Official Languages Committee on March 23rd, 2022

Evidence of meeting #11 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Mandate, Priorities and Pressing Issues for the Minister of Official Languages

MPs speaking

René Arseneault
Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Joël Godin
Angelo Iacono
Mario Beaulieu
Niki Ashton
Jacques Gourde
Arielle Kayabaga
Bernard Généreux
Patricia Lattanzio
Francis Drouin
Richard Lehoux

Also speaking

Isabelle Mondou  Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
Sarah Boily  Director General, Official Languages, Department of Canadian Heritage
Julie Boyer  Assistant Deputy Minister, Official Languages, Heritage and Regions, Department of Canadian Heritage

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON

London is not a bilingual city, but it has the francophone designation because a certain percentage of francophones live there. How can your department supports cities like London so that they can be in a position to retain francophones? What kind of investments do you think could be made to achieve that?

5:25 p.m.

Director General, Official Languages, Department of Canadian Heritage

Sarah Boily

That's an excellent question.

We definitely have programs to encourage this, such as French courses for residents of London. The focus here is on young elementary and high school students. Some tools have also been developed for adults. You have no doubt heard of the Mauril app, which is free and accessible to all Canadians. The application focuses on Canadian cultural products in connection with second official language instruction. After that, I would encourage every city in the same situation as London to build bridges with francophone cities in Quebec, or with other Canadian cities interested in the francophonie.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON

Thank you for your answer.

I think that…

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal René Arseneault

Excuse me, Ms. Kayabaga. You have 15 seconds left.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON

Okay.

We could also give consideration to a program that might encourage other cities where francophones live to obtain this designation, because it's useful for education, medical care and many other things.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal René Arseneault

Thank you very much.

That brings us to the end of this meeting.

On behalf of all the members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, I'd like to thank Ms. Petitpas Taylor's team, which is very knowledgeable in its field.

Thank you for the details you were able to provide us with in your testimony. You agreed to send us some documents concerning a number of questions that were asked. If you think of other information that could help us as part of this study, don't hesitate to provide us with additional documentation through our clerk. We are truly grateful.

And thank you for coming, Mr. Lehoux.

The meeting is adjourned.