An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Official Languages Act and the Canada Business Corporations Act

This bill is from the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session, which ended in August 2021.

Sponsor

Julie Vignola  Bloc

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

In committee (House), as of June 16, 2021
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill.

This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code, the Official Languages Act and the Canada Business Corporations Act to clarify the application of the Charter of the French Language in Quebec.

Similar bills

C-320 (41st Parliament, 2nd session) An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
C-307 (40th Parliament, 2nd session) An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
C-482 (39th Parliament, 2nd session) An Act to amend the Official Languages Act (Charter of the French Language) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-254s:

C-254 (2022) An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (change of political affiliation)
C-254 (2016) An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (baby products)
C-254 (2013) An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Employment Insurance Act (severance pay)
C-254 (2011) An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Employment Insurance Act (severance pay)
C-254 (2010) An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (exception to inadmissibility)
C-254 (2009) An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (exception to inadmissibility)

Votes

June 16, 2021 Passed 2nd reading of Bill C-254, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, the Official Languages Act and the Canada Business Corporations Act

An Act respecting the French languagePrivate Members' Business

May 9th, 2022 / 11:20 a.m.


See context

Sherbrooke Québec

Liberal

Élisabeth Brière LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to discuss Bill C-238 on the French language, sponsored by the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.

This bill is similar to bills tabled in previous sittings of Parliament. In the 43rd Parliament, we had Bill C-223, which would have required that immigrants living in Quebec have an adequate knowledge of Quebec, as well as Bill C-254, which sought to apply Quebec's Charter of the French Language to federally regulated companies by amending the Official Languages Act, the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Bill C‑238 essentially combines those two bills into one. We understand the Bloc's concern about the future of the French language, and we share that concern. As we acknowledged in the throne speech, the use of French is in decline throughout Quebec and across Canada. We have a responsibility to protect and promote French across Canada, including in Quebec.

Where we differ from the Bloc is in our response to this problem. In the last Parliament, the former minister of official languages tabled a document entitled “English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada”, which laid out our government's vision for official languages reform, and Bill C-32, our modernization of the Official Languages Act.

Together, these two documents represented the most ambitious reform of the Official Languages Act since its passage more than 50 years ago. They acknowledged the challenges faced by the French language from coast to coast to coast, including in Quebec, and they recognized for the first time that our government has a duty to protect and promote the French language. However, during our consultations with stakeholders across Canada over the summer, during the election campaign and after the election, we kept hearing that we needed to do more.

That is why, on March 1, in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, which is an important historical site for our Acadian community, the current Minister of Official Languages, a proud Acadian herself, tabled Bill C-13, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other acts. This bill is noteworthy because it shares similar objectives with Bill C‑238, namely protecting and promoting the French language. However, it goes much further.

Bill C‑13 broadens the historical scope of the former Bill C‑32 by introducing even more protections for the French language. It ensures that francophones can work and receive services in their language, not only in Quebec, but in other regions of Canada with a strong Francophone presence.

That is why our government will not support Bill C‑238, because it does not protect and, by its very nature, cannot protect the French language and francophones from coast to coast to coast.

Let us compare the immigration provisions of Bill C‑238 with those in our bill. In the preamble to Bill C‑13, our government recognizes the importance of the contribution of francophone immigration to enhancing the vitality of French linguistic minority communities and that immigration is one of the factors that contributes to maintaining or increasing the demographic weight of those communities.

Moreover, our bill requires that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship adopt a policy on francophone immigration in order to enhance the vitality of French linguistic minority communities in Canada. This policy is to include objectives, targets and indicators, as well as a statement that the federal government recognizes that immigration is one of the factors that contributes to maintaining or increasing the demographic weight of French linguistic minority communities in Canada.

This is in addition to the administrative measures set out in the reform paper, which instruct the Minister of Immigration to set up a new francophone immigration corridor, recognize the importance of recruiting and retaining French-speaking and French-language teachers and increase opportunities for newcomers to learn French. There is a shortage of French-language teachers in Canada, particularly outside Quebec, and we need these measures in order to meet our francophone immigration objectives and to nurture the next generation of French-speaking Canadians.

As for the other part of Bill C-238, the section dealing with federally regulated businesses such as banks and airlines, here again, Bill C‑13 offers a more comprehensive solution.

Bill C-13 recognizes that Quebec has adopted the Charter of the French Language. In fact, it even creates a new law, the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act, which states that, in relation to communications with or services provided to consumers in Quebec or in relation to workplaces in Quebec, Quebec's Charter of the French Language applies instead of this bill if a federally regulated private business must be subject to the charter.

However, the Charter of the French Language does not protect francophones outside Quebec. As our government recognized in last year's reform paper, we have a duty to encourage federally regulated private businesses to promote the equal status of our two official languages in order to increase the use of French as a language of service and a language of work across the country.

That is what Bill C-13 does. We are making sure that Canadians have the right to work and be served in French in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and other regions of Canada with a strong francophone presence. We require employers to communicate with their employees in French and prohibit discrimination against an employee solely because they speak only French or do not have adequate knowledge of a language other than French. We are also enacting legislation to ensure that consumers of goods and services have the right to be served in French.

These tools are necessary to support francophones across the country. That is what we are doing with Bill C-13, and Bill C-238 simply cannot do the same.

Once again, I would like to thank the member for Salaberry—Suroît for raising this extremely important issue. Like her, our government recognizes that the use of French is in decline across the country and that urgent action is needed not only to stop this decline, but also to reverse it and move toward a future where French grows stronger.

However, Bill C-238 does not and cannot do that. I hope that all members of the House will join us in passing Bill C-13 as quickly as possible so that we can meet the objective of protecting and promoting French from coast to coast to coast, including Quebec, for francophones across the country.

Translated

Official LanguagesOral Questions

June 3rd, 2021 / 2:20 p.m.


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Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am hearing that my colleague wants to protect French in Quebec, and I am offering to help her. What the federal government can do is ensure that federally regulated businesses provide a French-language workplace, which only Bill 101 can do.

That is why the Bloc Québécois introduced Bill C-254, which would apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. My colleague says that she wants to protect French and I would like to help. Will she vote for our bill?

Translated

Official LanguagesOral Questions

December 9th, 2020 / 2:30 p.m.


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Bloc

Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC

Mr. Speaker, in an unprecedented, historic move, six former premiers of Quebec issued a clear and concise letter demanding that the Charter of the French Language apply to federally regulated businesses.

In agreement are the unanimous National Assembly, the Conservative Party, if I understand correctly, certainly the Bloc Québécois, and possibly the now self-professed member for “Montreal”.

I would like to know if the Prime Minister of Canada intends to put the Bloc Québécois's Bill C-254 to a vote.

Translated