Again, one of the challenges, as I've mentioned, is that the funding has really gone up and down. I would say it's the average amount.
Senator Fraser: What research have you done and what have you found?
Ms. O'Donnell: We have done our work on the creative economy. That was a very interesting project which looked at the industry and the economic activity around culture and arts. What we found in this study was that there is a historical diversity of our English-speaking communities, so our communities from the very start, when they arrived on Canadian soil, have been ethno-culturally diverse. There have always been regional differences.
In the case of the creative economy, one of the interesting findings for me is that different ethno-cultural groups and regional groups had different experiences around this question. For example, interviews carried out with research participants. They reported different levels of access to the resources available. For example, we have a strong representation of visible minorities in our communities — the Black community, and different groups like Chinese circus artists. It's a diverse community. They reported different levels of access, different levels of ease in carrying out creative economic activities in Montreal, access to resources, but also working with the English-speaking communities. There were differences that they reported that they needed to improve relations and improve cooperation.
Senator Fraser: You brought us a copy of that study?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Fraser: Incidentally, are your studies available on your website?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Fraser: So I needn't take up the whole committee's time with asking you the details for each. Could you give the committee just a flavour of the different areas you have looked at?
Ms. O'Donnell: We have looked at the question of poverty. I'm sure many of the people around the table are aware that there's a prevailing myth of the privileged anglophone, to use the language that we hear in Quebec. In fact poverty is a very real concern for our communities. So we were able to work with partners at the CHSSN — Community Health and Social Services Network — to have access to statistics around poverty. It showed that if we take the first official language spoken definition of our English-speaking communities, which is the federal approach, there are serious issues of poverty in most of the regions of our province, including the Island of Montreal.
We have done research on immigration. We found, compared to the francophone majority population, that we have a much higher proportion of immigrants in our English-speaking communities, especially among seniors. I've also done research on seniors. That creates challenges and issues for our communities in terms of integration and access to services.
It also presents opportunities. I am a historian. I've worked with Patrick on projects. I have found that we have a historical record of comfort with diversity and expertise in working. If we have a table of English-speaking people on any board, the ethno-cultural diversity will be reflected in the names. That's an important, positive thing to mention.
We have found that our communities serve as gateways for English-speaking immigrants to become integrated into the Quebec society, including facilitating access to services in French. For example, Voice of English-speaking Québec in Quebec City has a very successful newcomers program where they work with immigrants and migrants arriving and encourage them to obtain French-language services.
Another positive story is that we feel we have special support, access and expertise around diversity to offer to our French majority population.
In terms of seniors, I worked with QCGN to produce a detailed report to look at most of the regions of Quebec. There are many findings in terms of priorities. Again, I would highlight diversity, the challenge of access to services in English as health care becomes a growing concern as people get older, and also generational differences.
I would like to highlight that our younger community members have very high bilingualism rates, so access to services in English takes on a different flavour than older community members whose French might be less well-developed.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: Ms. O'Donnell, you're an affiliate assistant professor at Concordia University's School of Community and Public Affairs.
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Maltais: You're also the coordinator-researcher of the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network.
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Maltais: Are you paid by the university?
Ms. O'Donnell: No.
Senator Maltais: Not at all?
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: Concordia provides in-kind support for the research network. I am paid by Concordia, but the funding for my pay comes from a partnership of the federal government and the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities in Moncton.
In English, the language is "adjunct professor.'' What that is is a title acknowledging that the level of activity is like a professor.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: You're saying that the government money — the federal government money, in this case — covers your work and your assistants' work, or other researchers who work with you. Is that correct?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Maltais: Okay. I had trouble figuring out where you stand.
You said something that intrigued me. McGill University, Concordia University and Bishop's University don't have a joint research group. Yet they are three very well-known anglophone universities in Quebec. They don't speak to each other? They don't hold telephone interviews? They aren't working properly?
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: To my knowledge, and I have asked a lot people, there is no formal table where they meet. Naturally, at the level of, let's say, deans, rectors or professors working on collaborative projects, there's a lot of discussion every day. What there is not is a formal table the equivalent of what the CEGEPs have or the francophone colleges and universities have where they meet formally as such.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: I understand, Ms. O'Donnell. However, I urge you to contact the three universities and meet with their public relations officers to coordinate something, because it makes no sense.
Also, do you have connections with Quebec's anglophone CEGEPs?
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes. I have very good connections with the English-language CEGEPs.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: The CEGEPs communicate with each other.
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: They have two tables that I know of. They have something called the English Colleges Steering Committee where the directors general of all the English colleges, both public and private, the CEGEPs, meet. They also have something called the Anglo Deans. These are the academic deans of the English-language colleges. They also meet.
They have structures and they talk among themselves, yes, but the links between the colleges and the universities are not formalized.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: I live across from an anglophone college, St. Lawrence College, in Quebec City. We know the anglophone school boards communicate with each other a great deal, along with the CEGEPs. However, the universities don't communicate. Does it depend on the professors? It seems that, the larger the organization, the more the organization tends to follow its own path. I don't get it.
With regard to the linguistic minorities in other provinces, they try to make themselves heard. They try to talk to the universities, and they're somewhat successful. In Quebec, the anglophone minority consists of approximately 600,000 people, and the three major anglophone universities don't communicate with each other. It's beyond me.
When Ms. Fraser was an editorial writer at the Montreal Gazette, she regularly reminded us that people should talk to each other. I don't get it. They didn't listen to you. You should write to them again. They should talk to each other. If you can't share your research results, what purpose does the research serve?
You spoke about a creative economy. That's fine, but the principles still need to be applied. If your document stays on the table, you'll have worked for nothing and the governments will have spent money for nothing. If you want the research to be effective, the document must first be shared with the universities, and the universities must reach an agreement and take measures. In the rest of Canada, the opposite is happening. Minorities are the ones who approach senior staff. You're at the top of the ladder, but there's no cross bar to make the connection.
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: To respond to your question, as far as I know, there is no formal table where the universities sit. I know they do not sit to discuss English-speaking community concerns. However, as I mentioned, our newsletter goes out to about 700 people.
Patrick was reminding me — and I wanted to show this — this is the program, which I would happily share, to our last conference at Acfas.
We are in communication regularly with the three universities, and on the advisory board of my research unit there are representatives of Bishop's, McGill and Concordia. I personally am in contact with researchers from the three institutions regularly, and that is how the news of what we do and the news that they have is exchanged, through my newsletters. At the level of research communications, that is already established through what I do.
What is not being done is that the universities are meeting as institutions to address community concerns at a more macro level. So that's the innovation.
[Translation]
Senator Maltais: I'll stop you there, and this will be my last question. There is a council of anglophone universities in Quebec. I imagine that these people don't meet only to draft a curriculum or to hire excellent professors. These people play a much broader role in a community. A university influences a community.
That's why I don't get it at all. Why aren't the three universities adopting your plans and sharing your work with CEGEPs and school boards? Your work is undoubtedly very well done. However, if it stays on a shelf, it doesn't serve any purpose. To make your work useful, the measures must come from the top and reach the primary level to benefit Quebec's anglophone community. If not, you'll have worked for nothing.
You and the council of universities must play a leadership role, and you must share your research with the CEGEPs and school boards to give the council power. As Senator Fraser said, numerous groups work on many things, in both the francophone communities outside Quebec and the anglophone communities in Quebec. However, your work must be shared, primarily in the school community.
If I were you, I wouldn't work on the francization of immigrants. I would leave this task to other groups that specialize in the field. In addition, the creative economy is interesting. It's the future. It's information technology. It's a gateway to the world. It's a concept that must be shared in the universities.
Senator Mockler: First I want to congratulate you, Ms. O'Donnell, on your organization. In know that previously, in New Brunswick, you shared information to advance language rights. At one point, I participated in some of the discussions. I want to congratulate you because you brought a great deal to the table. The project entitled Connect and Disconnect: Anglophones, the English language and Montreal's creative economy is found on your website. I see that the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and Concordia University participated in the project.
My question concerns this collaboration. I didn't see Bishop's University. Did it participate?
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: We have on our advisory board Dr. Cheryl Gosselin, who participates. It's possible that in this case they did not sponsor the event, but they were present, yes.
Senator Mockler: When we identify a priority, your group will embark on determining your priority research. Can you share outside of Quebec or vice versa? I'll take the example in New Brunswick. I want you to elaborate on your association with the University of Moncton. What role do you play? How do you determine your priorities, and what is your role with the University of Moncton exactly?
Ms. O'Donnell: In terms of research priorities, I would say there are two answers. Some of the research we have done has been at the request of the federal government, which has approached us to address priority issues that they have identified. That is true for the creative economy and that's true too for the research we've done on immigration.
Other topics we identified were through discussions with community groups who came to us with concerns that they had identified in the communities. As an example of that I would mention our work on seniors, which was done in collaboration with Quebec Community Groups Network. They approached us with their priority concerns.
In terms of my relationship with the CIRLM, the Moncton institute, what I do as coordinator-researcher, QUESCREN is actually a project of the institute. It's a little complicated. The institute applies for money from the federal government. The institute has a formal structured partnership with Concordia University, so the institute receives the money and sends the money to Concordia, with its own contribution.
In fact, what I do is a project of the Moncton institute, paid for by the Moncton institute and the federal government, but delivered to me through Concordia.
Senator Mockler: Precisely what role do you play with immigration?
Ms. O'Donnell: I do not work with immigrants. I provide no services to immigrants. What I have done is some general research to identify the state of the research on immigration. I was hired in conjunction with the Moncton institute to work on what is called a literature review. They wanted to know what research has been done on immigration and where are the research gaps. It sounds very scholarly. What I do is research on the research, really, to see what's being done.
I also assembled, at the request of Immigration Canada, a group of people to look at and discuss general research issues on the topic of immigration. In fact, I don't offer services to immigrants or work directly with immigrants. I work with publications.
Senator Poirier: To follow up on one of Senator Mockler's questions, you mentioned that you get requests from other groups or individuals to do a study on a certain topic, like seniors or immigration. When you get the request to do that supplement, does the cost to do that research come out of funding you receive here that you mentioned, the $190,000, or does extra funding come from the group that asked you to do the research to help pay for this research?
Ms. O'Donnell: When I have done applied research projects for the government, it's additional funding, so I'm able to hire people. I supervise the project and I'll hire people to conduct interviews, for example.
In other cases, as with the Quebec Community Groups Network research on seniors, I was offering my services, you could say, for free or as an in-kind contribution in support of a research project that they carried out.
Most of the time it's funded and sometimes I offer my support as an in-kind contribution.
Senator Poirier: If it's federal funding, would it come from different departments?
Ms. O'Donnell: Different departments, yes. They have included Immigration Canada, Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage. Those are the three that come to mind.
There's a new project from Justice Canada that I've just started working on with Quebec Community Groups Network.
Senator Poirier: What type of funding are you looking at and how often? Is this a one-time deal?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes, it's a one-time deal. The seniors' project was provincial and was around a quarter of a million dollars, but generally the research projects I carry out are around $25,000, $30,000 or less. They are modest amounts.
Senator McIntyre: In your answer to one of Senator Fraser's questions, you spoke briefly of statistics. As you know, approximately 10 years ago, in 2006, if I'm not mistaken, Statistics Canada released a post-census survey on the vitality of official languages minorities. This survey addressed various topics, including language use in daily activities.
Do you think it would be a good idea for Statistics Canada to conduct a post-census survey on the vitality of official languages minorities as was done in 2006?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes. I'm working with the CIRLM and our community partners, the QCGN, to discuss with Statistics Canada how they can meet our needs for statistics. That is on the table. It does sound like a good idea.
We have also requested for Statistics Canada that they have a separate envelope so that we can work with them more regularly, and also that the language components be integrated into more of their studies so that we have more data.
So, yes, and we're also asking for more.
Senator McIntyre: So you're interesting in using data?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator McIntyre: Thank you.
Senator Fraser: Do you have to pay to subscribe to your newsletter?
Ms. O'Donnell: No.
Senator Fraser: Could you put the committee's clerk or researcher on your list?
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes.
Senator Fraser: That would probably be the quickest way to be sure that we would all have access to that, if possible, if you don't mind.
Ms. O'Donnell: Absolutely.
The Chair: Our analyst tells us that she already has the group on our list.
Senator Fraser: She already has it. In that case, maybe she could circulate it.
Ms. O'Donnell: You're very welcome to receive it and also to get research news.
Senator Fraser: In the matter of poverty in particular, is the actual study available on your website and not just "We looked at this and here is the headline''?
Ms. O'Donnell: The poverty study, that particular one, what I have on my website is, "Please write me and I will send it to you.''
Senator Fraser: Consider yourself written to.
Ms. O'Donnell: Yes. We will send it.
Senator Fraser: I'd particularly like to see that.
Ms. O'Donnell: The reason we did not post that, it was really a working document of the committee. It was not intended for broad circulation, but we do share it when people request it. I would be happy to send that to you.
Senator Fraser: Because you're quite right, that mythology is perniciously rooted.
My next question would actually require a very long answer, so I'll save it for some happy future day.
Senator Mockler: I think you're on to something when you talk about the aging of the population.
I know that all senators have received a copy of A Tale of Two Countries by Professor Richard Saillant and Dr. Donald Savoie, from the University of Moncton. In the foreword, Dr. Savoie says that one of the country's most demanding challenges for the next two decades is all about the great demographic imbalance in our society.
I'm intrigued by the fact that next year will be the fortieth anniversary of Bill 101.
[Translation]
In New Brunswick, our official language minority communities must often use the justice system to implement the Official Languages Act, to further educate the public or to enforce the act. I've always said the Official Languages Act concerns both francophones and anglophones.
What's the objective of the conference you're preparing for 2017 on the 40 years of Bill 101 in Quebec?
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell: Well, we have different objectives. That law is recognized as a watershed law that really changed a lot of English-speaking communities' perceptions of living in Quebec. It affected the educational sector. It was contested judicially, as you know. It has been linked to an increased out-migration of English speakers.
Our objective was twofold. It was to shed light on that topic, which is very important, so to get the latest scholarly research, but also to have a civilized dialogue.
I will emphasize that we do our annual conferences of the Association francophone pour le savoir in French. Our goal in these conferences is always and continues to be to have a civilized dialogue of difficult subjects where francophones and anglophones can meet to address topics that are of vital community concern, creating a space where we can have that talk at a good level.
Senator Mockler: You're in front of the Government of Canada and you want us to make recommendations to our government. Given your experience, which areas of research deserve more investment? You touched on a big subject: poverty within our communities, and it is factual.
This reminds me of a few research reports we've seen in our communities outside of Quebec with minority groups —
[Translation]
— especially on the francophone side, but also on the anglophone side.
[English]
What would you want us to recommend regarding where you need investment now in order to move forward to secure a better quality of life?
Ms. O'Donnell: I have two answers. The first has to do with integration. Economic integration is very key. That is everything from access to jobs to access to employment services; economic development, including a creative economy. So we need research and innovation around that question.
But integration has another element. It is also an identity issue. We have concerns not just about poverty but about social exclusion. That's a social phenomenon. As an example, there are ongoing concerns about how to have the history of the contributions of our English-speaking communities understood and recognized and incorporated into our understanding of who our communities are today. So I would also talk about issues around identity and encouraging the history.
In terms of investments, I think we need support for projects that would allow integration at the social level, including historical research and support for a fair and balanced historical record. It's really at the structural level and at the level of identity, I would say.
Senator Mockler: Today I was in Montreal, and I was reading the National Post. There is a book coming out on 15 different personalities — politicians, business people, men and women — who had an impact on Quebec society, both English and French.
[Translation]
Senator Fraser: Only francophone.
Senator Mockler: Only francophone? That factor is very significant and must be brought to our attention.
[English]
Do you have any comment on that?
Ms. O'Donnell: I'm a historian. I have a lot of comments to make. My hope is that we have more and more venues where we can explore the history but then also have people use, read, believe the history and integrate it into the classroom and our understandings.
In terms of government investment, I feel a responsibility to answer that question correctly, obviously. We have concerns around youth, youth integration, seniors, immigrant integration, so all of these are important issues.
My personal concerns have to do with poverty because it's so fundamental, and also the history because that's my own academic interest.
[Translation]
The Chair: Ms. O'Donnell, I want to note that the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages has made recommendations on two occasions to encourage the federal government to support research initiatives aimed at Quebec's anglophone communities. The first occasion was in 2011, in our report on Quebec's anglophone communities. In 2014, our report on immigration also included specific research recommendations for Quebec's anglophone communities.
Our committee certainly supports your work and acknowledges that you must have access to information and data to overcome challenges and meet the needs of Quebec's anglophone communities.
[English]
Ms. O'Donnell, on behalf of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, thank you very much for your interesting and very thorough presentation. Certainly you have helped me understand some of the important challenges that anglophone communities in Quebec face.
(The committee adjourned.)