Speaking Notes - The Honourable Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, at the press conference organized for the release of Towards Building a Canadian Francophonie of Tomorrow: Summary of Initiatives 2002–2006 to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities from the CIC–Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee

Pier 21, Halifax, N.S., March 30, 2005

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Welcome. Let me first take this opportunity to especially thank the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada for your many contributions and hard work with regard to the initiative we’re here to talk about today.

It’s indeed a pleasure as new Minister to be able to share in this very special event with all of you. I’m especially pleased that we could do so at this historic Pier which has played such an important role in helping to strengthen the fabric of our society and national identity.

Pier 21 has allowed us to welcome countless newcomers to Canada and today serves as a monument to those men and women who came to Canada to help build a nation and left such a lasting legacy — including Canada’s present commitment to multiculturalism and Linguistic duality. So I think it’s particularly appropriate that this should be the venue today.

Nova Scotia is also working very hard to find ways to attract more newcomers to communities in the province, including Francophone minority communities. I find it particularly noteworthy that the provincial government has committed through its immigration plan to consult with la Féderation acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse. So perhaps it’s even more fitting that we should meet today amidst these wonderful surroundings.

One reason all of us are here, of course, is to talk about our progress to date in helping to strengthen Official Language communities outside Quebec and our vision. For my part, I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners for their hard work and dedication in helping us move forward. I’m fully aware of their many contributions so far.

None of the progress we’ve made to date would have been possible without their ideas, their energy, and their participation. I’d also like to emphasize how important this initiative is for our future as a nation and as an open and inclusive society.

Linguistic duality has always been a core value of Canadian society. It helps to define us as a country, unite us as a people, and make us stronger as a nation committed to promoting inclusiveness and pluralism.

So it’s critically important for the government to ensure that the appropriate mechanisms and infrastructure are in place to strengthen our linguistic duality from coast to coast and to provide the appropriate support for Francophone minority communities in order to ensure they grow and flourish.

From a purely pragmatic point of view, access to the world’s two most vital languages is surely an asset for Canadian businesses in the global marketplace, and for the mobility of Canada’s labour force.

From social point of view, the same values of mutual respect and sharing that led to passage of the Official Languages Act in 1969 and then to the inclusion of support for the development of official language minority communities as one of the objectives in the 1988 Act are the same values that make Canada what it is today — open to the world and known for a good quality of life.

We’ve made great strides over the past few years to strengthen Francophone minority communities through initiatives such as including linguistic provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Strategic Framework to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities and a commitment to include linguistic provisions in current and future Provincial Nominee Program agreements that we sign. We now need to continue moving forward as full and equal partners to ensure that our vision of a healthy and growing Francophone presence outside of Quebec is realized.

I’m pleased to note in this regard that the increase in the number of Francophone immigrants who settled in Canada in 2004 reached 4.9 percent. That exceeds the targeted increase of 4.4 percent by 2007 set out in the Strategic Framework. So we’re making progress and I look forward to further gains in the months ahead — and to seeing some of the very innovative initiatives from the regions, which I know have been working very hard to move things forward. Today is in many ways just a beginning. There’s much more to come.

Let me add in this regard that Budget 2005 is good news for everyone, including newcomers who choose to put down roots in Francophone minority communities. The Government of Canada has allocated $298 million over five years for settlement programming as well as $100 million over the same time period for an integrated client service delivery strategy.

We’ve also allocated $75 million over five years under the 10-year Plan to Strengthen Health Care to accelerate and expand the assessment and integration of internationally educated health care professionals into Canada’s health sector. And $56 million over five years will go to Canadian Heritage’s anti racism strategy t o help combat discrimination. So Budget 2005 is a win-win for everyone.

The work of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada / Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee is an excellent example of what we can achieve by working in close collaboration. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the Steering Committee has already made significant progress in a number of areas.

I think we’re all looking forward to the release of the Steering Committee’s national and provincial action plans that will outline strategies for communities across Canada to implement the five objectives of the Strategic Framework.

The Department has also been working very hard with our partners to promote immigration to Francophone minority communities overseas. Last March we organized a very successful promotional tour to Central Europe and South America. Given some very good feedback, we’ve now completed a similar tour in Africa.

Another important initiative currently underway is the active recruitment of foreign students to Francophone universities. A pilot project is currently underway to allow foreign students to work off-campus in cities like Moncton and Saint-Boniface.

Over the next two years, we hope to expand this type of initiative and also look into the ability of five francophone post secondary institutions outside of Quebec to sponsor Francophone refugee students.

Just as important are the efforts underway to help Francophone communities plan for and analyze their ability to integrate Francophone immigrants so they can not only better attract but also retain the Francophone newcomers they will need to prosper and grow. Pilot projects in this regard are already underway in numerous communities across Canada.

How can and should we continue to move forward? First and foremost I think we need strong partnerships at every level. We need partnerships with other federal Departments in order to strengthen our programs for the support and integration of newcomers and better promote our linguistic duality abroad.

We need partnerships as well with regional development agencies to coordinate our efforts and better leverage existing resources.

We need strong partnerships with each of the provinces, territories and municipalities to ensure the appropriate settlement and integration infrastructures are in place.

And, of course, we need strong cooperation from private sector groups, associations and the non-governmental organization sector to ensure our success.

All of us need to work together to ensure Francophone minority communities outside Quebec flourish and grow over the coming months and years. We need vision, commitment and leadership. And we also need strong partnerships. Individually we cannot do much, but together we can achieve a lot and Canada’s future will be better for our efforts.

Thank you.