Official Languages Committee on Feb. 21st, 2019

[Jean Rioux]

As someone said earlier, it does not seem that standing up for Ontario’s francophone minority is a priority for their government.

We have mentioned accountability. You say that we must make sure that the government consults organizations. But in the tours that we have been on, representatives of minority francophone communities have all told us that they have not been consulted and that, in their provinces, they are the poor cousins in terms of education.

In the next protocol, are we going to increase accountability in order to make sure that, across the country, minorities do not see themselves as poor cousins in terms of education?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The education protocol expired at the end of March 2018. In the negotiations underway, two things are very important for us. The first is appropriate consultation with the people on the front lines. We have also heard the comment you have heard. For us, the most important thing is that proposals should meet the front-line needs. We want more clarity about the appropriate consultations that the provinces and territories are conducting with those involved.

The second, very important, thing for us is accountability, transparency. We would like to know more clearly how federal money is used on the ground. Those two factors are very important for us in the negotiations with the province and territories.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Rioux.

Mr. Choquette, the floor is yours for three minutes.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mrs. Roy, have you considered the possibility of going to court to challenge the decision to put an end to the planned Université de l’Ontario français, and to transfer the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner to the Office of the Ombudsman?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

As you know, the court challenges program was…

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Have your department and Minister Joly considered the possibility of becoming involved in that challenge?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The way in which the court challenges program works…

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

I am sorry, but I am very familiar with the program. That was not why I asked my question. I want to know whether your department has considered the possibility of being part of a potential court challenge.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

It is still important to explain that the court challenges program involves a group of experts that studies requests for support for legal proceedings on official languages.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The program is open.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

If an organization comes before the group and asks to be funded…

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

In other words, you have not looked at that possibility yet.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

…we will have to see what happens.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Okay.

Now I would like to know when those famous weekly telephone meetings started and whether they are still taking place.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The answer now is what we have committed to do, which is to provide a chronology of what we have done. That’s the first thing.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Okay.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The second thing is that the Ontario government officials were really very clear.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

They said clearly that they did not intend to submit a funding application.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

I understand, Mrs. Roy, and forgive me for insisting. But according to Jérémy Ghio, Ms. Joly asked her officials to hold weekly telephone meetings with their Ontario counterparts.

Did those weekly meetings take place and, if so, starting when? When did they end? Would you please send that information to the committee?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

I can assure you that we have made every effort to communicate with the Government of Ontario officials. As I also mentioned earlier, Minister Joly wrote a letter, as recently as January. However, I am not aware of any subsequent response to this letter.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Yes.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

The letter clearly stated our intentions. In terms of the public service, public servants have made it clear that they do not have a mandate—