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 .

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

Mr. Jolin, I'd like to raise another matter with you.

First, I'd like to congratulate you on having mentioned the example of federal-provincial negotiations on child care centres to illustrate the importance of language clauses and the need to make improvements to Bill C‑13 in this area. It's something we've heard about on many occasions in committee meetings. I also spoke about this on the basis of what we are experiencing in our own francophone community.

We all know that for francophone communities, the provision of services in French is an ongoing struggle. The lengthy battle for the survival of Montfort Hospital is one example of this.

If the provincial-federal agreements included language clauses, do you think that would help francophone communities in Ontario and elsewhere to obtain services in French?

[Carol Jolin]

You mentioned the Treasury Board and it's financial authority. What we are talking about is making amendments to Bill C‑13 to ensure that the Treasury Board would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the act. If the Treasury Board already has this authority, why hasn't it made more use of it over the past 50 years?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I've been meeting the same people as you. I have experience in procurement, and it was my main line of work for almost 10 years. The Treasury Board sets procurement policy, but does not actually handle the procurement process. It also has authority for human resources, but does not itself hire human resources other than its own. It would delegate this responsibility to the departments, but the departments would have to comply with policy. If they did not, it would remind them that they have failed in their duties and would accordingly not approve the requested funding .

We share the same goal, but we may have different ways of getting there. In your testimony, you clearly said that Canadian Heritage should continue to perform its role within the communities, because it is the department with that kind of experience. In principle, the Treasury Board would delegate its power to Canadian Heritage and ask it to continue its work, because Canadian Heritage has experience in consulting francophone and anglophone minority communities.

It's important. Bill C‑13 won't be ready tomorrow morning, but rather in the fall. We know it now and I'm saying it publicly. When you and I are no longer here, others will have to understand future amendments to the Official Languages Act.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to point out how fortunate I am in my riding to be representing the best-ever executive director of a francophone association, Mr. Hominuk. I'd like to thank him for testifying before our committee.

Mr. Jolin, as it happens, is right next door to my riding. He too does good work.

Francophones have for a long time now been discussing the Treasury Board's role. It has often been pointed out that Canadian Heritage introduced measures to encourage compliance with the Official Languages Act, but that this wasn't enough.

Ms. Cardinal said earlier that there were differences of opinion among francophones. Some thought that the role of the Treasury Board should be clearly defined to ensure that it did not delegate its powers. I'd like to give just a few examples where the Treasury Board was able to perform its role effectively while delegating some of its authority.

The Treasury Board, of course, will not go out to consult francophone communities; that's not its role. However, it is up to the Treasury Board to tell departments like Canadian Heritage, Finance and Public Safety, that they have clear responsibilities in this area. If Bill C‑13 is passed, there will be some delegation of authority, but the departments will have to comply with the rules if they want their funding requests to be approved by the Treasury Board.

Have you had an opportunity to speak with experts who have worked in government about the difference between giving all the powers to the Treasury Board, and on the other hand, allowing it to delegate some of these powers?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

I have a brief question for you, Mr. Jolin.

The next appointment of a judge to the Supreme Court of Canada will be critical in terms of determining the government's will to follow through on Bill C‑13. Historically, the government has often appointed unilingual anglophone judges. Could the government possibly make the same mistake again?

[Carol Jolin]

There is an enormous amount of work to do, beginning with Bill C‑13. The bill mentions targets and accountability, but does not contain any objectives. Nobody knows how the Department of Citizenship and Immigration will deal with it.

It's an extremely important issue. While there is a shortage of anglophone workers, it's much worse on the francophone side. In Ontario, the French Language Services Act has just been overhauled, and efforts are being made to improve services in French. However, workers are needed to provide the services. At the moment, it's undeniable that a great deal of francophone immigration is needed.

Lately, we've been hearing that international students are having a lot of trouble obtaining a visa to come and study in Canada. Ms. Cardinal spoke about many situations like this. There is only one visa office in Dakar serving something like 12 countries. If we're serious about francophone immigration, we need to begin by opening visa offices in several locations in Africa to enable people to submit an application. Once students get here, their reception needs to be facilitated and they should be offered an opportunity to remain once they have completed their studies. Currently, when people tick the box on the form indicating that they want to remain in Canada following their studies, their visa application is refused. There is a problem somewhere and it needs to be resolved. Immigration needs to be facilitated by making sure that students can come and study in Canada and that after graduating, they can remain here, preferably in Ontario. The process of obtaining permanent residence afterwards should also be facilitated.

[Martin Théberge, President, Société nationale de l'Acadie]

Good afternoon.

Thank you for this opportunity to present the SNA's vision of Bill C‑13. I'm not about to give you a lengthy presentation on our organization. I will simply point out that the SNA has, since 1881, spoken out on behalf of the Acadian people, whose values and interests it defends.

Bill C‑13, to amend the Official Languages Act, places an emphasis on acknowledging the uniqueness of the French fact in Canada, on establishing substantive equality between French and English, and also on the need to develop strong institutions to protect the vitality of French in Canada. We believe that this calls for the asymmetrical development of official languages to give French, which happens to be more vulnerable, the resources it needs to prosper.

This means forceful action appropriately supported by Acadian civil diplomacy, which is an important tool for the development of our communities.

Civil diplomacy contributes to identity building. When the people of Acadia see that they are represented internationally, it makes them fully aware of their imagined country. Without official state institutions, people learn about Acadia when the SNA attends international events alongside heads of state; when its flag is flown in France, Belgium, Louisiana or Switzerland; when it has a presence at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie or UNESCO. The resulting pride and sense of identity are essential to community engagement.

Acadia's international efforts also build its legitimacy among citizens and in the anglophone majority. The summit of the Francophonie, and visits by heads of state, are all indicative of Acadia's appeal. A number of provincial ministers recently accompanied the SNA on an official mission in France. They had the opportunity to meet the President of the French Republic and some of their French counterparts, which would have been unthinkable under different circumstances. All of this enhances the appreciation of Acadia at home.

After Brexit, which made France the gateway to Europe, Acadia has also become a regional economic development partner. France's consulate general in the Atlantic provinces, which came about as a result of that country's desire to support Acadia, has been very productive in terms of partnerships between French and Canadian firms, whether they belong to francophones or anglophones. The forthcoming establishment of a French international school in the Atlantic region is another example of major investments resulting from our special relationship with France.

Civil diplomacy is also a major promotional vehicle for Acadia. Our Atlantic committee on francophone immigration promotes Acadia as a place that can host immigrants from the international Francophonie. It is an essential tool for achieving francophone immigration targets in Canada.

Similarly, our society for the promotion of Acadian artists internationally enables our artists to make a name for themselves abroad. It also puts them in touch with producers, agents and directors of venues from the international Francophonie.

Not only that, but the Office de la mobilité internationale en Acadie mentors young francophones and francophiles in an international mobility project. For example, in the 2018‑2019 year alone, the office hosted two young trainees from France's civic service, while two Acadians spent a semester studying in France, and another two went on internships to Louisiana and Belgium.

All of these pivotal efforts are a challenge, because they are currently being done more as a result of enthusiasm and personal commitment than financial support. This state of affairs prevents the SNA from availing itself of opportunities that are important for the people of Acadia and Canada alike.

As for Bill C‑13, the SNA is emphatic that it is important for the Canadian government to acknowledge the specific identity of Acadia and its mouthpiece, the SNA, as a special player from the standpoint of civil diplomacy, and to provide it with the resources it requires to pursue its work.

We are in the final stages of drafting our brief and will send it to you as soon as it is ready. I'd like to end by clearly summarizing the recommendations that will be in our brief, and which are the outcome of what I have just presented to you.

We therefore recommend that the Canadian government acknowledge the distinctiveness of Acadia as a civil diplomacy stakeholder; that it recognize the SNA in its advocacy role on behalf of the Acadian nation by embodying this civil diplomacy; that it acknowledge the special relationship between France and Acadia, and that this acknowledgement be accompanied by appropriate support.

We further recommend that the Government of Canada develop a cross-functional civil diplomacy strategy that includes civil society and government sector stakeholders in various areas, including the economy, culture, education and immigration.

In addition, we recommend that civil society activities like the promotion of Acadian artists, the mobility of young Acadians, and francophone immigration to Acadia, be funded from both national and international perspectives.

Lastly, we recommend that the government support international twinning initiatives and the creation of an Acadian commission for international cooperation.

Thank you.

[Carol Jolin, President, Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario]

Mr. Chair, Hon. members, good afternoon. I am truly pleased to be able to see you in person.

I am happy to be able to join you as you study Bill C‑13. I'd like to thank you for having invited the AF0, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, to testify in connection with your work. As an advocacy organization, we represent approximately 744,000 Franco-Ontarians.

With me today is the AFO's Executive Director, Mr. Peter Hominuk.

The AFO welcomed the tabling of Bill C‑13 on March 1. The Franco-Ontarian community and its partners in other provinces and territories have been working for over six years to convince the government of the importance of modernizing the Official Languages Act.

As written, the bill contains interesting initiatives for our community, such as bilingualism for Supreme Court judges, a review of the act every 10 years, as is the case henceforth in Ontario, and the entrenchment of the Court Challenges Program.

As the committee carries on with its study of this bill, which is dear to the francophone communities, I would like to take this opportunity to speak about the importance of certain amendments proposed by the FCFA, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, which we support because they address important issues that we consider essential if the bill is to have the maximum possible impact once adopted.

The most important aspect has to do with the role of the Treasury Board as the central coordinating agency for the implementation of this act. The second addresses the importance of Bill C‑13 in the development of Franco-Ontarian communities, particularly in intergovernmental agreements. The third and final important issue is the francophone immigration policy.

There is a fundamental problem with the act that has persisted for 50 years, and it's the fact that Canadian Heritage cannot require other government departments to do anything. We strongly recommend that the Treasury Board be designated in the bill as the only central agency responsible for implementing the act and for centralizing all coordination powers.

I want to be clear about this: we don't want to take away the policy role performed by Canadian Heritage, nor reduce its capacity to develop and administer programs. However, Canadian Heritage cannot, owing to its very nature, oversee consistent implementation of the act in all the other departments. Only a central agency can do that effectively.

The matter of incorporating the language clauses also deserves your consideration. As written, Bill C‑13 does not require the negotiation of language clauses in federal-provincial-territorial agreements. And yet these clauses are essential for ensuring compliance with federal official languages commitments when funds are given to the provinces and territories. A recent example of this can be found in the federal-provincial negotiations on child care. We still don't know whether the child care program contains language clauses. Things remain somewhat vague. At the moment, the modernization of the act gives the government an opportunity to strengthen the linguistic duality and require that it be taken into consideration in agreements signed with the provinces and territories, which bodes well for all francophones in Canada.

I will end my address by talking about immigration.

Francophone immigration is one of the keys to maintaining the vitality of francophones in minority communities. The bill states that the immigration policy has to include a target and accountability measures, but objectives are not specified.

As you know, the federal francophone immigration target has not come close to being met, and has not for many years. If the trend continues, the government will be unsuccessful in meeting the 2023 target, and this will contribute hugely to the decline in the demographic weight of our community.

One of the consequences of failing to meet targets is further shrinking of the francophone and bilingual workforce. This has an impact on every sector: the private sector, the public sector, and even not-for-profit organizations, for example. There are simply not enough skilled workers to serve francophones. To counteract this shortage, immigration is essential, as is the full education continuum, from early childhood to post-secondary education.

The bill should specify the goals of the francophone immigration policy being put forward in the new version of the act. If that is done, the new act might breathe new life into our communities.

Thank you for your attention. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

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

With respect to scientific languages, we note that 40% of federal government research grants go to anglophones, but that's beyond the scope of the Official Languages Act.

My next question is for you, Ms. Chouinard.

You've written at length about the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission, which was something of a missed opportunity. I think André Laurendeau wanted special status for Quebec. That's consistent with the position of the Quebec government, which demands that Quebec alone be responsible for language planning within its borders.

Aren't we be headed for another missed opportunity under Bill C‑13?

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

We acknowledge that principle, but what we requested was that only one of the two official languages be considered a minority language. However, that's not at all what's in Bill C‑13, which still employs the concept of an official language minority to define anglophones in Quebec. Consequently, all of the federal government's actions in Quebec are designed to reinforce English there. The positive measures for French-speaking Quebec are more negative because their sole aim is to reinforce English in Quebec. If that doesn't change, the federal government will continue to be a very prominent factor in the anglicization of Quebec.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

First, I want to thank the witnesses who are here today.

I'd like to tell Ms. Cardinal that I was at the opening of the Université de l'Ontario français. As a Franco-Ontarian, I was proud to see that. Thank you for being here today.

I'll start with you, Ms. Cardinal.

You discussed francophone immigration, which is an issue. We want to increase the levels of francophone immigration to Canada, particularly outside Quebec. As we all know, most of the francophones in the world live in Africa. Given that context, what other recommendations would you add with regard to Bill C‑13?

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

With regard to French as the common language of work, you've written that Bill C‑13 would transfer responsibility for implementing those rights to workers or their unions. Would you please explain that at greater length?

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Is Bill C‑13 missing provisions on language clauses?

[Linda Cardinal]

In other words, you're asking me if I have a conflict of interest here.

I sat on the minister's expert panel on Bill C‑32, not on the panel on Bill C‑13. Don I'm no one's parrot. What I'm saying is that my impression is that Bill C‑13 is a very promising compromise that—

[Stéphanie Chouinard, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada and Department of Political Studies, Queen's University, As an Individual]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee and colleagues.

Thank you for inviting me to testify before you today.

Many of you have heard me speak in previous consultations on the modernization of the Official Languages Act, an important project that should enjoy multipartisan support but that, for many reasons, has been mishandled for the past five years.

I have also written on the subject in newspapers and news magazines across the country in recent years. For the members of the committee, I have sent the clerk a short press review in which I explore in greater depth a number of aspects of the former Bill C‑32 and Bill C‑13, which I won't have time to address in my statement, such as the role of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and that of French Canadian civil diplomacy. However, I urge you to take a look at it should it interest you.

For the sake of concision, I will focus on three points this afternoon.

First, allow me to say a few words about the principle of substantive equality, which underlies many aspects of the bill.

For the first time, we now have an express legislative acknowledgement of a principle that has long been at work in official languages governance: to achieve equality between the official languages, one of them merits different support, particularly with regard to minority institutions, which play a completely different role than that performed by institutions in a majority sociolinguistic context. This is a major advance in the official language field, one that guarantees, in particular, that the legislative framework will reflect the interpretation of the Supreme Court, where this principle has been relied upon since the late 2000s.

However, there is an abiding misunderstanding in the general population of the meaning of substantive equality, judging by the reactions the bill has triggered in English Canada. There is a genuine need for public education on the meaning and implications of substantive equality to prevent the new version of the Official Languages Act from being interpreted as a mere rejection of the official and equal status of English and French. I think there's an urgent need for clarification in the current political context in order to prevent potential backlash against the French language outside Quebec.

Second, I want to note the federal government's wish to commit to enhancing opportunities for access to post-secondary education in the minority official language. For years now, this field has been in a crisis that peaked with the Laurentian University debacle in 2021. We all know how positively the vitality of our communities is affected when minority youth have a chance to pursue their studies beyond grade 12 in their own language.

The federal government commendably wishes to be part of the solution so these institutions can pull back from the edge of the abyss and at last plan for the future. However, it is critical that the federal government not release the provinces from their responsibility to invest in what is still their area of jurisdiction.

Your committee heard me discuss this topic last June, nearly one year ago to the day, during your study on federal support for minority post-secondary institutions. I felt the point was important enough for me to repeat it. In the long term, a disengagement by the provinces from minority post-secondary education could potentially mean those institutions would have to start over from scratch. We must ensure that federal government investment remains foundational.

Lastly, with regard to proposed section 44.1, which concerns francophone immigration, I find the language used in the bill disappointing. I don't think it goes far enough toward making the necessary changes to the policies and practices of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration in the Canadian francophonie that are unacceptable and, in some instances, even disgraceful. We are already living with the result of nearly two decades of inadequate action in the field, and the target set in 2003 is so far from ever being met that the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada felt it had to sound the alarm this past winter. The new Official Languages Act should be decidedly more directive so it can ensure that we not only meet actually restorative targets that enable us to maintain the demographic weight of francophones outside Quebec relative to the majority society, but also that we can provide our communities with the support they need to welcome and support these newcomers appropriately.

In conclusion, despite these remarks, I would like to leave you with a final message: don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. Here we are 34 years after the last amendment of the Official Languages Act, and it is high time we saw a modernization of the act. Although it can definitely be improved, Bill C‑13 would be a major step toward securing the future of English and French in Canada.

It is my hope that, in 2022, we can leave our mark on the history of the official languages with an act that has at last been modernized and that will finally help us move forward to a future in which the two official languages are more strongly supported and defended across the country.

Thank you. I will be pleased to continue the discussion.