Official Languages Committee on Feb. 7th, 2019

[Mona Fortier]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Fougère, before my colleague asked his questions, you said you would like to see an increase in your funding.

Did you submit an official request to the Department of Canadian Heritage or to the Department of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie to discuss a possible increase?

[Marie-Lison Fougère]

A letter was sent on behalf of the Minister of Finance, Mr. Fedeli, and Ms. Mulroney, to the attention of Mr. Morneau, the Minister of Finance, and Ms. Joly. The letter indicated quite clearly that Ontario is not receiving its fair share and that it would be important to rectify that situation.

[Mona Fortier]

Did this concern French-language services?

[Marie-Lison Fougère]

Yes, it did.

[Mona Fortier]

Very well.

So, you could make a similar request for a project such as the Université de l'Ontario français.You could address a request directly to the federal government.

[George Zegarac]

As I mentioned earlier, we have funding with the federal government around the protocol for minority-language education and second languages, which helps support francophone educational services. That's been frozen for 10 years. Through the Council of Ministers of Education, because this is an issue across Canada, not just in Ontario, we have submitted that request.

[Mona Fortier]

So you asked for a meeting with the federal government.

[George Zegarac]

We've asked for a positive decision on the funding request.

[Mona Fortier]

Fine.

I'd like to clarify something. Federal government ministers receive a letter of mandate that lists their priorities, in addition to the normal expectations of their post.

Did your ministers receive a letter specifying the priorities of their mandate, which would allow you to help them respect those priorities?

[George Zegarac]

The ministers have priorities that are discussed with the premier. As Marie-Lison pointed out, we support implementing any priorities that they might identify.

[Mona Fortier]

Is that letter public?

[George Zegarac]

I didn't say it was a letter. I said there were priorities. I don't think the government has publicly stated, although they have stated in many releases, some of their priorities.

[Mona Fortier]

Would it be possible to submit to our committee the priorities your ministers have received within their mandate, more specifically those related to services in French or post-secondary education in French?

[George Zegarac]

We can go back. The budget deliberations are still under way right now. When we have final decisions on our final budgets, we'll be in a better position to go back and share that—

[Mona Fortier]

I am not talking about the budget.

The committee would really like to know whether a mandate letter was sent to your ministers, or whether priorities were clearly defined in terms of their portfolio. If so, we would like to look at those letters.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I would like to clarify something in this respect. It is a practice of the Canadian government for the Prime Minister's cabinet to send a mandate letter to each minister when they take office. The letter indicates what the minister must focus on. Those letters are public. So anyone can know what direction ministers should follow. I don't know whether the same is done in Ontario.

[Marie-Lison Fougère]

The previous government would produce mandate letters, which were public. We cannot communicate anything at this time. As my colleague said, priorities are stated, but it is not necessarily in—

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

It is not in a mandate letter.

[Marie-Lison Fougère]

As public servants, we cannot provide that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mrs. Fortier.

[Mona Fortier]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, you have the floor for three minutes.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Fougère, something worries me and I think the entire committee shares my concern. The French Language Services Commissioner will remain in office until the end of March, I think.

[Marie-Lison Fougère]

It's actually until the end of April.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Many people are still concerned. We don't understand how the commissioner can maintain his independence when the legislation clearly states that he will be an employee of the ombudsman and will follow his directives.

Earlier, you really stressed the fact that the commissioner currently reports to the Ontario Legislative Assembly and not to another ombudsman or another commissioner. He reports directly to the legislative assembly. That is why you have told me several times that you are unable to answer the question I was putting to you.

But according to the new piece of legislation, he no longer reports directly to the legislative assembly. He reports to the ombudsman and is becoming his employee. That is why, when Mr. Boileau appeared before the committee, he strongly argued that this made no sense. Like me, you probably heard him. He feels it is false to say that he is maintaining his independence.

How can you say that he retains his independence? In this situation, it is now being ignored that he reports to the legislative assembly, as the parliamentary budget officer and commissioners, here at the federal level. His independence is disappearing.