Official Languages Committee on Oct. 25th, 2011

[Graham Fraser]

I hope to receive an answer as soon as possible. I await that answer. There is no deadline, unlike with other recommendations that have been made in the past. For example, we said before March 31.

Making an amendment is not a complicated process. That could be part of an omnibus bill, just to make that change.

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

Mr. Fraser, I did not get an answer to the other question I asked.

When I talked about doing an investigation, you mentioned that someone had told you that you could not investigate what happens to the money transferred to the provinces.

Who told you that? Was it someone in the government?

[Graham Fraser]

It's the law.

I have the power to investigate what goes on in federal institutions. There is an official language commissioner in New Brunswick. In Ontario, there is a commissioner responsible for services in French.

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

But do the Northwest Territories not fall under federal jurisdiction?

[Graham Fraser]

Yes, and they also have an official languages commissioner in Nunavut.

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

There can be commissioners all over the place.

You talk about the Act. You are the federal Commissioner. Under the Act, are you able to exercise the same powers in the Northwest Territories, for example?

[Graham Fraser]

In the past, I have investigated certain expenditures in the Northwest Territories.

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

Could we be given the results of that investigation?

[Graham Fraser]

That depends on the degree of confidentiality associated with the investigation report. However, we did receive complaints and we did an investigation. I will have to check to see what level of confidentiality is associated with the outcome of the investigation of those complaints.

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

With respect to the bill on Air Canada that is currently under discussion in Parliament, do you feel it is satisfactory that Part V is not included in the bill? What is missing from that bill?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Fraser, you can answer the question.

[Graham Fraser]

In April of 2010, at the request of Mr. Bélanger, we wrote a letter describing in detail what we were hoping for. We sent a copy of that letter to all committee members.

Subsequently, in November, we made officials with the Department of Transport aware of the content of that letter and discussed it with them. We are now reviewing the current bill.

On the one hand, it is a step in the right direction, in that I have been given the power to investigate other aspects of the company's operations which I did not have access to previously. However, as the member stated, that does not cover the right to work in French in those institutions.

There are other items as well. If you compare the letter to the bill, you can see what has not been included.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

Mr. Galipeau, please.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Just to clarify, I would like to point out to my colleague that I never said the report was a collection of horror stories. At the same time, you must admit that, in some reports—not to say in many of them—there were some horror stories.

I would like to join with my colleague, Mr. Lauzon, in commending you for your leadership and the inspiration you have given the government as a whole when it comes to official languages. I very much appreciate the fact that you referred to the negative impact, more than 15 years ago, of the closing of the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean. I was personally offended that a college bearing my name would be shut down. Joking aside, however, this did have consequences for the administration of the Official Languages Act. Those consequences have been visible every single year since. That is extremely unfortunate. And yet, the government that made that decision was supposedly supportive of official languages.

Since we're talking about the military, I would like you to tell me if staff knows whether the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages was asked for advice before the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean was shut down.

[Graham Fraser]

I do not believe so, but I can certainly get that information. It was before either myself or my predecessor held that position. An entire generation of staff members working for the Office of the Commissioner who were around back then have now retired.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Based on what you've said, in some departments that you chose to appraise with respect to the administration of official languages, your visit had a major impact, even though the Official Languages Act had been in effect for 42 years. It might be a good idea to notify all departments and agencies that they may receive a visit from you next year. That way, even if you only visit 10 of them, they will all be ready.

[Graham Fraser]

We adopted a specific practice to avoid surprising people. For example, when an institution receives a poor rating, sometimes the executive officer of the institution tells me that he was not properly informed, despite the fact that the official languages director three levels below was consulted. So, we discovered that, in some cases, the information had never made it to the top.

As a result, I decided to meet with deputy ministers and agency heads who will be subject to an investigation so that they are aware of what their official languages directors have already been told, so that there is no confusion, a year later, when they receive the results.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser and Mr. Galipeau.

[Royal Galipeau, Conservative, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Deputy ministers should be the last people to claim ignorance of the law. It's a pretty lame excuse.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Galipeau.

Mr. Bélanger, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Last week I asked a number of questions of the heritage department's representatives about the road map. I was wondering if our clerk has received any response to those questions so far.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Just one moment, please.

Could you repeat the question, please, Mr. Bélanger?

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

I hope that doesn't count on my time, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

No, it doesn't. Go ahead.

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

Thank you.

I was wondering if the clerk had received any information in response to the series of questions I asked last week of the representatives of the heritage department vis-à-vis the road map.