Thursday, 20 October 2011 16:47
Debates of the Senate - Question Period
Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and has to do with how the likely budget cuts could affect official language minority communities.
We have learned that senior officials have been instructed to reduce spending in their respective departments by anywhere from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. I am not criticizing the decision, for it is necessary because of the current fragile economic situation.
However, such an approach could disproportionately harm certain programs that are under the responsibility of several departments simultaneously. For instance, consider the federal government's Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, which forms the basis of all funding programs for official language minority communities and whose costs are paid for by 13 agencies and departments, which have all been instructed to reduce their spending by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent.
There is nothing to prevent official language minority communities from losing not just 5 per cent or 10 per cent of their budgets, but rather 30 per cent, 40 per cent, or even more. What would happen if all the agencies and departments involved in the Roadmap, or even several of them, decided to reach their budget reduction targets in that manner?
Has the government thought of a way to ensure that the budget cuts will not be done in such a way that disproportionately targets a program like the Roadmap for Linguistic Duality?
Hon. Marjory LeBreton (Leader of the Government): Honourable senators, I cannot imagine a situation where when we go through the process we would somehow or other agree to something that would have a severe impact on the important work and the commitment we made to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.
As the honourable senator knows, the government has promised to balance the budget by 2015. We have been clear that everyone must do their part. I wish to assure the honourable senator that we will continue to work with official languages organizations to ensure that they have the resources they need to fulfil their mandates and carry out the important work they do.
I cannot imagine that any of us who are dealing with the recommendations of the various departments would allow a situation to develop where a specific program that supports and enhances our official languages policy would be unduly affected by the savings that we are looking for in the various departments.
Senator Chaput: As the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages showed and as the minister herself admitted in this chamber, a number of departments still do not understand that they have an obligation to promote linguistic duality.
Knowing that, it is not unreasonable to believe that a number of these departments might look at in their roadmap commitments to find the fat they need to trim. It is not part of the reality or culture of these departments because it is simply not something they think about. They do not realize their obligations.
Since some departments still do not understand the importance of linguistic duality, will the government monitor the proposed budgetary cuts in order to ensure that they will not have disproportionate repercussions on the Roadmap for the communities that depend on this source of funding?
Senator LeBreton: As the Commissioner of Official Languages pointed out, significant progress has been made.
Again, honourable senators, I do not believe that those of us who sit on the committee of Treasury Board reviewing the recommendations from various departments would allow any government department to try to find savings disproportionately at the expense of any one group, in particular with regard to official languages, which is the law of the land. The government, by its actions, is fully committed to it.