Official Languages Committee on Feb. 28th, 2012

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

Are official languages a priority?

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

At Statistics Canada, absolutely.

Our action plan and our report on the results of the implementation of section 41, which is on the Statistics Canada website, outline numerous actions and positive measures that we have implemented precisely to assist official language minorities. Statistics Canada has done a lot of work in that area in partnership with the various departments and agencies to study the situation of minorities.

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

Are official languages a priority at the Department of Justice?

[Andrée Duchesne]

At Justice Canada, the answer is yes.

If you'll let me respond, we have demonstrated that. We have a unit at our office that is dedicated to access to justice in both official languages. Our unit also manages the implementation of section 41 at the Department of Justice.

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

Some 23 or 24 years ago, legislation was passed stipulating that people who appeared before Federal Court judges could do so in the language of their choice. The same was true of the Court of Appeal. Now, 24 years later, we see that the Supreme Court has not yet reached that point.

You say this is a priority at Justice Canada. I know you are not the minister, but it is a priority. I'm going to say it before you do. It is a priority for Justice Canada. It is a priority to go into the universities and tell people to learn both official languages. At the time of the last appointment, five out of six candidates were bilingual, but the government decided to appoint a unilingual person to the Supreme Court. Do you think that makes sense?

[Andrée Duchesne]

I really have no comment to make on that subject, Mr. Godin. We represent the Department of Justice as a federal institution.

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

However, based on that decision by the government, do you think this is a priority for the government?

[Andrée Duchesne]

I am telling you that official languages are currently a priority for the federal Department of Justice.

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

Explain something to me and I will give you an example.

A francophone in Alberta is arrested by police and put in prison for four years. I asked the Commissioner of Official Languages to conduct an investigation into the matter. A female francophone officer told the accused that she could not speak to him in French because the people there did not like anyone speaking French. That happened in 2011.

Is Justice Canada having trouble with Alberta with respect to official languages? Since it was four years in prison, I don't think it was a minor crime.

[Andrée Duchesne]

I really can't comment on the details of that matter. As regards Alberta—

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

Ms. Duchesne, I am not asking you to discuss that case in particular since I did not even give the name of the person concerned. I am speaking generally.

[Andrée Duchesne]

You are asking me whether official languages are a priority for Justice Canada. I repeat that they are.

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

How can these kinds of things still happen today?

[Andrée Duchesne]

I don't want to get into the division of powers or the administration of justice. Some matters are under provincial jurisdiction and others are under federal jurisdiction. The RCMP does the work it has to do in Alberta, as it does in New Brunswick and elsewhere.

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

Let's consider a criminal case, which falls under federal jurisdiction.

The RCMP has to do its job. Do you think an individual in Alberta at least has the right to a trial in French? That individual should also have access to police officers who speak French during the investigation.

[Andrée Duchesne]

I am not in a position to comment on the case. I don't know the details.

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

I'm talking about language, not about the case. Would a person who is charged have a right to a trial in the language of his or her choice?

[Andrée Duchesne]

The linguistic provisions of the Criminal Code are very clear on that point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin. Thank you, Ms. Duchesne.

Mr. Gourde, you have the floor.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here this morning and for your presentations, which were highly appropriate and very refined. My question is for the representatives of the three departments.

You have worked with the roadmap in recent years. Do you have any recommendations to make? Has it worked well? Do you have any recommendations on the subject, considering that we are conducting a study on the future?

[Debbie Beresford-Green]

Thank you for your question.

I believe we have definitely had some successes under the roadmap. I know that many representatives of other departments have come before the committee. The fact that we are all here shows that we are working together to improve the situation and to put the emphasis on the priorities of the roadmap. This allows us to discuss issues with other federal departments, which is more important under the roadmap than under the previous program.

So the fact that we have the opportunity to work together has certainly been an advantage under the road map.

[Andrée Duchesne]

On behalf of the Department of Justice, allow me to say that we tried in our presentation to outline the department's approach to access to justice in both official languages, not only since the roadmap was adopted, but also in the past 10 years.

We are particularly interested in continuing the work begun under the roadmap to improve services to the public. There is currently significant pressure on the justice system. Canadians are seeking legal information so that they know where they must go. Even if they do not have to deal with the courts, this remains a costly exercise, mainly for citizens, but also in terms of lost productivity in Canadian society.

This is the direction we would like to keep going in if the roadmap is continued.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Corbeil, would you like to add something on that point?

[Jean-Pierre Corbeil]

As you know, Statistics Canada is not affected by the roadmap, and Statistics Canada is of course making no recommendations.

Having said that, I would like to give you one observation. As I mentioned in my remarks, we have a lot of contact with various federal and community partners. It is quite clear that, in the context of the roadmap, Statistics Canada has received many requests for data and information for the purpose of gaining a clearer understanding of what is going on.

I talked about immigration, which is definitely a very special case. Statistics Canada has a key role to play with its partners.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Corbeil, the immigration statistics you mentioned earlier were included in your report. I believe you have done a good job.

With regard to the province of Quebec, the francophone reality in Quebec and the immigration system, which also has its Quebec counterpart, do you have any more data on Quebec? Are more francophone immigrants coming to Quebec? Are more anglophones coming to Quebec but leaving a few years later?