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 .

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

I find this motion unacceptable because it aims to prevent debate. Bill C‑13 is unacceptable for Quebec. If this gag order is passed, there is no doubt that we will continue our work and do everything we can, because their action will effectively demonstrate that the only solution for the future of French in Quebec is independence.

I think that I am one of the few people here to want that, but this will help us do it. With respect to the Official Languages Act, the Government of Quebec is asking for a differentiated approach that will introduce an asymmetry of principles in favour of the French language, because anglophones in Quebec, I said it, cannot be considered the equivalent of francophone communities outside Quebec. From the outset, francophone communities outside Quebec have needed far more support.

According to a study conducted by the Commission nationale des parents francophones titled “Où sont passés les milliards $?”, based on data collected from 1970 to 1996, 47% of the money was invested in English-language educational institutions in Quebec even though they were already overfunded. I believe that less than 30% of the money was invested in French-language schools outside Quebec. According to this study, assimilation is continuing, it is progressing at a rapid pace and yet nothing is happening. I think that this must be condemned.

I want to come back to the motion before us. Equating anglophones in Quebec with francophone minorities outside Quebec divides francophones in Canada by putting us in opposition. The rights that are granted to francophones outside Quebec are granted to anglophones in Quebec, who are already overfunded

I want to talk specifically about the proposed amendment. You said that the Minister of Official Languages, the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship have been invited to appear no later than Thursday, November 17. Will all of them appear? What will happen to the other witnesses? Several other witnesses were supposed to come explain what I am currently talking about. They can't come next week, since it's a break week. That brings us to November 17.

Clearly, they don't want to listen to us. They don't want to hear from the people of Quebec. Basically, the statement in the Speech from the Throne and everything the Liberals have said about defending French in Quebec is smoke and mirrors. There is nothing in the bill in this regard. It continues to talk about official language anglophone and francophone minorities.

With respect to Part VII of the Official Languages Act and positive measures, the federal government will continue to fund all anglophone organizations that are actively working to teach immigrants English. If these organizations were working to ensure that anglophones had services in English, everyone would agree, but what they want is to be able to anglicize about one-third of immigrants, which would increase the demographic weight of anglophones. This phenomenon was already well under way before the Official Languages Act and Bill 101. The latter managed to redress the situation somewhat, but it was quickly weakened by the federal government, especially after the adoption of the Constitution Act of 1982. This is deplorable. In the Constitution Act of 1982, there were very useful principles for francophone and Acadian communities and—

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here.

I was once a school trustee in Ontario. Mr. Chartrand and Ms. Girard, I thank you very much for the very important work you do to promote the francophone community in Ontario. We will carefully study the recommendations and proposed amendments that you have made. Thank you very much.

Ms. Bouffard, I met you at the ACUFC last week. I thank you for all the work you are doing on the post-secondary summit conference.

Our committee has held over 12 meetings and welcomed 54 witnesses; 21 briefs were tabled. The witnesses were clear that they want to see Bill C‑13 passed as quickly as possible. We need to study the amendments and proceed with the clause-by-clause study of the bill so that it can be passed.

Do you agree that Bill C‑13 needs to be passed as quickly as possible?

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

Okay.

I'd like to ask you another question about the idea of a central agency.

Is a central agency essential—and I want to reiterate that word—to ensuring that Bill C‑13 is effective? Is the Treasury Board the only option for a captain to steer the ship?

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

Thank you, Mr. Chartrand.

We will do our research, and we understand your request

As you know, my time is very limited. So I'd like to ask you another question straight away.

When you say leader or champion, do you mean the Treasury Board?

For our part, we have heard from several organizations. They all told us that this is imperative for the effectiveness of Bill C‑13, which aims to curb the decline of French and to protect and promote it. A ship can have only one captain, and we suggest that he or she be a member of the Treasury Board.

Is that a solution?

In your opinion, is that an essential condition?

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here and for participating in our study on Bill C‑13. The purpose of our study is to improve the Official Languages Act. I am not convinced that this is the current government's goal, but that is another issue.

My first question is for Mr. Chartrand.

In your speech, you talked about the fact that there is currently some redundancy. In your opinion, if we want to be efficient, that redundancy must be eliminated.

Mr. Chartrand, do you have anything to add on that point?

[Sophie Bouffard, President, Université de Saint-Boniface]

Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. I am the president of the Université de Saint‑Boniface. My comments will focus on the various aspects of Bill C‑13 that affect post-secondary education more directly.

I would like to begin my presentation with some of the improvements to and the strengths of Bill C‑13 as tabled.

The fact that federal institutions will now have to implement positive measures that they consider to be appropriate so that members of French linguistic minorities have more opportunities to pursue quality lifelong learning, from early childhood to post-secondary education, is a significant improvement over the previous bill. Even more telling, this commitment recognizes the particular status and the vulnerability of French in Canada and underscores the need to support sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of French linguistic minorities and to protecting and promoting the presence of strong institutions that serve these minorities.

The Université de Saint‑Boniface is one of those core institutions for the francophone population, but its survival constantly faces serious challenges. Bill C‑13 rightly recognizes the key role that post-secondary institutions play in achieving the objectives. Together with its educational and community partners, the Université de Saint‑Boniface is actively working on building a solid education continuum in Manitoba. It is impossible to have a strong sector, from early childhood to grade 12, without post-secondary institutions that have solid foundations, strong roots in the community and that are positioned to continually innovate.

Our universities and colleges are not just pertinent in the silo of education, they are also essential because they support our communities in the areas of health and social services, wealth creation and much more.

The national dialogue on post-secondary education in the francophone minority context has confirmed the contributions of institutions such as the Université de Saint‑Boniface to intellectual life, the training of a bilingual work force, technological and social innovation, the transmission of language and culture, and the creation of inclusive French social and cultural spaces.

The report entitled “Language Used at Work by Graduates of English, French or Bilingual Post-secondary Institutions”, which was released in April 2022, supports these findings. According to this study, 49% of Université de Saint‑Boniface graduates subsequently embark on a career where they work primarily in French. That is an important indicator that confirms that Université de Saint‑Boniface meets a real need in Manitoba and elsewhere for graduates who are officially bilingual. Our study programs are of strategic importance.

We would like to make three suggestions.

In the bill, the federal government recognizes the importance of the contributions of provincial and territorial governments. Clearly, we need to ensure that the federal government's investments remain foundational. However, it is essential that the funding mechanisms be overhauled.

For example, last summer, a call for proposals was launched by the Department of Canadian Heritage as part of a $121.3‑million investment in post-secondary minority-language institutions. The Université de Saint‑Boniface was unable to submit projects for a number of reasons: deadlines that were too short to develop new non-recurring projects; insufficient time to work with the province, which was not able to provide a financial contribution that quickly; and the fact that the university had already reached its funding limit for new initiatives. Moreover, the new recurring provincial investment of $1.4 million, created to enhance the education and nursing programs so as to address staffing shortages, was ineligible as the provincial contribution to a non-recurring project. That is very unfortunate.

The bill must result in the implementation of efficient mechanisms that will ensure a certain equity across the country and that will have lasting impacts.

With respect to research conducted in French, Bill C‑13 states that one of the areas where federal institutions could take positive steps is support for “the creation and dissemination of information in French that contributes to the advancement of scientific knowledge in any discipline”. This statement seems restrictive. With substantive equality in mind, it should be revised to make these measures more foundational for post-secondary education in minority communities, which, in general and by their very nature, focus mainly on education. We must also better respond to the needs of the francophone population.

Finally, with respect to the clause on adopting a policy on francophone immigration, we would like to express a wish, that the policy that is developed accommodate the international student population attending post-secondary institutions, which represent an important pathway for immigration and economic and social integration into our minority communities.

Thank you.

[Denis Chartrand, President, Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario]

Thank you for inviting the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario, ACEPO, of which I am president. I am accompanied by our executive director, Isabelle Girard. I am also the outgoing president of the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones, which has already shared with you an opinion that is very similar to mine. I am a retired professional engineer.

ACEPO represents French-language public school boards in Ontario. It manages 140 schools and offers quality education programs in French. Bill C‑13 is a step in the right direction, but concrete and realistic amendments are needed so we can achieve our common goal of ensuring the sustainability and vitality of French and its cultures.

We need effective coordination without duplication. We need positive measures, which are required and not just appropriate, in order to achieve this. Today, we are asking for a very specific amendment, one we have asked for in the past. You will find it at tab 1 of the binder you received.

ACEPO members should be managing many more schools in order to provide French-language education to many more students. However, securing available land to build schools is a significant challenge to implementing section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The federal government owns a multitude of sites that it routinely disposes of, but it does not offer these sites to our members. All too often, our members learn too late, and too frequently from the media, that a site has been sold. One solution is to give French-language school boards a chance to acquire at market value—we are not asking for money—federal sites that are put up for sale.

In 2018, your committee went to Vancouver and discovered the same problem. For more than 20 years, the school board has not been able to build a school west of Main Street for lack of a site. The federal government implemented a disposal process that would meet the needs of this school board. The process began in 2005, but the school board still does not have a school west of Main Street.

These problems exist across the country. For that reason the committee recommended in 2019 that the Official Languages Act include “a provision ensuring that the educational and cultural infrastructure needs of official language minority communities are identified as a priority in the Government of Canada's disposal process for surplus real property”. Unfortunately, Bill C‑13 is silent on that point.

Mr. Chair, you signed that report. Mr. Généreux, you signed that report. Mr. Samson, you signed that report. The Honourable Mona Fortier also signed that report. I mention it because, as the President of the Treasury Board, she has the discretionary authority, but not the obligation, to improve the directive on the disposal of real property.

The directive in effect since 2006 specified that when disposing of real property, federal institutions were to consider the interests of communities, including official language minority communities. Despite that, school boards were ignored. Therefore, many of them have called for the Official Languages Act to be amended so that it expressly gives school boards a right of first refusal for federal sites subject to disposal.

The directive was amended last year. You would think that would be a good thing. However, the changes did not improve the directive. What I mentioned earlier was included in the 2006 directive, but it has disappeared. Now federal institutions only have an obligation to inform official language communities that they intend to dispose of a site. They are not required to inform them of when or how.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 38 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

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

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022. Members may attend in person in the room or remotely using the Zoom application.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules for members and witnesses.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. Please mute your mike when you are not speaking.

For interpretation, those participating through Zoom have the choice, at the bottom of their screen, between three channels: floor, English or French. Members attending in person in the room can use their headset after selecting the channel desired.

A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.

Members in the room who would like the floor must raise their hands. Members participating via Zoom must use the “raise hand” feature. The clerk of the committee and I will do our best to maintain an order of speaking for all members. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.

Pursuant to our routine motion, I want to let the committee members know that all the witnesses went through the required connectivity tests before the meeting.

I would now like to welcome the witnesses.

We have with us today representatives of the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario, Denis Chartrand, president, and Isabelle Girard, executive director.

We also have Sophie Bouffard, president of the Université de Saint‑Boniface, who is participating by video conference.

Dear witnesses, welcome.

As is customary, each witness will have five minutes for their presentation. I am quite strict with my timekeeping in order to give all committee members the opportunity to ask their questions.

We will start with the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l'Ontario. You have five minutes.

Official Languages

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I accompanied the Minister of Official Languages to the launch of the final report of the États généraux sur le postsecondaire en contexte francophone minoritaire. It is important for the federal government to be at the table with the provinces.

Congratulations to Lynn Brouillette of the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne and to Liane Roy of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne.

We consulted many stakeholders across Canada. More than 6,000 people submitted suggestions and solutions for the new action plan for official languages 2023-2028. I want to thank them for that.

I would like to note the participation of community organizations and their representatives, such as Joanne Gervais from the ACFO du grand Sudbury and Marc Lavigne from the West Nipissing Arts Council. These organizations represent the many francophones in my region of Nickel Belt.

This demonstrates why Bill C-13 and the upcoming action plan on official languages are so important. They will enable us to continue supporting communities and institutions from coast to coast to coast.

I hope that all parties in the House will support us in passing Bill C-13 as soon as possible.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you for sharing that with us.

It's really a message that we've heard across the country and a considerable concern to us. With Bill C‑13 and the substantive amendments, we have a chance to start correcting that.

I have little time left.

Mr. Asselin and Mr. Taillon, in 30 seconds, what would be your final message to the committee?

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

Thank you.

I have another question for Mr. Taillon.

You said you agreed with all the Quebec government's amendment requests. Virtually none of them is clearly included in Bill C‑13 right now.

Don't you think we should take the time and work toward ensuring that we at least cover the essential aspects of the requests made by the Quebec government, which represents 90% of francophones in Canada?

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

I'm going back to the fact that the longer we discuss the bill, the more harmful the impact will be.

Bill C‑13 is an opportunity for us to review the Official Languages Act every 10 years. You mentioned a few amendments that you would like to see in it.

Can we continue moving forward, or should we halt our progress and respond to all the points raised by all stakeholders?

Are there any ways to make amendments to the act while continuing to implement it?

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

How does the principle of substantive equality put forward in Bill C‑13 constitute a major change in the way the two official languages are represented in our country??

[Patrick Taillon]

That's the problem with the present act. It creates a dynamic in which Quebec is, in a way, compelled to part ways with minority francophones or, in some instances, to oppose their wishes. If the amended act focuses as consistently as possible on the objectives of substantive equality and asymmetry and the fact that we have common objectives, but that they are achieved in different ways in Quebec, Acadie, Alberta and elsewhere, then we'll be in a better position to combine our efforts.

Bill C‑13, especially if amended and improved, offers an opportunity that we previously didn't have, an opportunity to combine all our efforts rather than find ourselves in a dynamic of rivalry. We were previously in a dynamic in which we could cause problems in Quebec by helping communities outside Quebec in certain court cases.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

My next question is for Ms. Laurin and Mr. Asselin.

How will Bill C‑13 and the next action plan benefit your community?