Official Languages Committee on April 13th, 2021

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

You did not answer my question, but I will gladly work with you to introduce legislation.

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

Thank you, Minister. You can count on my support.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you both.

The last speaker is Mr. Duguid, who has five minutes.

Monsieur Duguid, the floor is yours.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Minister. It's great to have you with us.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

It's good to see you.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Minister, we have two Manitobans in the committee today, Mr. Mazier and myself. As you know, we have a vibrant francophone community in Manitoba. You'll remember that because I took you to École Noël-Ritchot—

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I know.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

—a French school, K to eight, where the students spoke beautiful French and where we were opening a French child care centre.

Minister, French is declining in the west. We know there's a shortage of both French teachers and French immersion teachers, with the demand [Technical difficulty-Editor] really growing. We have evidence—my daughter, for one—that even though they've been through French immersion, they're losing their French because they don't have the opportunity to use it. I'm wondering how your reform document will address these and other pressing issues.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, dear colleague.

Thank you for your advocacy on this file. I think we can definitely count you as an ally.

Obviously, we want to make sure that we get rid of waiting lists when it comes to French immersion. Too many parents are putting their kids on waiting lists across the country, and that's unfortunate. Every time we lose a child who can't go to French immersion, we lose a citizen who can become bilingual.

One of the reasons for that is definitely the lack of French teachers. We want to do two things. First and foremost is working with provinces and territories to recognize diplomas, and particularly French teachers with diplomas. That's the first one.

The second one is working with the Minister of Immigration to create a new immigration pathway to be able to provide permanent residency to French educators coming from around the world who want to offer their knowledge and expertise to our kids. I think that will be welcomed by our colleagues across the country.

I had the chance to talk to the Manitoba ministers of education and francophone affairs yesterday; Mrs. Squires is one of them. They particularly saw that as good news for Manitoba. I think we can all work in the right direction to make sure we can offer more French teachers to our French immersion system, to French second language but also to our French schooling system itself—the French education system, which is the system for the minority in Manitoba and across the west.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

I look forward to working with you on those improvements, Minister.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Do at least say “hi” to Franco-Manitobans for me.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

I sure will. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

We'll stop here. We have a minute and a half left.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

May I thank my colleagues?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Please do so.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you.

It is my pleasure to...

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Chair, I know that Marie-France [Technical difficulty—Editor] opportunity earlier so perhaps I could give her that opportunity. No?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Your caucus has one minute and twenty seconds.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I can continue the discussion, colleagues.

Mrs. Marie-France Lalonde, my parliamentary secretary, will certainly be able to follow up with all of you as well if you have any questions.

Just so you know, our goal [Technical difficulty—Editor] their point of view. I've already talked to seven of the thirteen provinces and territories. Finally...

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Excuse me, Mr. Beaulieu would like to speak.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I don't know if the minister will agree, but I was wondering if the two opposition parties could also have a say, as in a third round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I don't think that's possible.

We have witnesses for the second hour of the meeting. One of the things we need to do is test for sound quality.

The time that was allotted for this meeting hour is over.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

How is it that everyone has had three turns to speak but us?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Beaulieu, these are the rules of the Board of Internal Economy. This is the speaking order that is followed for this meeting hour, as usual.

Madam Minister, you have the floor for the remaining 30 seconds.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

As you know, we are in a minority government. In order to pass an official languages bill, we're going to have to work together. I look forward to working with you. We all know that this is legislation that will have a huge impact on the future of our young francophones and francophiles across the country.

We also need to craft it in a way that maintains a balance, that protects the rights of English Canadians to have access to French-language instruction. We also need to ensure that English speakers in Quebec have access to their institutions. We must think about our francophone minority communities and ensure that they are able, in one generation, two generations and three generations, to speak French. Finally, we must think about French-speaking Quebeckers who are also concerned about the future of their language.