Official Languages Committee on April 22nd, 2010

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Given that you broach the subject of deputy ministers, there used to be a committee of deputy ministers responsible for official languages. Does it still exist?

[Suzanne Bossé]

There is a committee of assistant deputy ministers.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Is there a committee of deputy ministers?

[Suzanne Bossé]

No, I don't believe so.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

In the action plan, there were two mandatory yearly consultations: one in the fall with the ministers and the communities, and one in the spring with government officials and the communities. If I understand correctly that no longer exists. At the very least, there may be a day of discussion in May. Is that correct?

[Marie-France Kenny]

It has been confirmed that there will be such a day in May.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Chair, we have learned today that there are four elements that used to exist and that no longer do: the Official Languages Branch of Intergovernmental Affairs within the Privy Council Office, the ad hoc committee of ministers, the committee of deputy ministers and the mandatory consultations.

That being said, it is not surprising to see that there is a lack of coordination within the federal government concerning its obligations under the Official Languages Act, a quasi-constitutional piece of legislation. It's not surprising.

Do you have any comments, Ms. Sylvia?

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

I think the most important thing...

Earlier, I spoke about...

I spoke of focus. I think there's also a question of clarity of responsibilities. I would say that it is incredibly important to have ministerial direction and leadership in these files. But one of the big things that the change also had an impact on is the clarity within patrimoine around its obligation, a regular obligation that a department has around official languages, around its policy and program vis-à-vis an overarching responsibility for all of the different departments. There are not many departments that have that overarching responsibility. There's nobody that can play the challenge function.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Let me continue in that vein then. In 2005 the Parliament of Canada amended the Official Languages Act by giving an actual responsibility to each department and agency of the crown vis-à-vis part VII of the act. It's been four years, five almost. To your knowledge, has there been any plan from the government to put that into effect? Have there been any regulations implemented to give life to that legal obligation?

[Marie-France Kenny]

Some departments have come up with plans relative to part VII of the act. Some haven't. Is there a regulation around part VII? No. We're not asking for any. We want to make sure we're consulted by these departments--by all departments, crowns, institutions--and that plans are put into effect to put in these positive measures.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I have a final question, Mr. Chair.

Did you know that in 2006, there were about 50 positions withinTreasury Board whose incumbents were responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act, and that now there are only about a dozen? Do you have any comments to make in that regard?

[Suzanne Bossé]

It was recently explained to us that these positions included, among other things, information technology positions. I suppose we could call them corporate services. These employees were transferred out of official languages and into other services.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Bélanger.

Mr. Godin, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So we started with the Privy Council, and we have worked our way down through the minister, deputy minister and assistant deputy minister, and we are pretty sure that the consultations are carried out with the parliamentary secretary. We have come a long way, haven't we? Those are just my comments.

We were going to meet with the FCCF, but we decided to meet with other national organizations. I'd like to hear what they would have said to us.

[Marie-France Kenny]

As we said, we consulted the 40 member organizations of the Forum des leaders. In the area of culture, the Alliance nationale de l'industrie musicale was consulted regarding the development of the Music Showcases program as part of the Roadmap. It would appear that certain criteria for the Cultural Development Fund take the demands in this sector into account, by focusing on components that used to receive very little money for their projects. Yes, the FCCF was consulted, as I said. Clearly, some of the comments we received from our members, including the FCCF...

[Suzanne Bossé]

The book translation fund should be reviewed and improved in order to truly meet the needs of francophone editors.

[Marie-France Kenny]

The Cultural Development Fund has already issued three calls for project submissions, and the song and music sectors have received a budget envelope as well. The funding had already been set aside in the fall of 2008. Yes, things are happening, but there are also certain weaknesses. We have been told that the Cultural Development Fund funds too many one-off and non-recurring projects instead of supporting long-term consolidation.

[Suzanne Bossé]

The contribution amounts are not known.

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

Mr. Donnelly.

[Robert Donnelly]

In Quebec, ELAN, The English Language Arts Network is in charge. As I indicated a few minutes ago, the Roadmap includes envelopes for arts and culture, but it is difficult to get access to them. We saw concrete examples of this last year.

As I concluded my remarks, Ms. Boucher asked me if it was because it was the Quebec anglophone community. The answer is yes and no. This has never been done before. It is new. So when it comes time to provide funding in support of arts and culture in Quebec’s minority anglophone communities, we do not quite know how to proceed. I can confirm, once again however, that it is difficult.

As far as the consultative process is concerned, we worked for six months on a big file covering all regions of Quebec, especially those outside Montreal. Those efforts did not pay off however, and we were not told exactly why. It was not clear. So where do you go from there? You start over and make changes. Perhaps it is not that they did not want to tell us this. As with immigration and many other files, supporting the arts and letters in Quebec’s minority anglophone communities is so complicated.

Is it supportive of Canadian English culture? We know for the arts and for the role that it plays in community vitalities,

it is so important. We need money. We are still working, even now. We had money for a research project on artists and communities, but it did not end up getting approval. We persevere nonetheless.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Godin.

The floor is yours.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Chairman, earlier I was trying to find out whether the fact that official languages comes under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Privy Council Office might actually force – and that is the right word – force the government to wake up and face facts, and allow the machinery of government – through its departments, agencies and crown corporations – to meet the needs of communities.

Ms. Kenny and Ms. Bossé gave part of an answer. I would now like to hear from Mr. Donnelly and Ms. Martin-Laforge on this issue.

[Sylvia Martin-Laforge]

I think the Government of Canada, if it is serious about official languages, has to give itself a challenge function that is different from that of the Commissioner of Official Languages, within government. The Commissioner of Official Languages is there for complaints and has a special role, but within the Government of Canada, where could you find a challenge function to all departments? The only place would be within the Privy Council Office. Without that challenge function, it is very difficult for any department, whether it be PCH or Justice or Treasury Board. You're asking the deputy of a department to challenge that department, which is difficult. With all the good work they do, it's just difficult to get that challenge function to make all the departments work together. In our democracy, the only place we have that as a challenge function is in the Privy Council Office.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Nadeau.

Your remarks conclude our time with the witnesses this morning. On behalf of the members of the committee, I would like to thank you for your appearance. I am sure we will have an opportunity to see each other again. We will be doing a study on immigration and we will probably seek your opinion on the issue.

There was some unfinished business. There has been significant movement on this. Ms. Glover, does that suit you?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I just have one question.

We drafted a brief report on what was discussed at the steering committee. Were we intending to present the report to the other members while we are in camera? I thought we were going to give them some information on what we did.