Official Languages Committee on June 5th, 2008

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Coderre, you have made your point, thank you.

Mr. Petit, please continue.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I have a supplementary point. Mr. Chair, I made a point of order, so I must continue along those lines. I want people to know that the official opposition fully agreed with the process suggested by Mr. Petit today. If he had voted with us, he could have asked that question, but since I have already been called to order and told that there was an agenda, the member should not be allowed to ask his question. So, I am asking the chair to stick to the agenda.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Coderre, I am trying to respect the agenda, but first I would like to hear Mr. Petit's question. I think that your comments have been noted. In any case, that had been made clear right from the start.

On that note, we will go on with Mr. Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Chair, I am going to send you my questions in writing, and you will have the opportunity to respond. As I said, I have two subjects: justice and an answer for my colleague Mr. Chong.

With regard to the Olympics, in fact, you have seen that a number of questions relate to the same situation. When Mr. Furlong appeared, one of my questions for him was simple. At the very least, will people be greeted at the airport in French? It is a first step, for a French national from Paris who comes here. If that person is spoken to in English, they will get angry and it will snowball. I understood that the airport was collaborating with VANOC. It was a first, when I heard the announcement.

You were there and I imagine that you have to travel to this airport from time to time. The Olympic Games will take place very soon, in 2010. Do you see it gradually becoming more bilingual, or will this only be for the Olympic Games?

You said something that I find interesting. I don't know whether it is just for the Olympics. I would like, and we will need, a follow-up, because we are investing money in this. As an individual and as a commissioner, have you seen a change at the airport?

[Graham Fraser]

In fact, Mr. Furlong told me about an agreement. At that time, negotiations were on the way so that passengers arriving at the Vancouver International Airport will already be on a Olympic site. Consequently, all measures to ensure that an Olympic site functions in both official languages will apply to the Vancouver Airport.

Furthermore, I can share with you an anecdote. A passenger, who did not file a formal complaint, told me that there is still progress to be made with regard to bilingualism and posters or announcements in Vancouver. There is also a committee within the public service and there are already obligations.

I would say one thing. I do not want to talk about the tragedy that took place, but we can say that the incident that occurred in Vancouver has ensured that the airport is much more aware of the linguistic issue now than a year ago. Based on their effort to ensure linguistic duality at the airport, we will speak to other institutions, as Mr. Dussault said.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, gentlemen.

We will now go to Mr. Gravel.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I do not know if I am going to be able to ask my question, since it is not related to the Games in Vancouver.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

I hope that you will be allowed to ask the whole question first.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Commissioner, earlier, you said that you would answer all questions related to the official languages. I want to backtrack a little bit. You said that you hope that the federal government would take advantage of the renewal within the public service to promote linguistic duality.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Gravel, I do not know whether you are aware of this, but we talked about having two sections. First, you are going to end the section on the Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Mr. Godin, point of order?

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

Out of respect for the member, we should let him ask his question in its entirety. Who says the public service has nothing to do with these Games? If the official opposition, which never votes in the House of Commons, wants to act like a baby this morning, it can, but we should let the member ask his question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Gravel, I can assure you that it was not—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Godin, your rain of insults is not getting through my umbrella of indifference.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will continue with Mr. Gravel.

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I am not going to ask my question, because it does not relate to the Olympic Games.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Gravel, have you finished?

[Raymond Gravel, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I do not have a choice.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We will move on to Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to draw the Commissioner's attention to page 142 of his report. With regard to CBC, you stated in the second paragraph “[...]—and acknowledging—its obligations under the Official Languages Act.”

If I understand correctly, CBC has official language obligations. Mr. Commissioner, what are the two official languages in Canada?

[Graham Fraser]

If I have read my terms of reference correctly, they are English and French.

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

CBC is preparing a program about hockey in Punjabi and Mandarin. Are these two Canada's official languages?

[Graham Fraser]

No, Mr. Chairman.

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

I keep coming back to this matter and I do not intend to drop it. Regarding the Vancouver Olympic Games, the Société Radio-Canada has a mandate, an obligation towards us, which is to find solutions, because it is the only—let's admit it—broadcaster which broadcasts French programming throughout the country, including in regions where other broadcasters cannot do so. Based on my interpretation, SRC programming must reflect its official language obligations, in particular because it is our public broadcaster.

[Graham Fraser]

Mr. Chairman, I will choose my words carefully.

We have a fundamental disagreement with the CBC and Radio-Canada regarding their responsibilities under the Official Languages Act, in particular Part VII of the Act, which obliges federal institutions to take positive measures to promote the development of minority language communities.

As for us, we claim that Radio-Canada, like any other federal institution, must assume its obligations, which Mr. Godin referenced. However, the position of Radio-Canada is that, as far as programming is concerned, it is solely accountable to the CRTC. This is a very fundamental disagreement. I asked to meet with Mr. Lacroix to see whether it would be possible to find a solution with regard to our conflicting interpretations. Whatever the case may be, our position is stated clearly on page 144.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

That completes this round of questions. I think we may have time for one or two additional brief questions before the end of the meeting.

Mr. Chong.