Official Languages Committee on Feb. 21st, 2019

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's always interesting to see Mr. Ouellette's passion. It's perfectly legitimate and to his credit.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here.

Mrs. Roy, you said at the outset that you came from the Department of Justice and that you are now responsible for official languages at the Department of Industry. You are no doubt happy to be here today, because things are changing at the Department of Justice these days. I'm happy for you.

In your opening remarks, you said that the action plan for official languages 2018-2023 aims to promote French and English across the country. Could you give us your own definition of the word “promote”?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

Again, I think I would relate this to the minister's responsibilities under Part VII of the Official Languages Act. I don't have the exact wording in front of me; however, Part VII gives a specific role to the minister responsible, namely, to promote and support official language minority communities. Action plans are the concrete tool used by the current government and that have been used by other governments as well. They are intended to support communities and promote bilingualism. It is with this in mind that the government has implemented the action plan I mentioned.

It's really related to Minister Joly's responsibilities under Part VII of the Official Languages Act.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You're telling me that promotion is related to the minister's work.

You also mentioned that the action plan is based on three pillars: strengthening official language minority communities, improving access to services in the minority languages, and promoting bilingualism across the country. These are the three elements found in the famous action plan that was tabled on March 28, 2018.

Where in this plan do you indicate that your role is to help the provinces build universities for linguistic minorities?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

As I said earlier, we have several tools in the action plan that are related to education. I'll start with the federal-provincial agreements. There is an annual amount of $235.5 million that is governed by a protocol and is paid to the provinces and territories.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Do they aim to promote the language?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

I'm talking about education.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Where does the money related to bilateral agreements and intended for education go? The word “education”, like the word “promotion”, has a very broad meaning. In concrete terms, what is being done to ensure that citizens have access to this money?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

I'm happy you asked me that question because, in the negotiations on the next protocol on education, we are looking—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

I'm sorry, Mrs. Roy, but I don't want to know what you are going to do; I want to know what you have done.

[Guylaine F. Roy]

Yes, indeed. We are investing $235.5 million a year. In the context of federal-provincial agreements, projects are presented by the provinces.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

In concrete terms, could you name a project or educational tool that has been implemented to help—

[Guylaine F. Roy]

Yes, absolutely.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

—but without giving me too many details, because my time is very limited, unfortunately?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

Before turning things over to my friend Mr. Racine, who will be able to give you concrete examples, I want to point out that, in negotiating the new protocol, the purpose is precisely to obtain greater transparency from the provinces and territories regarding how exactly education funds are used. We are in negotiations, and this is something we are looking for more specifically.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You want transparency, but you also want to invest in the concrete and infrastructure of universities. With regard to what we have seen recently in Ontario, I sincerely believe that this is political opportunism. The government has been in power for three years now, but because one fine day, a provincial premier gets carried away and decides to go right instead of left, the minister raises her hands and says she wants to support the French fact in Ontario, that it's important, and so on.

What I want to know, Mrs. Roy, is whether this is political opportunism.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I think we'll move on to the next speaker. We only have a few minutes left. Two speakers have given their names. They will have three minutes each left.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

I accept your decision, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I will consider that a comment.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You may consider it as you wish.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

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

[Jean Rioux]

If I understand correctly, my colleague Mr. Godin supports his colleague Mr. Blaney, who is criticizing us for investing $1.9 million to maintain a fundamental value—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Chair, that, too, is a comment.

[Jean Rioux]

—of the country, namely, bilingualism.

I want to come back to bilateral agreements. It is said that it is within these agreements that priorities are set. There is the old agreement, but I would like to know whether the Universitié de l'Ontario français is included in the new one, which you mentioned.

Do you have a say or is it only the province that determines the priorities?

[Guylaine F. Roy]

Here's how it works with federal-provincial envelopes. The provinces must tell the federal government what they will do with the $235.5 million allocated under these agreements. Before submitting their proposals, they are required to provide us with so-called action plans. What we want is for them to consult with communities in an appropriate way before submitting their action plans to us. This first mechanism was present in the existing agreement with Ontario, but the Universitié de l'Ontario français was not.

With the second mechanism, I mentioned the files for which bids were requested for one-time projects. Again, we did not see that the government had submitted a project for the Universitié de l'Ontario français.