The federal government increasingly uses federal-provincial/territorial agreements to ensure that francophones from outside Quebec and anglophones in Quebec enjoy protection, services and programs.
A better framework is required, whether it be in immigration, early childhood or justice. In British Columbia, the Federal Court very recently held that there was an agreement between the federal government and that of the province but that that agreement did not call for specific measures under part VII of the act. This is dangerous for the communities because part VII can be used to establish a positive duty of the federal government.
Basically, we must ensure that the agreements have strong and stringent linguistic clauses requiring both levels of government to be responsible for their services. We also need an accountability provision. If a province or territory receives federal funding for the official language minority communities, it must prove that it uses those funds to achieve the objectives included in the language clause of the federal-provincial/territorial agreement.