Official Languages Committee on May 2nd, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Welcome, everyone.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are reviewing the status of official languages in minority settings across Canada.

We are pleased to welcome the Commissioner of Official Languages, Mr. Graham Fraser, who is accompanied by the assistant commissioner, Ghislaine Saikaley. I know there are other witnesses who are held up downstairs.

[Graham Fraser, Commissioner of Official Languages, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages]

There was a delay downstairs. Apparently there is a problem at the security checkpoint downstairs. They will be here...

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

And yet you are such safe people.

[Graham Fraser]

Quite so.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

With my colleague's permission, we are going to start immediately. The others can join us when they arrive.

Welcome, Mr. Commissioner. You have the floor.

[Graham Fraser]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, members of the committee, good afternoon.

I'm pleased to appear today before this committee for the first time since the beginning of this Parliament. Although I'm not sure how many more discussions we will have before my term as commissioner comes to an end in October, I'm honoured to have been welcomed so frequently by your committee and to have had such productive exchanges with you.

I would be remiss if I did not say a few words about Mauril Bélanger's enormous contribution to official languages, both as a member of Parliament and as a minister. He has always been an invaluable source of support and guidance.

This afternoon, I would like to talk to you about measures to improve access to justice in both official languages, an audit of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat conducted by my office, and the work I plan to complete between now and the end of my mandate. We will also have an opportunity to discuss the main estimates, which were tabled not long ago.

With regard to the interest you expressed concerning the selection of the next commissioner, I have discussed the choice of my successor with both the former and current Clerk of the Privy Council Office and have provided them with a list of six criteria that I believe could guide their choice: competence, comfort and eloquence in both official languages; ability to articulate a vision of linguistic duality; independence, essential for any agent of Parliament; high ethical standards and a value of respect; comfort as a public figure; credibility based on prior experience with the issue of official languages, in terms of knowledge of the act, knowledge of linguistic minority communities, or knowledge of Parliament.

On reflection, I would add to that list the importance of being what a former colleague of mine called “a digital native”: someone who is comfortable dealing with the new challenges of social media and the Web 2.0 world and their implications for language policy.

Based on my conversations with the Privy Council Office, the process of developing selection criteria does not seem to be completed. If your committee believes that other criteria would be more appropriate, there's still time to share that information with Mr. Wernick.

Acces to justice in both official languages is one of the issues my successor will have to address. The year 2017 will mark 150 years of legislative and judicial bilingualism in Canada.

Too often, Canadians who seek justice in the nation's superior courts in the official language of the minority still have to plead their cases in the language of the majority, or incur additional costs and delays if they want to be heard by a bilingual judge. This is due in part to the bilingual capacity of the superior court judiciary, which continues to be a challenge in several provinces and territories.

This is why in August 2013 I published a study called “Access to Justice in Both Official Languages: Improving the Bilingual Capacity of the Superior Court Judiciary”.

The study, conducted jointly with my counterparts in Ontario and New Brunswick, found that the process for appointing judges to superior courts did not guarantee a sufficient number of judges with the language skills required to hear Canadians in the official language of the minority without delays or additional costs.

I therefore made 10 recommendations to address the situation. I also stressed the importance of establishing a collaborative approach involving Canada's Minister of Justice, the minister's provincial and territorial counterparts, and the chief justices of the superior courts.

The Canadian Bar Association supported this study by adopting a resolution in February 2014 in which it urged the federal Minister of Justice to implement the recommendations of the study in co-operation with the provincial and territorial ministers and the chief justices of Canada's superior courts and appeal courts.

In 2015, then federal Minister of Justice Peter MacKay replied that he did not see the need to change the current process and initiated no discussions with his counterparts, despite the interest expressed by some of those counterparts, particularly those in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Indeed, some interesting initiatives have been undertaken in both of those provinces. In the spring of 2015, Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs, launched a pilot project to enhance access to justice in French.

The objective of the pilot, which focuses on an active offer of service, is to provide quality French language services to French-speaking litigants and lawyers at the Ottawa courthouse.

The minister also wrote to my office in 2015 and said she would support any measure the federal Minister of Justice took with respect to appointing bilingual judges.

In New Brunswick, provincial court judge Yvette Finn has been running a popular language training program since 2011 for provincially appointed judges from across Canada. I will meet with the current federal Minister of Justice soon to discuss the study and other collaborative opportunities that could be undertaken with Minister Meilleur.

I will also ask the Minister of Justice to implement the recommendations contained in the study report.

I am hoping that the government will also implement the three recommendations contained in my office's January 2015 Audit of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat within the context of the 2011-2012 Strategic and Operating Review. These recommendations focus on ensuring that the shortcomings found in the audit are not repeated in future expenditure reviews.

As a federal institution, the Treasury Board Secretariat must implement part VII of the act when carrying out its mandate. It is required to support federal institutions by providing clear instructions on what measures to take to meet their obligations fully and to avoid hindering the vitality of official languages minority communities during budget cuts.

The audit results are available on my office's website.

After 10 years as commissioner, I'm sure many of you expect me to provide an overview of the status of official languages in Canada. To that end, I intend to publish a series of key documents between now and the end of my mandate. These include my annual report, which will be released on May 19, along with new report cards for 33 federal institutions; an overview of how I've exercised my role before the courts; a study on active offer to the public by federal institutions; a study on early childhood development in French-speaking minority communities; the results of a public opinion poll on what Canadians think about various issues related to official languages; and a follow-up to my 2012 audit of Parks Canada.

In June I will table a special report to Parliament to propose options aimed at reinforcing the implementation regime applicable to Air Canada.

A number of other issues will continue to be a priority until this fall, including the jurisdictional conflicts between my office and CBC/Radio-Canada, and planning for the next iteration of the official languages roadmap. My office will also be monitoring Bill C-203 concerning the bilingual capacity of judges appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and Bill S-209 regarding part IV of the Official Languages Act.

On a final note, in addition to planning our own activities to celebrate Canada's birthday next year, my office is working with various federal institutions to encourage them to include and promote official languages during the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of Confederation. In that context, we published a brochure for the organizers of the 2017 celebrations.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd be pleased to answer any questions you or your colleagues may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much for your presentation, Mr. Commissioner. I am certainly not insensitive to your comments regarding the judiciary, as a former president of the Quebec Bar. Congratulations on your presentation.

First of all, I wonder if you could introduce the persons who are with you.

[Graham Fraser]

I apologize, I should have done that in the beginning.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

No problem; the others had not arrived yet.

[Graham Fraser]

I am accompanied by the following people: Ghislaine Saikaley, assistant commissioner, Compliance Assurance Branch; Ms. Pascale Giguère, acting director and general counsel, Legal Affairs Branch; Mr. Mario Séguin, acting assistant commissioner, Corporate Management Branch; and Ms. Colette Lagacé, director, Finance and Procurement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Commissioner.

We will now have our question and answer period.

We will begin immediately with Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Good afternoon, Mr. Fraser. It is always a pleasure to meet with you. We had the opportunity of having many talks when I was parliamentary secretary, like Mr. Randy Boissonnault.

You spoke about the digital age, and I'd like to ask you a question on that. In the Liberal government budget, in March, we learned that CBC/Radio-Canada would receive the sum of $675 million. The budget states that this money will be used to offer Canadians better access to the programs and services of the digital age.

Could you explain to us how the digital era is going to foster official languages in a minority context? How will this funding be used to promote official languages in society? Should it be used to develop regional stations, so as to offer citizens local news programs in the language of their choice, or will the people of Caraquet have to listen to French language news bulletins originating in Montreal?

[Graham Fraser]

That is a very good question. I will begin with the last part.

We already launched legal proceedings in the CBEF Windsor case. This occurred nine and a half years ago, between the time my name was announced as candidate for this position and the moment when I took up my duties. Oh, no, I'm sorry, I am mistaken about the timing of that announcement; it was later.

We had received more than 800 complaints. We went before the courts to say that CBC/Radio-Canada had obligations under part VII of the Official Languages Act, particularly that of taking proactive measures to support the development of minority official language communities. Justice Martineau of the Federal Court accepted our arguments, but the case was rejected on appeal by the Federal Court of Appeal. So we were back to square one.

CBC/Radio-Canada does not accept our point that we have jurisdiction in this matter. I have always stopped short of saying that we intervened against CBC/Radio-Canada, because I think it plays an extraordinary role in supporting the vitality of minority communities. However, at a certain point, I would like to know if I have jurisdiction or not. In the meantime, we are holding informal discussions with CBC/Radio-Canada to see if there is a way of negotiating a memorandum of understanding to deal with the complaints we received. I am mentioning all of this to show that the role CBC/Radio-Canada plays in the vitality of communities is extremely important.

When I lived in Quebec, I was very appreciative of the Quebec Community Groups Network, which served and continues to serve the anglophone communities scattered on the vast territory of Quebec. I also had great appreciation for the role played by the people of CBC/Radio-Canada in the regions, not only as broadcasters and announcers, but also as social facilitators. I dare hope that the concern relating to minority communities will be at the heart of CBC/Radio-Canada's concerns when it makes decisions about how to use that money.

As for the new technological age, that is a double-edged sword. It is something I mentioned in the letter to my successor which I published in the annual report. The technological tools are very individualistic. They make up a linguistic network, but do not necessarily create linguistic spaces. In official language minority communities, the population is often aging and does not always have the same access to high speed Internet as to younger urban populations. So it is important to always recognize the real needs of minority communities when you are setting up technological tools.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Commissioner.

Go ahead, Mr. Lefebvre.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Commissioner Fraser, before asking my questions, I would like to thank you. You will soon have been commissioner for 10 years. You may move on to other projects in October. I would simply like to say a big thank you to you for everything you have done over the past 10 years.

[Graham Fraser]

Thank you very much.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Access to justice in French, or access to justice in official language minority communities, is important to me.

In 2013, you tabled a report entitled “Access to Justice in Both Official Languages: Improving the Bilingual Capacity of the Superior Court Judiciary”, which contained a series of recommendations. I would like to know what has been done since 2013 with regard to these recommendations. In your opinion, what is the status there?

[Graham Fraser]

Ontario and New Brunswick have expressed marked interest. The chief justices have shown great interest in our proposal. However, as I said during my presentation, Mr. MacKay in the end decided that the judicial appointment process was satisfactory and as a result did not accept our recommendations.

However, the conversations I have had with those who are currently in place at the Department of Justice lead me to think that there is a renewed interest, if only in becoming acquainted with our recommendations. I hope that I will soon be able to have this discussion with the Minister of Justice.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Just to make it official, I would like you to tell us what you think needs to be done to ensure the implementation of your recommendations.

What remains to be be done?

[Graham Fraser]

First, it is very important that the needs be assessed. We have not really determined to what extent the various regions of the country need bilingual judges. Nor have the language competencies of those who put forward their candidacy to become judges been assessed. The candidates do a self-assessment. They check one box if they are bilingual, and do not check it if they are not. One of the provincial chief justices changed his mind to some extent. He recognized that certain judges felt they were sufficiently bilingual to preside at a trial, but realized in doing so that they were not quite up to it.

In one province, a very bilingual judge got tired of having to abandon interesting cases to go and help out colleagues who admitted being incapable of presiding over trials with their less interesting cases. Following a complaint about that situation, the issue was acknowledged, a fact that had not really been recognized in the past. Because of the independence of the judicial apparatus, which I fully recognize, there was a certain resistance to those recommendations and to the very idea of a study. However, after a certain time, I think the judges themselves admitted that there were problems.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Samson, you have the floor.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I am happy to know that you slept well last night.

Mr. Fraser, I want to thank you and your team for being here with us today. As my colleague said, over all of these years you have truly been appreciated everywhere in Canada. You have always emphasized the importance of the minority, and I thank you for that.

My first question is about immigration.

In your 2014-2015 report, you asked for resources for the integration of newcomers to Canada. Did you receive that assistance? What is the status of that request? What must be done to ensure that official language minority communities will receive their fair share?

[Graham Fraser]

I discussed this with the new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. He is very well aware of the issues. In the context of the arrival of the Syrian refugees, he raised this issue with his New Brunswick counterpart. So the government is aware of the situation.

It is a little to soon to say what form this interest will take, concretely speaking, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by his knowledge of the file and his interest in seeing the situation change. The government has even announced the renewal of the program that used to be called the French Significant Benefit Program. That program had been created to help employers take part in job fairs in Europe and to give francophone immigrants privileged access when they had a designated employer in a given region. I found it important, on a symbolic level, that he made the announcement in Winnipeg. It is in Manitoba that the program is most impressive regarding welcoming immigrants.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Commissioner.

Mr. François Choquette, now has the floor.