Official Languages Committee on May 7th, 2019

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Alright. Thank you, Mr. MacKinnon. We will certainly send them to you.

To close your presentation, you said that PSPC is committed "to promoting and supporting bilingualism in Canada in everything we do." For my part, I noted during all of my meetings with representatives of OLMCs that they were a bit tired of hearing about promotion and all the rest. You make these speeches, while at the same time, we noted that two months ago, your department's Internet sites that featured calls for tenders were riddled with errors in the French. I am not saying you are guilty of anything, but I am telling you this respectfully. These were grammar or even translation errors. It is interesting and all the more since we have Mr. Déry from the Translation Bureau with us.

It seems that we currently have a lack of leadership in Cabinet. How do you answer for this?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Nothing shocks us more than mistakes in one or both official languages, whether as part of a call for tenders, on our site Buyandsell.gc.ca or in another context. I think that Mr. Déry will confirm it. This message was sent loud and clear to all affected departments.

Public Services and Procurement Canada provides services to other departments, including procurement services. Other departments often send us the parameters and wording for calls for tenders that have mistakes and, given the volume, they will go directly up on the site. Departments themselves even have the right to upload them to the PSPC Internet site. In such cases, the contents of call for tenders is not certified beforehand by the Translation Bureau.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Going through the Translation Bureau is no longer mandatory.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

I am certain that Mr. Déry will confirm that the quality of work is always a priority at the Translation Bureau and that this is still the case today. When the Translation Bureau has the time to do so when reviewing a call for tenders or any other document, priority is given to the quality of the work.

I can let Mr. Déry tell you about it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We need to move to another stakeholder.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Alright. We'll come back to it.

[Alupa Clarke, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Yes, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Samson, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you very much for being here today, Mr. MacKinnon. I would also like to give a big thank you to your entire team.

We have extremely important topics and I will try to deal with them quickly. We do not have much time to discuss them at length or give long responses. We need to be concise.

You said that you have been consulting us to see what the federal government can do to improve the Official Languages Act. To me, there are three things that can be done.

First, we need to hold consultations, among other things.

Second, we need to provide services.

Third, we need to amend the fourth step of your process for disposing of surplus federal properties. The first step of this process is to report the property as being surplus. The second step is to properly perform all due diligence activities. The third step is to determine the type of disposal; that also works. The fourth step is to consult the aboriginal community; I would add that we should also consult Francophone minorities.

The problem that we have does not only affect your department, but all federal departments. Consultations are held all over the province, but OLMCs do not have what they should. Isn't this the way that we can ensure consultation during the process?

The communities are only part of the issue. However, Francophone schools are still very recognized. The 1990 judgment gave Francophone minorities the right to an education in French. Under the Constitution, it is the federal government that now must hold consultations.

Should the answer to amending the Act be that, at the start of the process, school boards and OLMCs be consulted before a property goes to the provinces?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

I would like to make a personal remark before answering your question, Mr. Samson.

I am old enough to remember that without the intervention of the Government of Canada, there would be no Francophone schools in Saint John, New Brunswick or Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island or other places.

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

Or in Nova Scotia.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

You can be certain that I am always seeking to strengthen the federal government's role in minority-language education in Canada.

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

So you believe that it would be fine, in the fourth step of the process, to add consulting the Francophone minority, in addition to the aboriginal community?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

I think that I have been clear in my comments. We are looking for suggestions from this committee to find out how we can strengthen the Government of Canada's role in promoting official languages.

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

You can't say that the member from Nova Scotia hasn't given you suggestions.

I will now address Mr. McBain and speak in a bit greater detail about the process.

In British Columbia, as we know, we have been looking for land in Vancouver for more than 10 years. The situation is really problematic. I met Mr. Robert Howald and Ms. Deana Grinnell, who worked with me at the time and with the school boards. I can definitely thank them for their work.

I have more pointed questions and you may be able to clarify things for me.

The Heather Street land project is almost finished, as was mentioned by the parliamentary secretary. The agreement was signed in February, but the CSF has been waiting for a reply for two months. Should we be worried about it or has it been solved?

[John McBain]

The agreement was signed by the four parties, but we are now trying to get a change in zoning from the City of Vancouver. After that has been acquired, it will be possible to implement the lease between the CSF and the partners.

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

How much time do you think that will take? Will it be a week? Two weeks?

[John McBain]

That process is managed by the City of Vancouver. It may take another year or maybe it will be towards the end of this year.

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

I would like for that to be done before the next election, as you can understand.

There is another very important location that I would like speak quickly about, this being the Jericho site.

First, the CSF sent you a letter a few months ago and they still have not received a reply.

Second, will the CSF be consulted?

Third, what action will you take to ensure that the CSF will participate in consultations and possibly even the purchase or rental of the site?

[John McBain]

Thank you for your question.

In fact, I recently signed the reply letter to CSF's letter.

We will engage with the CFS in the same way that we have for the Heather Street site. We communicated with the CSF 85 times and had 15 meetings during consultations on the Heather Street site. We will continue to engage in the same way for the Jericho site.

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

Mr. McBain, I must congratulate you for the quality of your French. Continue, that's fine.

I like your response. However, will the result be the same? We will have the Heather Street site, but will we have the Jericho site?

[John McBain]

Unfortunately, I do not have the authority to decide.

It is a process that takes place between the City, our partner, the First Nations and all the community groups. Several parties have expressed their interest in the Jericho site.

That includes day care, citizens care, schools and so on.

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

I will finish with one last question.

There is a third site, the Royal Roads site in Victoria. I don't believe that this site belonging to the government has yet been conveyed, Mr. MacKinnon. Can we move to step 4 and hold consultations sooner rather than later so that the stakeholders are up to speed?

According to what I have seen since becoming involved in this file, the CSF has done good work, but I would like to continue to support them and apply a bit of pressure, since we always need pressure to get results.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

Mr. Choquette, you have the floor.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mister Chair.

Thank you, everyone, for attending today.

Mr. MacKinnon, my question is related to the well-known decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in Association des parents de l'école Rose-des-vents v. British Columbia (Education) regarding the widespread shortage of schools.

That judgment was made just before your government was elected. Since 2015, decisions have been made.

How far back does this disposal process date?