Evidence of meeting #28 for Official Languages in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was yukon.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
I want to make sure I understand.
Normally, the committee spends at least two or three meetings on a report. We have to submit it by the beginning of December, and we also have to look at the work plan. If we stop hearing from witnesses on November 17, will that leave us enough time to discuss the report?
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
We will stop hearing from witnesses on November 17, then.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Could we go back to those people and ask them to provide their briefs by November 17 at the latest?
9 a.m.
The Clerk
Yes.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
We definitely want to support them, but they, too, have to help us and themselves.
9 a.m.
The Clerk
We have received briefs from some individuals or groups who appeared before the committee, but we are still waiting for others.
9 a.m.
Conservative
9 a.m.
The Clerk
I will follow up with them this week and ask again.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Fine.
Regarding the list you gave us, do we know why some groups turned down the invitation to meet with the committee?
9 a.m.
The Clerk
There weren't many who declined. For some of them, it was a scheduling issue. I would have to fit them in somewhere else in the schedule.
I could forward you the email I received from the group Action Réfugiés Montréal. Its representatives simply weren't comfortable contributing to the discussion. I could forward you their email.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Very well.
Action Réfugiés Montréal couldn't contribute to the discussion. Fine. My goodness.
9 a.m.
The Clerk
Precisely. I can forward you their email.
9 a.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Okay.
I do find it a bit odd that Action Réfugiés Montréal, an organization that assists refugees, can't help the committee with its study.
9 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
We had set aside an hour for this discussion, but since the witnesses are scheduled for 9:15 and it's only 9 o'clock, we can break for a few minutes if the committee wishes.
9 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
We are resuming our study on the roadmap and immigration in francophone minority communities. We are pleased to have with us this morning the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario, François Boileau.
Welcome, Mr. Boileau. You will have about five to seven minutes for your presentation. We will then move on to questions and comments from committee members.
Mr. Boileau, you may go ahead.
9:10 a.m.
François Boileau Commissioner, Office of the French Language Services Commissioner
Mr. Chair, thank you for inviting me here today. Thank you, as well, to all the committee members.
First, I would like to congratulate you on the launch of the Canada-wide consultation on official languages. I think MP Randy Boissonnault had a rather busy summer.
This initiative, and the implementation of a whole new strategy, is an unequivocal indication of the federal government's intention of preserving and protecting the interests of official language minority communities.
I have no doubt that these consultations have generated some useful discussions, and will continue to do so. Most importantly, however, they have highlighted opportunities, particularly in terms of integrated services that involve the federal, provincial, and municipal governments and also—why not?—communities.
On that point, I would like to recognize Manitoba, which established bilingual service centres many years ago now. The centres offer services at all levels.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Forgive me for interrupting, Mr. Boileau.
Would you mind speaking a bit more slowly to make it easier for the interpreters to follow?
9:10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the French Language Services Commissioner
Yes, of course. Thank you for reminding me.
The centres offer services at all levels—federal, provincial, municipal, and even community—under the same roof.
More importantly, it creates places where the language at work is French and where francophone clients can, without a doubt, receive services in their own language.
That kind of formula could certainly facilitate active offer of French-language services in areas where the French-speaking population is concentrated, but it could also, and most importantly, improve relations between the various levels of government.
Speaking of collaboration, I would like to draw your attention to the many agreements we have worked on during my term in office, with people like my federal counterpart, Commissioner Graham Fraser. We have collaborated on several occasions, through numerous reports on a number of subjects, and in particular on immigration, the Pan Am games, and access to justice in French.
In June we released a special report on active offer. Mr. Fraser, who very recently addressed the same issue at the federal level, did the same.
These two reports showed that regardless of the level of government, the rules governing official languages are still flawed today. It has therefore become essential that we improve our tools and our practices to enable the various government departments, organizations, and third parties to put in place active, high-quality offers of French-language services.
I would like to remind you that if there is no active offer, this can, in the long term, not only have adverse effects on the quality of the services offered but also have serious consequences for vulnerable individuals, especially in the health care and justice systems. That is why it is important that the federal government make provisions in its action plan to implement a strategy to promote the active offer of French language services.
Another sensitive area is access to justice in both official languages, which is central to many issues relating to federal, provincial, and territorial legislation.
In 2013, we collaborated with the Commissioner of Official Languages and the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick on the publication of a report.
Following one of my recommendations, the Attorney General of Ontario mandated a French Language Services Bench and Bar Advisory Committee, which, in turn, released two other reports, in 2012 and 2015. Essentially, the reports show that it costs more money and taxes and takes more time to proceed in French in Ontario courts.
Those reports also highlighted the many instances of progress made: for example, the formation of regional legal committees. The mandate of the committees is not only to highlight problems, but also to identify and implement concrete and durable solutions. Those committees represent a very remarkable achievement for French-language services.
However, those studies also indicated that the existing process does not guarantee an adequate number of judges with language skills in both official languages.
The addition of the new process for selecting Supreme Court judges is a significant advance. However, it leads to doubt as to the level of bilingualism of the judges who will be appointed to the court.
It is time to act and to set an example by calling for a genuinely bilingual Supreme Court. By that, I mean that the judges should be capable of understanding and conversing in both French and English without the help of an interpreter.
I would add, however, that this week's announcement would seem to confirm that the current process works because the new judge, if appointed by the House of Commons, Senate, and the Office of the Prime Minister, appears to be perfectly bilingual. That would be excellent news.
I would like to conclude my presentation by talking about education and, more specifically, about the Agreement on Minority-Language Education and Second Official-Language Instruction. That agreement is essential for components intended for education in French.
As you know, that agreement expires in 2018. It seems to me that this is the right time to explore new avenues to facilitate the continuum of learning in French and, more specifically, for early childhood development programs and post-secondary education.
Early childhood programs that are funded by the provincial government play a crucial role in maintaining young children's identity and French language, particularly among children of exogamous couples.
While federal funding for early childhood programs in minority communities is laudable, it should be included in the official languages in education agreement to be consistent with provincial programs. In fact, that would allow for greater weight to be placed on the early childhood component in negotiating the next agreement.
I therefore join with the Commissioner of Official Languages, who asked the federal government in his recent report at the beginning of October to make provision in its next five-year plan on official languages for sufficient funds for early childhood initiatives in minority communities.
At the post-secondary level, education in French protects, transmits, and most importantly preserves the French language and culture. This makes a major contribution to ensuring the continued growth of the Franco-Ontarian community.
Colleges and universities are an integral part of the education continuum and play an essential role in training future bilingual and francophone professionals. In doing so, they contribute in the longer term to the welfare of the province, and on a broader scale to the competitiveness of the Canadian economy.
In Ontario, and particularly in southwestern Ontario, we have observed inadequate access to quality post-secondary French programs.
On that point, I am pleased to report the recent announcement by the Ontario Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs, Marie-France Lalonde, of the appointment of Dr. Dyane Adam, to chair the planning board of a French-language university in Ontario.
This is a great step forward, but we must not stop there. We must continue to increase the number of early childhood and post-secondary French-language programs, in areas where the francophone population is growing rapidly and where the programs available are sometimes limited.
In conclusion, I believe our governments have made considerable progress in recent years. The fact remains that this progress has been achieved at a glacial pace when it comes to French-language services. It is time for our governments to mobilize their efforts and collaborate at all levels—federal, provincial, municipal, and, why not, community—to remedy this imbalance.
Thank you all for your attention.
I will now be pleased, Mr. Chair, to answer questions from yourself and your colleagues.
9:20 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Denis Paradis
Thank you, Mr. Boileau.
We'll now begin a round of questions where each committee member will have four minutes.
Ms. Boucher, you may go ahead.