Official Languages Committee on March 23rd, 2022

[Isabelle Mondou]

The province has already been consulted on the bill. I could perhaps say something about this.

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

Please do.

[Isabelle Mondou]

Can I go ahead, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

There are 20 seconds left.

[Isabelle Mondou]

Okay.

We held consultations on the bill with the province. It initially asked us, of course, to respect the jurisdictions, and secondly, to invest whatever funds were needed to move the bill forward.

We really were in contact with the province on a regular basis.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Ms. Mondou.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

Ms. Ashton, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you very much.

I like to talk about the definition of “regions with a strong francophone presence”.

What criteria do you intend two take into consideration to define “regions with a strong francophone presence”?

[Isabelle Mondou]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

To begin with, it was decided not to specify these criteria in the bill, but rather in a regulation, because it will require consultations on matters that were not addressed in the consultations on the bill.

It is therefore during these consultations that communities will be able to help decide what criteria should be used in the definition. A committee of experts also addressed the matter and has begun to ponder the various approaches. Needless to say, we will be taking this committee's report into account, in addition, of course, to holding consultations.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Who is going to be consulted with a view to making the definition fairer and when are these consultations going to begin?

[Isabelle Mondou]

The minister mentioned that as soon as the bill has received royal assent, assuming that it will, she will be ready to begin the consultations.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

With whom will these consultations be held?

[Isabelle Mondou]

They will be held with the stakeholders that we are already familiar with, meaning minority language community organizations, as well as towns and cities. All interested parties will be asked to give their comments.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Moving on to francophone immigration, it has not been meeting the targets set by the government in the rest of Canada.

Why not put these targets in the act, or at least the francophone immigration objective that could maintain a specific threshold of francophones in certain communities?

[Isabelle Mondou]

There are two important factors in the section on francophone immigration, in addition to what is provided in the interpretive clause, which specifies how important it is to contribute to maintaining or increasing the francophone presence.

It is unusual to include a policy in an act, but there will be one in the section on immigration, in which two criteria are mentioned: first of all the requirement to set specific immigration targets to achieve the objective, and secondly, factoring in the importance of immigration to maintain the demographic weight.

That needs to be part of the thinking that goes into the policy and be reflected in the policy eventually adopted by the Minister of Immigration.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

In Bill C‑13, The Department of Canadian Heritage continues its coordination and implementation role for the act, while not having any authority over other federal institutions.

Why was the Treasury Board not made the one and only central agency responsible for implementation?

[Isabelle Mondou]

The Treasury Board will have a very important implementation role to play. It will adopt guidelines, regulations, and in fact everything that provides a legal framework for the departments. It's really the Treasury Board that will be establishing the obligations to which departments are subject, and also afterwards verify that the departments are fulfilling these obligations. It therefore has an essential role to play in the implementation of the act.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

We, like many of the people who spoke here, find that the act does not go far enough to ensure that the Treasury Board is responsible for this implementation. We have the same crucial concern.

I'd like to return to one of the questions asked by one of my colleagues and it is a rather specific one. Under the modernized act, will the commissioner be able to impose $25,000 fines on other companies that provide passenger service?

[Isabelle Mondou]

The monetary penalties will apply only in the context of the Official Languages Act, and will be applicable to companies named by the minister, like Air Canada, Marine Atlantic, the airport authorities, etc.

However, I would like to say something about the $25,000 amount that has been prominent in our discussions. That's not the maximum fine that can be imposed on a company. In fact, there could be three different violations on the same day, three complaints for which the commissioner could impose fines of $25,000 each. So on a given day, a company, let's say Air Canada for instance, could be fined a total of $75,000. The $25,000 is only the limit per violation, and not per company. I just wanted to point that out.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

There's another matter of concern to us, namely the federal-provincial agreements. We questioned the minister about this. This was clearly a missed opportunity to support francophone communities by means of agreements covering the main issues of everyday life.

Why wasn't this included in the act?

[Isabelle Mondou]

The minister answered this question very thoroughly, and I'm not sure I can do any better.

I nevertheless would like to add an item of information. You can't judge the past, because new measures will be implemented to strengthen part VII of the act. This addition will apply not only to bilateral agreements, but also, generally speaking, to all government decisions. It's difficult to judge past results, because the obligation will be strengthened by this measure.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Mondou.

We still have a little time left for questions.

We have a new colleague with us today, Mr. Lehoux.

Mr. Lehoux, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to our witnesses for joining us today.

This is in fact my first time with the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

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

Bravo!

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

I've come at the right time, when you're analyzing Bill C‑13.

As it happens, the following appears in the Commissioner of Official Languages' report:

Canadian Heritage, as part of its Official Languages Support Programs, adapted its management rules to maintain funding to recipient organizations despite delays in delivering promised results or the refocusing of their activities as a result of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

That's understandable. Can you comment, Deputy Minister, on the delays being alluded to by the commissioner?

[Isabelle Mondou]

I'm going to ask my colleague, Sarah Boily, to answer your question. However, I'd like to add that when funds are not delivered in the specific month, they are often carried over to the next fiscal year. In other words, the money is not lost.

So, over to my colleague.