Evidence of meeting #6 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was languages.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Joyce Bateman Conservative Winnipeg South Centre, MB
And so, Mr. Giguère, each department is responsible and there is no horizontal coordination. Is that correct?
Assistant Commissioner, Policy and Communications Branch, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
There is horizontal coordination, but each department is also responsible for each component. What I mean by that, is that several departments have excellent ideas, wonderful things they wish to accomplish, and they do so in an isolated manner, each on their own. Heritage Canada's role is ensuring the alignment of such things with respect to part VII of the Official Languages Act, which concerns minority-language communities. It is not always easy, because they have limited staff to work on that, never mind the fact that federal institutions already have a tendency to work in isolation. It is sometimes difficult for communities who see so many things being done by various departments, to realize there is no management system or horizontal coordination to ensure such efforts are maximized.
Conservative
Joyce Bateman Conservative Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Is that the most efficient way of going about things?
Assistant Commissioner, Policy and Communications Branch, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Yes. Horizontal management is probably the most efficient way. Indeed, ideally, we would have a group that could work on all the initiatives undertaken by the approximately 200 federal institutions.
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
John Williamson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
May I share my time? I could give Ms. Bateman one minute.
Conservative
Joyce Bateman Conservative Winnipeg South Centre, MB
How kind of him.
Thank you, dear colleague.
I am curious. You said several times that French was the language of ambition in Canada. Would you please elaborate on that thought?
Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
That is a phrase I stole from a French ambassador who told me that was one of the things about Canada that had impressed him. My decision to reiterate several times that French is the language of ambition in Canada comes from the following thought. In 1969, when the Official Languages Act was debated in the House, MPs claimed it would be the end of all employment for anyone from western Canada, that it would be impossible in the future for Westerners, of whom the vast majority are unilinguals, to obtain good jobs within the federal government.
Our current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who is from Alberta, a clerk, from Saskatchewan, and the person who was Chief of the Canadian Forces until quite recently and is from Manitoba, are all bilingual anglophones. I think it is because they wanted to understand the country in its entirety and further their careers. They understood that speaking both official languages was a leadership skill.
Canada's senior public service is filled with people who speak both official languages, who have advanced their career because they understood this was a leadership skill and an essential tool for understanding the whole country.
Conservative
November 27th, 2013 / 4:15 p.m.
Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Here is another obvious thing, which I should not have to tell you as it has become an unwritten rule. In order to become a party leader in Canada, one must speak both official languages in order to communicate with all Canadians and be able to understand them. In my opinion, more and more Canadians pursuing other careers also understand this unspoken rule.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Michael Chong
Thank you, Mr. Fraser.
Mr. Williamson, did you have any questions to ask?
Conservative
Conservative
John Williamson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
All right, very well.
Mr. Fraser, it's good to see you again.
I enjoyed reading your report and hearing from you today. What I found most interesting were the concerns, the cautions, you raised about celebrating some of our historical anniversaries as a nation. In the next couple of years we have many. I mean, the War of 1812 commemoration is ongoing—although I think that's one to celebrate because we as a nation, or before the nation was founded, together repulsed the American invasion. There's World War I, Vimy, and then perhaps for some of you the birth of John A. Macdonald.
Could you elaborate a bit in terms of what your concerns are and how they might be addressed?
Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
First of all, I don't mean to say, by any means, that I am critical of the idea of celebrating these anniversaries. I think that we are now living in a time when we welcome 250,000 newcomers to Canada every year. These are, by definition, people who have not grown up in Canada and who have not gone through our education system.
In too many provinces, Canadian history becomes very localized, so there is not a common history taught. I think that the decision by the government to celebrate anniversaries is a positive thing and represents huge opportunities for public education. My concern is that, if these are done in too simplistic a way, they will lead to resentments rather than to celebrations. There are a whole variety of versions of what World War I and World War II represents for francophones and anglophones in Canada.
One of the things that really impressed me about the War of 1812 commemoration was the exhibit at the Canadian War Museum that quite explicitly presented four very different versions of the War of 1812. There was the British version, the American version, the Canadian version, and the aboriginal version. Each group had a different interpretation and a different outcome. My cautionary note was that, if these celebrations are not seen as occasions for a broader discussion of some of the shadows as well as the light in our historical experience of those events, they can simply result in resistance and disengagement rather than in celebration and engagement in a national project.
Conservative
Conservative
John Williamson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
Let's look at what we've done already. Is it fair to say that the 1812 commemoration has been done with respect and that it's been done well to date?
Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Yes. As I say, I was very impressed by the War of 1812 commemoration. Take, for example, what I would hope would be part of the John A. MacDonald discussion. John A. MacDonald was a very complex figure. I think that if you read the letter that he wrote to Brown Chamberlin in 1856, you will see a huge understanding of linguistic and cultural duality in this country. I think that it stands as a kind of lesson for political leadership for the following century. I would hope that what John A. MacDonald had to say about French Canada, not only in that letter but also at the end of the Confederation debates, would be part of any discussion of John A. MacDonald—that it's not just all about the railway, and it's not just about his drinking. We also have to remember, as well, that John A. MacDonald made the final decision that Louis Riel should be hanged. I think that Louis Riel, as an historical figure, has been one that has really encouraged complexity of historical discussion.
It is really my hope that, as we focus on these historical events, we not do so in a simple, flag-waving fashion, but in a way that encourages deeper understanding of the complexity of all of these events and of these historical figures.