Thank you asking that important and relevant question, Mr. Beaulieu.
You wondered whether the language planning model used had resulted in failures, from an official languages perspective, in managing the pandemic. In fact, it's more the governance model. Whether under a territorial or personalistic regime, many Canadians, even in the House of Commons, and many researchers were unaware that the Official Languages Act didn't have the necessary normative force to guide the government's action in a pandemic context. Many people have discovered that the bilingual labelling of disinfectant products is governed, not by the Official Languages Act, but by other legislation.
Canadians may have been surprised to see that the Official Languages Act wasn't integrated into the emergency plan. As my colleague Mr. Larocque has clearly shown, regulations and statutes must align with each other. This can also be seen in the case of Mr. Normand, who filed a complaint that wound up at Health Canada, not on the desk of the Commissioner of Official Languages. However, that department doesn't have the necessary mechanism to handle official languages complaints, but the complaint didn't fall within the purview of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
This is a governance issue. No governance mechanism has been put in place to ensure that official languages aren't forgotten.
I have a possible explanation. The officials who conducted the analysis from an official languages standpoint wondered whether exempting products from bilingual labelling requirements contravened the Official Languages Act, decided no or perhaps, and thought that the interviews would help them determine the answer and that, if it didn't contravene the act, they could go ahead.
The Prime Minister confirmed at a press conference that the Official Languages Act is important for our identity, but does that mean it isn't important for our public health and safety? The Official Languages Act definitely puts a lot of emphasis on identity, but it also concerns a citizenship issue.
It's very important to integrate official languages governance into the federal government.