Laubach Literacy of Canada - Québec / Literacy Volunteers of Québec

Activity Report
June 1, 2005 - May 31, 2006

19930001 – Laubach Literacy of Canada-Quebec/Literacy Volunteers of Quebec

2005-06 was a year of transition. LLCQ’s new Coordinator started in August at a time
when the group is becoming more involved in both the literacy and community sectors.
Accredited by PACTE in 1999 as an umbrella organization (regroupement), the LLCQ
mandate is to represent its members and advocate on behalf of literacy. Thus, the
coordinator’s role has shifted from an internal one of administering the councils to one
of representing English literacy within the larger literacy and community sectors and
acting as intermediary with LLCQ’s primary funder, the provincial government. During
2005-06, LLCQ/LVQ worked hard to position itself as a representative of English
community based literacy in Quebec. In the years to come, LLCQ’s goal is establish
itself as the representative of English community based literacy so it can attain its
vision of being an effective voice for English literacy in Quebec.

Consequently, LLCQ participated in various projects in the literacy and community

sectors, as well as regular attendance at QELA and MELS meetings. Below is a
summary of events and activities in which LLCQ participated during the 2005-06 year:

LLCQ/LVQ meetings and projects

Regular meetings

Representatives from the eleven member councils attended four (4) board
meetings and held one teleconference during the year:

• September 27, 2005

• November 24, 2005
• December 19, 2005
• January 13, 2006
• March 30, 2006

The meetings are an opportunity for the members to receive reports from the
president, treasurer, coordinator, QELA representative and the provincial training
officer. It is also a venue where information is exchanged and decisions taken
regarding internal management, project proposals and various other issues
regarding LLCQ.

Executive meetings

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The LLCQ Executive met four times during the course of the year:

• November 4, 2005
• November 14, 2005 (teleconference)
• January 12, 2006
• March 20, 2006 (teleconference)

Annual general meeting

Over 90 students, volunteers and staff from member councils across Quebec
attended the2005 AGM. 2005 was LLCQ’s 25th anniversary year. Ann Gauvin, a
founding member of LLCQ and a moving force behind English literacy in
Quebec, presented a retrospective of the organization from its humble
beginnings to its current status. Past-presidents shared memories of their time
spent on the Board. Students were encouraged to fill out a quiz on LLCQ.

As usual, participants attended the following workshops in the afternoon:

 Make your own book (making a book with recycled materials)

 Fun with words (student chat)
 Health and literacy
 Plain language
 Sourcing funds

• November 5, 2005

A to Z workshop

Member councils learned about this new family literacy approach in this
workshop held in Montreal. School boards were invited to send representatives
to the workshop and two attended.

• September 28, 2005

Best Tutor Training Practices project

This project is funded under the Mise-en-oeuvre de la politique de l’éducation

des adultes et de la formation continue. The goal of the Best Tutor Training
project is for the councils to get together and share information on what works
and what doesn’t when it comes to training tutors, and then compile this
information in a document that will be available to all. This project was applied
for and accepted in 2005-06, but will be carried out in 2006-07.

Laubach Literacy of Canada

LLCQ/LVQ is the Quebec member of Laubach Literacy of Canada, a national literacy

organization, and as such LLCQ representatives attended or participated in the
following:

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Board meetings and conferences

LLC has undergone a major restructuring during the past three years. LLCQ
President Valerie McConnell attended 2 LLC board meetings and conferences to
discuss various issues such as membership, communication, training, conflict
resolution, etc.:

• June 20, 2005 (teleconference)

• November 18-19, 2005
• March 23, 24, 25, 2006

Annual general meeting

The President, Provincial Training Officer (PTO) and Student Representative all
attended the LLC AGM in PEI. The AGM provides an opportunity for volunteers
and staff from Laubach councils all over the country to meet and share
information:

• June 2-4, 2005

Provincial Training Officer

Wendy Seys, the LLC Provincial Training Officer for Quebec, actively
participated in restructuring the training offered by Laubach councils to volunteer
tutors, the heart and soul of the Laubach method used by many of the LLCQ
members. The LETS (Laubach Enhanced Training System) has now been
officially accepted by LLC, and is currently being implemented by Laubach
councils in Quebec and across Canada.

Student Representative

LLCQ student representative, Joe Ganin, sits on the LLC student caucus. He is
responsible for organizing a similar student caucus at the provincial level and is
currently seeking a student representative from each council to sit on the
provincial student committee. He attended the LLC AGM in Moncton and
participated in two conference calls.

Statistics gathering

The Coordinator participated in a teleconference call with other LLC provincial

representatives and LLC staff to discuss statistics gathering for the current year:

• February 7, 2006

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MELS meetings

The government’s community action plan requires all government departments

to consult with the community sector. Accordingly, LLCQ has been participating
in regularly scheduled meetings with representatives from MELS, the DFGA and
PACTE for the past three years.

This year, LLCQ attended two mixed committee and one working committee
meetings with the Assistant Deputy Minister of MELS, M. Robert Dépatie, the
Assistant Director of the DFGA (Direction de la formation générale des adultes),
Mme Édith Cloutier, and Mme Marielle Collin, responsible for PACTE. Issues
discussed at these meetings included regionalization, budgetary envelopes,
project funding, recognition under the law (as per the government’s community
action plan), etc.:

• October 14, 2005 (working committee)

• December 1, 2005 (mixed committee)
• March 9, 2006 (mixed committee)

AMIS PACTE meetings

Representatives from the four sectors funded under PACTE met on a regular
basis to discuss common issues to be discussed during the mixed and working
committee meetings. The four sectors include:

• Literacy – francophone, represented by RGPAQ (Regroupement des

groupes populaires en alphabetisation québécois);
• Literacy – anglophone, represented by LLCQ/LVQ;
• Lutte au décrochage, represented by ROCQLD (Regroupement des
organismes communautaires québécois du lutte au décrochage);
• Formation continue aux organismes communautaires, represented by
Relais-Femmes; and
• Écoles de la rue, no regular representation.

LLCQ attended 5 AMIS PACTE strategic planning meetings during the course of
2005-06:

• September 15, 2005

• October 3, 2005
• November , 2005
• January 19, 2006
• March 8, 2006

Literacy awards

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LLCQ sat on the organizing committee for two literacy awards this year:

Adult Literacy Recognition Awards

The Centre for Literacy, QAAL (Quebec Association for Adult Learners), QLWG
(Quebec Literacy Working Group) and LLCQ worked together to create the Adult
Literacy Recognition Awards. Four awards were handed out at a presentation
held during the Community Writing Event at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival
in Montreal during Adult Learners Week.

An award was given in each of the following categories: Learner – Community,

Learner – School Board, Tutor – Community, Teacher – School Board. Students
from LLCQ member councils (Chateauguay Valley Literacy Council and Literacy
Unlimited) received plaques and a cash prize of $125. LLCQ participated in the
following events:

• February 9, 2006 (steering committee)

• March 20, 2006 (teleconference, selection committee)
• April 6, 2006 (awards presentation)

Council of the Federation Literacy Award

The COF literacy award was first handed out last year at the initiative of the
Council of the Federation. This year, LLCQ was asked to sit on the steering
committee that sets the criteria for the award and the selection committee. Other
committee members include representatives from QLWG, the francophone
school board regroupement, and the Fondation d’alphabétisation:

• March 21, 2006 (steering committee meeting)

• June 5, 2006 (selection committee)

QELA meetings

LLCQ member councils are all members of the Quebec English Literacy Alliance
(QELA). This association reunites literacy service providers from both the formal
and informal education sectors to share information, to carry out projects of
common interest and to lobby for literacy at the national and provincial levels.

QELA is organizing the PGI Golf Tournament for Literacy this year in Quebec for
the first time. It is expected that this event will raise public awareness of both
the literacy issue in general and QELA in particular.

General Members’ meetings

Two regular meetings and the AGM were held this year. At the AGM, the
members voted to start the process of incorporation with the goal of obtaining

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core funding at some point in the not-so-distant future:

• November 24, 2005

• March 29, 2006 (regular meeting and AGM)

PGI Golf Tournament

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• September 15, 2006

• May *, 2007

Other projects and workshops

Changing Times Forum

The goal of this project was to increase the Visibility, Influence, and Participation
(VIP) of the English-speaking (ESC) and ethnocultural communities in Quebec,
and to increase the ministries’ and officials’ awareness of the ESC and its
extensive network of community groups.

LLCQ was a member of the steering committee and co-animated the forum itself.
Over 100 groups attended the forum, and another * participated by webcast.
Participants learned about the mandates of the Ministère de l’emploi et de la
solidarité sociale (MESS) and the Secrétariat à l’action communautaire
autonome (SACA), and commented on their experiences to date with the
provincial government. It is hoped that a working group to build on this first
initiative will be set up in fall.

This was a terrific opportunity to meet and network with representatives from the
extensive Anglophone and ethno-cultural community groups. It also gave LLCQ
the chance to personally meet the Sous-ministre adjoint of the Ministère de
l’emploi et de la solidarité sociale (Claude Blouin), the Directeur général of
SACA (Daniel Jean) and the person responsible for SACA in Montreal (Ginette
Drouin-Busque).

• January 26, 2006 (steering committee)

• May 1, 2006 (steering committee)
• May 26, 2006 (V.I.P. Forum)

V.I.P. Caucus

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• March 17, 2006 (comité d’encadrement)

• April 13, 2006 (comité d’encadrement)
• May 29, 2006 (seminar)

Advocacy, Round Tables, and Consultations

National Consultation on Health Literacy

• February 26, 2007

Literacy Action Day

Two members of LLCQ attended Literacy Action Day in Ottawa. Representatives

from literacy organizations across Canada converged on Ottawa to meet with
MPs and lobby for federal support for literacy:

• October 27, 2005

Round Table on access to adult education

LLCQ sent a letter to the Assistant Deputy Minister of MELS and to the Assistant
Director of the DFGA adopting a position against decentralizing the PACTE
program in any shape or form.

• February 16, 2007

Conference on health, nutrition and literacy

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• February 3, 2007

International literacy seminar

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• October 28-31, 2006

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National summit on libraries and literacy

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• June 14, 2006

DFGA Working Group on IALLS statistics

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• June 14, 2006

• November 29, 2006
• February 27, 2007

Coalition québécoise pour l’alphabétisation

A letter regarding the 2006-07 budget allocation for the PACTE program was
sent to Jean-Marc Fournier, Minister for MELS. LLCQ signed the letter along
with representatives from the other sectors funded under PACTE asking the
government to maintain the current PACTE funding level and to index the
amounts.

• February 3, 2007

Membership

LLCQ was a member of the following organizations during 2006-07:

Fondation pour l’alphabétisation (Literacy Foundation)

Laubach Literacy of Canada
Volunteer Canada