Official Languages Committee on May 18th, 2017

[Madeleine Meilleur]

Do you mean all judges?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

I mean the justices of the Supreme Court.

[Madeleine Meilleur]

Yes, I am, completely.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Secondly, 40 years ago, we introduced a bill, on August 26, 1977, which stated that Quebec workers had the right to receive written communications from their employer in French. Someone who works for a credit union has that right pursuant to Bill 101, but another person who works in a federally regulated bank does not have that right to receive his documents in French. Do you agree with us? Should that same right be extended to someone who works for a federally regulated employer, like a chartered bank?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

You are putting something to me I have never had a chance to think about. You say there is a bill in this regard?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Yes, I introduced it during the previous Parliament.

Let's talk about the principle. Should a person who works for a bank also have the right to receive documents from his employer in French, like the worker in a credit union?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

I can't answer you at this time. It's difficult to answer without having had an opportunity to examine the situation closely and obtain legal advice.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

We all spoke before about the constitutional guarantees that have been extended and interpreted as applying to school commissions of the linguistic minority. That was the Mahé decision. There have been a series of court decisions that have extended that, including, of course, to the English-speaking community of Quebec. Last year the Quebec government put forward a bill that would have eliminated school boards, including English-language school boards.

What would be your position if that bill were to be put forward? As official languages commissioner, how would you situate yourself with regard to the constitutional right of the English-speaking minority in Quebec to have care and control of school boards of the linguistic minority?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

What I can say is that in Ontario the francophone community has control of their schools and their school boards.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

I'm talking about a province that put forward legislation to eliminate all school boards, including the minority school boards.

[Madeleine Meilleur]

I cannot answer this right now.

I would be very interested in looking into it. To ask me, as I appear here, to give you a legal opinion from the Commissariat aux services en français, I cannot.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Actually, in both cases it wasn't a legal opinion so much as a feeling for your reflexes.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Mulcair.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor.

We are going to have three-minute rounds now.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Ms. Meilleur, let's recapitulate.

You met Mr. Butts, or you spoke with him. You had a coffee with Ms. Telford from the Prime Minister's Office. You spoke to the Commissioner of Official Languages. You went to an evening held for the benefit of the Prime Minister, in one way or another.

Do you think that all of the candidates have had the same privileges to help them obtain this position?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

Absolutely not.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I'll repeat my question: do you think that all of the candidates have had the same privileges as you had before obtaining this position? Your answer is “no”?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

I thought you were talking about having access to these people.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

My question is clear, but I could ask it again.

[Madeleine Meilleur]

I will correct myself, and the answer is no.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Do you think that all of the candidates who applied for the position had the same privileges as you did to help in obtaining this position?

[Madeleine Meilleur]

Absolutely, because this is a rigorous process.

The position was open, and I applied. I have a roadmap that does not mention what I will do, but what I have done.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Excuse me, Ms. Meilleur, but I only have three minutes.

You donated $5,000 to the Liberal Party of Canada, and $500 to Mr. Trudeau's leadership campaign. I don't think all of the candidates did that. I don't know the other candidates, but I expect that they did not all do that. You are telling me that donating these funds, meeting Mr. Butts, having a coffee with Ms. Telford, meeting the Commissioner of Official Languages, attending an evening with the Prime Minister, all of that provides a certain advantage or visibility with regard to a position that is open in government.

[Madeleine Meilleur]

As I said, I applied. I submitted a resume; I went to a first interview, and a second one, I went through all of the steps and was finally chosen as the nominee for the position. I am not the commissioner yet. I am passionate about official languages. If the position is offered to me, I will get down to work with a lot of enthusiasm.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I am going to give my last minute to Mr. Mulcair.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

What are the names of the two people on the selection committee which you said were from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Department of Canadian Heritage?