Official Languages Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2018

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We have five or 10 minutes. We'll try to give everyone a little time.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

In that case, I will share my time with Ms. Lambropoulos, so that she can ask a question.

.I would like to repeat what I said earlier about Mr. Cormier. You have before you an artist, a singer, an actor, a television host, a strong advocate for minorities of all kinds, including the francophone minority. This man became a senator and is the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages.

Mr. Cormier, congratulations. We are very fortunate to have you here. You have initiated a fine study.

More specifically, this study has five themes. With respect to the justice theme, can you summarize what you have heard or what emerges from it?

[René Cormier]

Actually, the report has not yet been officially published. Therefore, it would be wise not to comment too much on its content before it is made public.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Can you provide a general overview of the data collected?

[René Cormier]

For example, the bilingualism requirement for Supreme Court judges came up, of course. The simultaneous translation of laws into both official languages was also discussed, and so were the delays that may in fact be caused by laws being translated or judgments being received.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

It's like everywhere else in Canada.

[René Cormier]

That's right.

Those are some of the issues that have emerged. Clearly, since the report has not been published yet, I am reluctant to give you too much information.

One thing is certain, we have completed this study with justice experts. We met with a multitude of people in the sector, both practising lawyers and organizations, including the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario. The material in this area is really interesting to study.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I have more questions, but I'll give the rest of my time to Ms. Lambropoulos.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Ms. Lambropoulos, the floor is yours.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Thank you very much.

Thank you for being here with us today.

I've been in contact with the QCGN, which is the umbrella organization representing anglophones in Quebec. I was wondering how much representation there has been in your consultations by the anglophone community in Quebec and whether or not you foresee there being more meetings with witnesses included from this community.

[René Cormier]

Of course we met with QCGN and with other organizations that are more concerned with the English communities in Quebec. What I can say about this is that we were quite impressed by the fact that there's, as I said before, quite a large consensus on the needs of the anglophone communities in Quebec as expressed by QCGN and other organizations.

I have in front of me the executive summary, which has what they mainly needed or asked for. There were two additional key features that must animate the act, and they talked about substantive equality. I think that's very important, because in its implementation, the act must enable adaptation to the specific context and needs of the different official-language minority communities.

With respect to French, clearly, the francophone communities talk about genuine equality. In that regard, there was a clear consensus.

We consulted with the anglophone communities. I do not have the list of the witnesses appearing for the study of our last part, on federal institutions. However, I think I remember that we will also meet with organizations in Quebec's anglophone community.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, you have two or three minutes.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

That's very good.

First, thank you for being here today, Mr. Cormier.

I think the fact that the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages and the Senate Standing Committee on Official Languages are working together sets a precedent. I think that's a good thing. We should do this more regularly. We conduct studies at the same time and sometimes there is overlap in the work. To avoid that, it would be a good thing to work more regularly together and for the chairs of those two committees to meet to get to know each other's realities.

The reality of our committee is that we will also have to submit a report in June. By the time you finish writing your report in June, we will probably have already submitted ours. I'm not sure whether you could move up the deadline for filing your report.

Before I let you answer, I would like to add something briefly. Thank you for telling us what to work on to further explore everything. Among other things, we wanted to look more closely at the Gascon decision, of course. There is also the Treasury Board issue.

What I take away from all this is that a meeting would be useful. I know that these are two independent committees. That is normal and it's fine. However, some coordination could benefit our official language communities, both the anglophones in Quebec and the francophones in the rest of Canada.

[René Cormier]

Thank you for your comment. That is absolutely fitting. It is actually one of our concerns. For our part, we will release our report in early June. Clearly, we think it is important to align our reports to ensure, first, that the public is informed of all the recommendations and, second, that there is no overlap, as you said.

We are certainly open to the idea. I am personally open to meetings, especially since our reports, procedures and timelines are becoming quicker and quicker, I would say.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Choquette.

Mr. Rioux, you have 30 seconds.

[Jean Rioux, Saint-Jean, Lib.]

Can you provide our committee with the items proposed for study?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

They can be found on the record, but if you want to send them to us, senator, you can.

[René Cormier]

We can send them to you. It will be more than just a list. There will also be content. We had content associated with each of the items.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

That's great.

Let me remind all members of our committee that there will be a media briefing at 1:30 p.m. in the foyer of the House about our study on nurses in the francophonie.

In closing, Senator Cormier, thank you very much for appearing before us and speaking with us this morning. We can both continue to look for ways to move forward.

Thank you very much.

[René Cormier]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

The meeting is adjourned. We will meet again next Tuesday.