Official Languages Committee on March 10th, 2009

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

In the agreements with the federal government, does no new obligation follow from the changes to Part VII? Nothing has changed?

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

There are no obligations apart from those that already existed, which were nevertheless significant obligations.

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

And yet it seems to me we should have gone a little further when we improved Part VII of the act. That's something that should perhaps be explored, Mr. Chairman.

Were you consulted during Mr. Lord's tour to prepare the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality? Was one of you consulted, or was your organization consulted?

[François Charbonneau]

Our association wasn't consulted directly; some presidents were consulted personally.

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

But not your association. And you?

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

I can't speak on behalf of CMEC, because I unfortunately wasn't there at the time. I don't know the answer; I'm sorry.

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

All right, but from memory, you don't know?

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

I can't tell you.

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

Mr. Charbonneau, you said—and I'll close with this—that there isn't really any help in the Roadmap. What would you have liked: funding, an orientation?

[François Charbonneau]

The Roadmap could have contained certain elements. One of the recommendations of the Commissioner of Official Languages, in particular, was that funding that had been around for a certain period of time, in research, among other areas, could have been invested in research on linguistic duality and the official languages. That recommendation was not accepted. That's a concrete example of something that could have been included and that could be done by all researchers in Canada. As many researchers in francophone universities in Canada are interested in these issues, that could have provided some help. That's a concrete example.

French Canadian universities have developed an action plan, particularly for introducing translation programs. Lastly, we had suggested a set of measures, but they weren't directly accepted; priorities were different.

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

All right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

If I remember correctly, Mr. Godin wanted to add something.

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

You didn't consult your list; you remembered; that's good.

We're talking about the provinces and provincial areas of jurisdiction. Wouldn't we also need a message from the federal government? I'm going to throw out an idea and I would like to have your opinion on the subject. One example of a message is that the government is currently appointing deputy ministers who are not bilingual. How can you ask a province to do its duty when the federal government appoints deputy ministers who aren't bilingual? I would like to hear your opinion on that subject. You needn't feel uncomfortable.

I've previously said that I had introduced a bill concerning the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Canada doesn't have an obligation to appoint a bilingual judge, although the law is written in English and French. Shouldn't the federal government start by sending itself a message as an employer, through these appointments? As I mentioned earlier, whether we're talking about a welder or a mechanic, the employer can tell the college that the mechanic it wants to hire needs to know this and that. He must learn it in four years or else he won't be a mechanic. Shouldn't the employer, the government, do the same in the case of its training and education institutions? That's not interference in fields of provincial jurisdiction. The government presents itself as the employer and specifically states what it takes to work for it. If people want to work for the government or apply for a job, that's what they will have to do. That would be the law.

We shouldn't do like New Brunswick, which has an Official Languages Act and which fights in court for it not to apply in the health field. That's like saying that there's no obligation for the francophone community in the health field, but that there is a law for the rest. Whatever the case may be, we're going to debate that in court, and I believe we'll win the battle, once again. We have to fight in order to win our cases. I'm offering you a little food for thought as to where the government stands on Canada's official languages.

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

Mr. Godin, I very much appreciate your question.

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

You're welcome.

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

I'll take the liberty of answering essentially by citing the example of CMEC. That's all I can—

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

What is CMEC doing?

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

For the past 40 years, CMEC has ensured that all its discussions across Canada have been conducted in both official languages, that all its publications are written in both official languages.

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

Congratulations.

[Jean-Gilles Pelletier]

We're talking about an organization that belongs to the provinces and territories. Forty years ago, the provinces and territories established an organization to collaborate and represent education internationally. There is a commitment to ensure that the organization that serves them operates completely and perfectly in both official languages. That is the message that CMEC gives people who observe its work.

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

Now I would like to hear the representative of the universities on that subject.

[François Charbonneau]

A positive message is being sent in the fact that we renewed the Roadmap. That's recognized. It was possible that that funding might not be reinvested. Obviously, we could still—

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

Pardon me. Does it make sense for a judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada if he's not bilingual?

[François Charbonneau]

I don't know whether I'm qualified to answer on behalf of the members of my association—

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

Do it personally.