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Tuesday<font class="dingbat" color="#990000" size="1"><strong> » </strong></font>May 27<font class="dingbat" color="#990000" size="1"><strong> » </strong></font>2008</div></td></tr>
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<div class="storyheadline">Quebec anglos need a voice at national level</div>
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<td><font class="storybyline"><strong>Robert Donnelly</strong></font></td></tr>
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<div class="storydate"><br>Monday, May 26, 2008</div><br>
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<p>The Quebec Community Groups Network is a not-for-profit organization bringing together 29 English-language community organizations operating in diverse sectors such as community development, arts, culture and heritage and economic development across Quebec. We encourage and promote participation by government departments and agencies for the development of the English-language minority communities to support and build our vitality.</p>
<p>In the past months, the QCGN has been more active in policy development on a variety of topics including immigration, the reasonable-accommodation debate and in light of the recently released census data, demographics. We believe that the English-speaking communities of Quebec have important contributions to make to the public debate and have decided to have a more active voice on policy issues. We were recently asked to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages. Without getting into the specifics of the Committee mandate, the hearings provided us with an opportunity to highlight some of the weaknesses in our relationship as a community with the federal government.</p>
<p>We feel it is essential that the federal government consider the needs of our communities from a national-policy perspective. Currently, all federal government efforts to support official language minority communities in Quebec are done from a regional point of view. </p>
<p>While regional officials are in a good position to understand the reality on the ground, we argued that it is essential for the English-speaking communities of Quebec to have a voice at the national level where government policies are made that have direct impact on individuals in our communities. </p>
<p>As the recent census data shows, the English-speaking communities of Quebec are more bilingual than ever. Bilingualism is especially high among younger members of our communities. Among 15-24 year olds, 84 per cent reported being bilingual in the 2006 census. Clearly, Quebec's English-speaking communities can be key partners for the federal government to promote the Canadian values of linguistic duality and bilingualism. Federal government partners can only benefit from the experiences and expertise of our communities and institutions. </p>
<p>Many are quick to dismiss any claims made on behalf of our communities that we face real development challenges. Our institutions are strong, and we as a community are fortunate to enjoy this level of institutional support through our health and education networks, for example. It is often pointed out our institutions are the envy of many francophones outside Quebec who are fighting to build such networks in their communities. </p>
<p>Institutional support is essential, and we are fortunate, especially in the Montreal area to have access to these institutions that naturally play an important role in the lives of many members of our communities. We must remember however that institutions do not automatically equate community vitality. Put simply, it is important to have schools but more important to have generations of young people to fill them. Governments have a role to play to ensure that policies are put in place to facilitate and enhance community vitality. </p>
<p>Findings on the "brain drain" initially presented at our Community Revitalization Conference at the Université de Montréal in March, 2008, and reported in Le Devoir, La Presse and The Gazette was presented again in Ottawa to illustrate a key point. Large numbers of the best and brightest members of our communities have left the province in huge numbers. This is only one example of an important challenge facing our communities, but one that continues to resonate. </p>
<p>Provincial and municipal governments also have a role to play. An obvious start would be encouraging a strong presence of our communities in public sector jobs. As The Gazette's Henry Aubin pointed out (May 10, 2008) progress is being made to hire more members of minority communities, but the presence of Anglophones, especially in senior positions with the provincial government is dismal. This is a concrete example of an area where governments can provide us with direct support.</p>
<p>For our part, the QCGN will continue to press governments to support our communities on several fronts. Decision makers on all government fronts must understand that our community must be taken into account when top level decisions are made. </p>
<p>Robert Donnelly is president of the QCGN. To access the works released at the Community Revitalisation Conference, visit <a href="http://www.qcgn.ca">http://www.qcgn.ca</a> and click on DOCUMENTATION </p></div></td>
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<td valign="top" align="middle"><a href="http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=08e51e43-9a68-4d07-a209-56cab6644ce3">http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/features/viewpoints/story.html?id=08e51e43-9a68-4d07-a209-56cab6644ce3</a></td>
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