Bill C-13

An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages

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

Part 1 amends the Official Languages Act to, among other things,
(a) specify that all legal obligations related to the official languages apply at all times, including during emergencies;
(b) codify certain interpretative principles regarding language rights;
(c) provide that section 16 of that Act applies to the Supreme Court of Canada;
(d) provide that a final decision, order or judgment of a federal court that has precedential value is to be made available simultaneously in both official languages;
(e) provide for Government of Canada commitments to
(i) protect and promote French,
(ii) estimate the number of children whose parents are rights holders under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ,
(iii) advance formal, non-formal and informal opportunities for members of English and French linguistic minority communities to pursue quality learning in their own language throughout their lives, including from early childhood to post-secondary education, and
(iv) advance the use of English and French in the conduct of Canada’s external affairs;
(f) clarify the nature of the duty of federal institutions to take positive measures to implement certain Government of Canada commitments and the manner in which the duty is to be carried out;
(g) provide for certain positive measures that federal institutions may take to implement certain Government of Canada commitments, including measures to
(i) promote and support the learning of English and French in Canada, and
(ii) support sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities and protect and promote the presence of strong institutions serving those communities;
(h) provide for certain measures that the Minister of Canadian Heritage may take to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society;
(i) provide that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is required to adopt a policy on francophone immigration and that the policy is to include, among other things, objectives, targets and indicators;
(j) provide that the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of cooperating with provincial and territorial governments;
(k) provide that the Treasury Board is required to establish policies to give effect to certain parts of that Act, monitor and audit federal institutions for their compliance with policies, directives and regulations relating to the official languages, evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and programs of federal institutions relating to the official languages and provide certain information to the public and to employees of federal institutions;
(l) enable the Commissioner of Official Languages to enter into compliance agreements and, in certain cases, to make orders; and
(m) enable the Commissioner of Official Languages to impose administrative monetary penalties on certain entities for non-compliance with certain provisions of Part IV of that Act.
It also makes a related amendment to the Department of Canadian Heritage Act .
Part 2 enacts the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act , which, among other things, provides for rights and duties respecting the use of French as a language of service and a language of work in relation to federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and then, at a later date, in regions with a strong francophone presence. That Act also allows employees of federally regulated private businesses to make a complaint to the Commissioner of Official Languages with respect to rights and duties in relation to language of work and allows the Commissioner to refer the complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board in certain circumstances. It also provides that the Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for promoting those rights. Finally, Part 2 makes related amendments to the Canada Labour Code .

Official Languages

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am a proud Quebecker who stands up in the House every day to defend French in Quebec and across Canada.

Our government was the first to recognize in a throne speech that we must protect French, and not just as one of our country's official languages. We also need to do more to protect French in Quebec.

That is exactly what we are doing with Bill C-13, which seeks to protect linguistic minorities across the country and protect French in Quebec. We are here to protect French. We are here for our beautiful French language.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Standing Committee on Official Languages turned into a full-blown circus because some Liberal members refused to acknowledge French as the common language of Quebec. The Liberal government is even jeopardizing its own Bill C-13, which is unprecedented.

Yesterday, a Franco-Ontarian member had the courage to speak out against the appalling spectacle these members were putting on and the false information they are spreading about Bill 101. However, to date, not a single Liberal member from Quebec has shown this kind of courage and stood up for French.

Will the Prime Minister condemn the Liberal disinformation?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

From time to time, in the course of clause-by-cause consideration, the chair has to decide whether a proposed amendment is in order or not. In this case, I have to tell you, Mr. Beaulieu, that your amendment is out of order.

Bill C‑13 amends the Official Languages Act by providing for certain measures to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society. Under your amendment, in the event of conflicting statutes, the Charter of the French Language prevails over the incompatible provisions of the federal act.

Page 770 of the third edition of the House of Commons Procedure and Practice states the following:

An amendment to a bill that was referred to a committee after second reading is out of order if it is beyond the scope and principle of the bill.

The chair is of the view that giving precedence to a provincial law is a new concept, which is beyond the scope of the bill as passed by the House of Commons at second reading. Accordingly, I find the amendment to be out of order, unfortunately.

Is everything okay, Mr. Beaulieu? This is the first time this has happened in quite a while, so I just want to remind you that you have the right to challenge the chair's decision.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You are right to point that out, Mr. Chair.

I therefore move amendment CPC‑10. This proposes that Bill C‑13, in clause 7, be amended by adding after line 13 on page 5 the following:

(a.1) language rights are to be interpreted so as to take into account the official languages dynamic in each province and territory;

I think the amendment is clear. So I don't need to extend the debate.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We just heard Mr. Quell mention that he is not sure of the impact of the amendment.

Personally, I am somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that a volunteer who is involved in an organization cannot choose the language in which they want to communicate. I understand that Bill C‑13 may not be the best place to add this clarification. However, we know that our communities need volunteers, and we need to be able to communicate with them in the language of their choice.

In my opinion, it is important to leave the word “bénévole” in amendment BQ‑4.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

This meeting is called to order.

Welcome to meeting number 48 of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Monday, May 30, 2022, the committee is resuming its consideration of 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.

Pursuant to our routine motion, I wish to inform the committee that all members completed the required login tests prior to the meeting.

Today, we are resuming the clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C‑13.

First and foremost, I welcome the officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage, Citizenship, Refugees and Immigration Canada, Justice Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat, who are here to support the committee and answer technical questions.

From Canadian Heritage, we welcome Julie Boyer, Marcel Fallu and Chantal Terrien.

Good afternoon, Mr. Fallu. This is your first appearance before the committee since we began the clause-by-clause consideration.

From Citizenship and Immigration, we welcome Alain Desruisseaux.

From Justice, we welcome Warren J. Newman.

From the Treasury Board Secretariat, we have Carsten Quell.

Thank you to all these fine people. Their assistance will be very useful to us.

Let's pick up our clause-by-clause consideration, starting with our discussion on amendment CPC‑8, as amended.

Before we adjourned the last meeting, we had amended CPC‑8 just to add to the English version the equivalent of the words “ou autre” in the French version.

To put you back in context, I will ask the legislative clerk to read out these amendments before we move on to the main amendment.

You have the floor, Ms. Thivierge.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the lieutenant is here, and he is in fine form. Bill C‑13 is the first piece of legislation to recognize that French in Quebec must be strengthened and protected. It gives francophones outside Quebec a helping hand. It gives the Commissioner of Official Languages more powers. Despite all that, the Bloc is against it because it does not want things to work, it wants to pick a fight and it does not want Parliament to work. We will succeed regardless.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first we have the member for Saint‑Laurent claiming that seniors will no longer receive care if we protect the French language. Then there is the member for Notre‑Dame‑de‑Grâce—Westmount, who lobbied against Bill C‑13 recognizing French as the common language in Quebec. Naturally, the member for Mount Royal did his part too.

The West Island Liberals are banding together to attack the Charter of the French Language and promote the anglicization of Quebec.

Meanwhile, where is the Liberals' Quebec lieutenant? Why is he giving free rein to those who want to undermine efforts to protect French?

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the West Island Liberals are attacking the Charter of the French Language in committee on Bill C-13.

Everyone should listen to their scare tactics. On Friday, the member for St. Lawrence took a turn being the voice of doom. She claims that thousands of English-speaking seniors will lose access to health care. That is absolutely ridiculous. She claims that health care personnel are afraid to offer care in English, when, in reality, English services must be provided upon request throughout Quebec, as per Bill 96.

Will the minister order her colleagues to stop spreading misinformation when debating her bill?

[Carsten Quell]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Treasury Board doesn't propose programs. It's an oversight body for government-run programs.

However, certain provisions of Bill C‑13 relating to Part VIII of the Official Languages Act propose fairly significant changes to the role of the Treasury Board. In particular, the Treasury Board's oversight role would be strengthened. It would be required to audit departments, produce policies and inform public servants. As I mentioned, the Treasury Board's powers would also be expanded to include responsibility for auditing positive measures. All of this fits well with its role.

In short, Bill C‑13 proposes a new architecture for the Official Languages Act, which also provides, as Ms. Boyer indicated, order-making powers for the Commissioner of Official Languages. I think it's important to understand this new architecture, as well as the respective roles of the Treasury Board, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Commissioner of Official Languages.

[Julie Boyer]

I'll start, then I'll give the floor to my colleague.

Several elements have been raised.

First, it's clear that we're trying to strengthen governance. This is done in several ways in Bill C‑13, including formally specifying the role played by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and strengthening the powers of the Treasury Board, as well as those of the Commissioner of Official Languages, who determines when we're in error and who receives complaints. This is all part of governance.

I know that several stakeholders have called for the President of the Treasury Board to play a different role than the one the government has bestowed upon her. However, it doesn't work that way. There is no enabling legislation that allows the Treasury Board President to tell other departments that they are in error.

The Financial Administration Act specifies the role of the Treasury Board president. As you said earlier, when funds are submitted for approval to the cabinet committee, to the Treasury Board, the president can ask whether official languages have been taken into account. Treasury Board funding might be different. However, the Treasury Board president doesn't play the role you'd like her to play.

I'll ask my colleague Carsten Quell to specify the things that the Treasury Board president could do.

[Carsten Quell, Executive Director, Official Languages Centre of Excellence, People and Culture, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board Secretariat]

Yes, I can provide some clarifications.

The Treasury Board Secretariat has an internal role in the public service, which is to monitor departments. We have a role in the government's financial management and spending. We are the public service's employer. We also set the guidelines for staff, financial and organizational practices. That also includes official languages, but in an internal management context. Finally, we also play a key role in regulation.

We therefore play an internal role. We don't have a presence on the ground across the country like Canadian Heritage does. It has regional offices and is very close to the stakeholders in the linguistic minority communities. They have a partnership, of course. Bill C‑13 has been amended to make the Treasury Board responsible for ensuring the implementation of positive measures. However, that's all part of its role to monitor federal institutions.

The Treasury Board Secretariat doesn't administer grant programs and contributions. As Ms. Boyer explained, the Secretariat is not suited to play an external role like that of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I feel it's important that I read amendment CPC‑7.

The amendment moves that Bill C‑13, in Clause 4, be amended (a) by replacing line 2 on page 4, with the following:

2.1(1) The Treasury Board is responsible

Next, the amendment moves that the bill be amended by replacing lines 5 to 7 on page 4 with the following:

(2) The Treasury Board shall, in consultation with the other federal departments, coordinate the implementation of this Act, including the

Finally, the amendment moves to amend the bill by replacing line 9 on page 4 with the following:

tions 41(1) to (3), and ensure good governance of this Act.

In essence, amendment CPC‑7 makes the Treasury Board responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Official Languages Act in Canada.

Here in Ottawa, for over 50 years, since the Official Languages Act has been in force, we have seen different interpretations as to who is responsible for implementing the act. We've had another good example of this recently with the ArriveCAN app. I challenge anyone to find out who in Ottawa is currently responsible for it.

Responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the Official Languages Act in Ottawa must begin with a department. The act must be implemented across departments, but coordination must be done in one place, not two places. In our view, that's fundamental.

The Treasury Board is able to ensure that the act is fully implemented across all federal departments, in Ottawa and across Canada.

I remind my Liberal colleagues that Mélanie Joly's white paper included a central promise to make the Treasury Board responsible for implementing the act.

Ms. Petitpas Taylor and Ms. Fortier don't want to eliminate the Department of Canadian Heritage's role in that regard, and nor do we. In terms of day‑to‑day implementation, nothing would change because it's mostly the Department of Canadian Heritage that administers programs. It makes absolutely no difference.

Amendment CPC‑7 is more about accountability for coordination. This is fundamental, after 50 years of dithering, differing interpretations and problems experienced by all agencies, either here in Ottawa or elsewhere across the country.

I'd like to clarify that the amendment requested in CPC‑7 doesn't come from the Conservative Party of Canada. It reflects the will of all the agencies based on all the testimony we've heard since this bill was introduced and we began to consider it. Essentially, the amendment reflects what Canada's francophone communities want and even what the anglophone community wants. They want someone at the wheel, a pilot in the cockpit, a captain at the helm. Use whatever expression you want, but someone in Ottawa has to be responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act.

I would add that the bill provides for a review of the act every 10 years. The current act does not provide for any review. It must be amended over time, but very few amendments have been made. Now it's going to be reviewed every 10 years. Someone even suggested that the review be done every five years. If necessary, it could be amended in five years. In my opinion, we must at least give the lead, in this case the Treasury Board, a chance to demonstrate that they are able to coordinate implementation of the Official Languages Act in Ottawa.

Many stakeholders, including the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, which represents more than 200 organizations across country, have been extremely clear that the Treasury Board must take the lead in coordinating implementation of the act.

I will stop here. I look forward to hearing what my colleagues have to say about this. I can always take the floor again after that.

I'd like to ask Ms. Boyer, Ms. Terrien or the other witnesses a question. How do they interpret this?

All we've seen so far is trouble enforcing the current act. If, after all these years, we're still unable to really assign a guiding role to an agency or to appoint a lead within the federal system, the act needs to be amended.

I'd like to give the witnesses an opportunity to interpret what I said and tell me what they think.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

In Bill C‑13, this amendment simply adds...

I apologize, I'm looking for the spot.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Now the amendment changes the proposed version of paragraph 2(b), on page 3 of Bill C‑13, to take into account the fact that French and English linguistic minority communities have different needs.