Twinning (host)/Canada-Québec Accord

Resolution number
5
Whereas
  1. The Government of Québec is obliged by the Canada-Québec Accord to offer settlement and integration services that correspond overall to those offered elsewhere in Canada;
  2. The financial compensation from the federal government provided for in the Accord will go in 2005-2006 from $160 million to $180 million;
  3. The Government of Québec is refusing to account for the amounts received from the federal government;
  4. Le ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles du Québec (MICC) has decided to abolish the Québec twinning program by eliminating the specific funding for the twinning (Host) activities of settlement and integration organizations;
  5. The twinning program is the only settlement and integration program that directly involves the host society;
Therefore be it resolved

That the CCR:

  1. Send a joint letter to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and to the Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities informing them that settlement and integration organizations in Canada are concerned about the decision of the Government of Québec to no longer provide specific support for twinning activities for newcomers as is done elsewhere in Canada;
  2. Ask the Joint Committee with responsibility for the implementation of and follow up to the Accord to create a temporary committee to evaluate this loss of experience and of service for newcomers to Québec;
  3. Ask for a public accounting by the Government of Canada and the Government of Québec for the amounts spent since 2000 as part of the financial compensation transferred each year by the federal government to Quebec pour settlement and integration services for newcomers;
  4. As the Government of Québec to report on the allocation of the additional$20 million that it will receive from the federal government this year for services to newcomers.
Subject
Settlement services
Working Group
Immigration and Settlement