Official Languages Committee on March 21st, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Your turn, Mrs. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Arseneault mentioned this, but I would really like us to talk about how, when people are in pain, they really appreciate care being provided in their language. Friends of mine went to Vancouver recently. They got very sick, and they were unable to get medical care in French. I think that would be an interesting topic. Can people in official language minority communities access health care in their language?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Are you proposing an additional topic? That's not on our list.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Right. Earlier, he opened a door. I think it would be good because we hear horror stories.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

No problem.

I will put health care services on our list.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chairman, is it my turn?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Yes, go ahead.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chairman, there are several topics in the analyst's document. She did a very good job. She included all of the topics we mentioned.

One of the topics is access to justice in both official languages. I will take advantage of the commissioner's appearance during our next meeting. He published a study entitled, “Access to Justice in Both Official Languages: Improving the Bilingual Capacity of the Superior Court Judiciary”, but there was no follow-up on that.

I moved a few motions. I will read motion no. 6 if that's okay:

That the committee undertake a study on the implementation of the recommendations in the study entitled, “Access to Justice in Both Official Languages: Improving the Bilingual Capacity of the Superior Court Judiciary” by the Commissioner of Official Languages in 2013 in partnership with the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario and the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick...

Mr. Arseneault talked about his province, which is the only bilingual province in Canada. I would just like to add that we can undertake this study when the committee decides the time is right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I took some initiative on this. As I told you during a previous meeting, French rulings in Quebec are not translated. As a result, judges elsewhere in the country do not use French-language jurisprudence even though there are excellent francophone judges. That material should be translated in Canada. I decided to meet with the chief justice of the Superior Court, and I suggested we have a working lunch. I'm not sure if we can call a chief justice to testify here because of the separation of powers, but he agreed to participate in a working lunch with us. After that, I would invite representatives of the Barreau du Québec to come give us their thoughts about what the chief justice might tell us.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Which chief justice are you talking about?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

The chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court.

Mr. Samson, your turn.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you.

I really like the topic of access to justice in both official languages. We put that topic on the list, and it's something that really interests me. The only proposal I have for now would be to wait until the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Justice appear before we dive into this. Their testimony will lay the groundwork.

The other topic is the study of the state of official languages in official language minority communities across Canada. That would give us an opportunity to see if there is some alignment. As part of the study, will we look at the Official Languages Act? Will there be a report before the study? This is one of the most important topics because, as I pointed out, the Official Languages Act has not been reviewed in over 30 years. I think that's part of the roadmap. Our plans must enable us to ensure that there is some alignment and that it strengthens the federal government's initiatives and provides more encouragement to provinces with official language minority communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Can anyone answer that question? Is the study on the Official Languages Act supposed to result in recommendations or to review some of the provisions?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I think we will start with the Minister of Canadian Heritage. My understanding is that the Prime Minister said we were going to have a new roadmap. I think we should start by asking the Minister of Canadian Heritage questions about the Prime Minister's statement.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

I agree with Mr. Samson. I think this is one of the first studies we should undertake. If the Official Languages Act has not been reviewed in 30 years, it's time we looked at it together. This is 2016.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, over to you.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before answering Mr. Samson's question, I would like to remind everyone that we are talking about my motion. I therefore request your support, but I would note that there is no date. We will undertake this study when the committee is ready.

Afterward, I will comment on the study that Mr. Samson requested.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, does your motion include what I said just now about bilingual rulings?

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

My motion does not preclude the addition of your question about bilingual rulings, nor does it prevent us from inviting representatives from the Barreau du Québec. It is about the recommendations in the commissioner's study. Of course, it is also about access to justice in general for both official language communities. It is about access to justice in both official languages. That is the substance of motion no. 6, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Lefebvre, do you have something to say? No?

Go ahead, then, Mr. Samson.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I just want to say that I am in favour of this study, but how will we proceed? If we pass motions now, we will have to deal with the other motions because we can't just pass motions on the fly.

We suggested topics. If we agree on the topics, we'll prepare the motions. There could be seven or eight motions on these topics, and we can decide later when to study them.

I would not want to vote in favour of a motion and realize later that there are no other motions or topics. I want to know how we are going to proceed before we go any further.

I'm not ready to vote on the motion unless someone explains to me exactly what the process is.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Lefebvre, over to you.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

I kind of agree with Mr. Samson.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Just kind of?