Official Languages Committee on May 6th, 2008

[Maria Barrados]

Regarding deputy ministers?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Complaints regarding deputy ministers made by public service employees who would like to exercise their statutory right and speak in the language of their choice, but do not because their deputy minister is not bilingual.

[Maria Barrados]

I have never received that type of complaint.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

I want to point out that it is the Clerk of the Privy Council who is responsible for appointing deputy ministers, and not our committee clerk.

I've also asked Ms. Hurtubise-Loranger to determine exactly what the obligations of the Clerk of the Privy Council are as regards language issues. She will get back to us on that.

It might be interesting to have committee members sit the Public Service Commission's language tests and evaluate their abilities in the other language. We might have a few surprises. That would help us better understand the preparation that precedes these tests and do the same tests as public service employees. I have personally taken it myself under different circumstances.

We have now completed two rounds of questions. There is still Mr. D'Amours to deal with, but if there are no other questions from members, we can thank our witnesses and deal with the motions.

Thank you.

Perhaps we will be in contact with you in order to undergo the public service test and assess our own abilities in the other language. It would be the new oral test to be given in June, I believe.

Thank you for being here.

[Maria Barrados]

If there are members who wish to take the test, I can make the necessary arrangements.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Brent St. Denis.

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

The results cannot be made public.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

So we would have two tests for the French language. I guess Mr. St. Denis and Mr. Chong would have the English test.

We'll just take a few minutes.

If you wish, we can take a minute or two. We'll suspend the sitting for two minutes, while our witnesses leave the room.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will now move on to committee business. There are two motions on the agenda.

I will remind members of the committee that next Thursday, two topics have been placed on the agenda, and they are this morning's topic, and access to justice and appointments to the judiciary. Appointments to the judiciary will be discussed on Thursday. Next week, we will hold our last two meetings with witnesses concerning our study on the collaboration accords. Departmental officials from Canadian Heritage will be with us on May 13, and on May 15, we will be hearing from six witnesses in one single meeting. These witnesses will include representatives from groups we have not heard from yet, such as the FCFA and representatives from the anglophone minority of Quebec. Later in May, we will be receiving representatives from the CBC and representatives from the coast guard.

In addition, there are currently motions under consideration. We can then move on to the report on collaboration accords which will be drafted by our new researcher, Ms. Hurtubise-Loranger.

Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Coderre have asked to speak.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Chairman, I need a few clarifications. I am not sure if a motion is needed. I am seeking unanimous consent. Following Ms. Barrados' testimony, I feel it would be important to have the Clerk of the Privy Council appear before us and explain what is going on with deputy ministers. I could obviously table a motion, but I feel that in light of what we have just heard, if there is full agreement, we can simply ask the clerk to appear if his schedule permits. I wish to invite the Clerk of the Privy Council to appear.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I will need to verify something.

As you know, Mr. Coderre, here in committee, the 48-hour notice of motion rule applies. Your suggestion is related to the agenda, since it deals with the linguistic abilities and exemptions made at the executive level. The motion is in order.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I do not see why it is necessary to table a motion if my colleagues agree. We are talking about one additional witness. We simply need to add him to the list. I'm seeking unanimous consent on this. We do not need to debate this issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Are there any questions or comments? Is anyone calling for a vote?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Coderre has asked for unanimous consent, and everyone has agreed. That matter is concluded.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

An additional witness has therefore been added to the list.

On my list of speakers, I have Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Petit. I can add your name, Mr. Godin so that you can table your motions.

Mr. Rodriguez.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Chairman, we cannot let one comment spin into a debate and distract us from finishing up with the motions. The motions are on the agenda.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

We can talk about the motions. I have no problem with that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

There are two speakers who wish to comment on your motion. Mr. Godin, it is up to you.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Chairman, let me be clear. I simply want to make sure that the motions remain on the agenda.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Absolutely.

Mr. Rodriguez.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

We should follow the agenda.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Fine. Do you agree to consider these motions and then hand the floor over to Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Petit?

Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We have already had the Director General of the Organizing Committee of the Vancouver Olympic Games, Mr. John Furlong, appear before us. I was not happy with the answers we received concerning whether or not the Olympic Games would be broadcast in both official languages across the country. He did not want to say whether or not he could do this, or if this was his responsibility. I believe that our government has a responsibility in this regard. I want to see what that responsibility is.

This is not a matter of grilling the minister, but of determining exactly what the government's responsibilities are and what we can do together to prevent a problem from occurring. I see that indeed, there is a problem. As things stand, French-speaking Canadians living in Fredericton, Halifax, Saint-Boniface or Cornwall, will not have the chance to view the Olympic Games in the language of their choice.

I remember when francophones were unable to watch the opening ceremony of the Canada Winter Games in Bathurst-Campbellton in 2003 because it was broadcast at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. We had to go before Parliament to raise this issue. Who is still up at 2:00 a.m.? Ultimately, the government came to an agreement with television stations to resolve this matter.

Currently, we are fortunate to have another two years to prepare. Now is the time to deal with this issue. I do not think we had Mr. Furlong appear simply for the pleasure of hearing him talk, and not take any action afterward. He clearly stated that there was a problem, so it would be good to talk about it. It would also be important, among other things, to determine what the responsibilities and powers of inquiry of the Official Languages Commissioner are. This is not strictly about broadcasting. You can go over the document that I have here. The problem is that contracts are drafted in English, and even if they are drafted in French, there must be an English translation. These people want only the English version of the contracts to be the one that counts. We brought this up in order to make adjustments. The Official Languages Commissioner has the responsibility to examine matters in advance of the Olympic Games.

I'm seeking leave of the committee to have Ms. Verner appear, for the simple reason that she is the minister responsible for official languages in Canada. I wish to see what the minister and the government can do to help us. We can then decide afterward whether or not to hear from other witnesses. For now, it is important that we hear from the minister as well as the Commissioner of Official Languages. I am tabling this motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Godin. Everyone has a copy of your motion, which reads as follows:

That the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, the Honourable Josée Verner, and the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, be invited to appear before the Standing Committee on Official Languages as part of the committee's study on the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, to ensure that the games will be taking place properly in both of Canada's official languages, in order to respect the rights of Canadians.

Mr. Coderre, Mr. Lebel and Mr. Petit wish to make some remarks. If anyone wishes to speak, please indicate that to the clerk or to me.

Mr. Coderre, we will now hear your comments on Mr. Godin's first motion.