Official Languages Committee on May 9th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have 30 seconds left, Mr. Généreux.

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

Time goes by way too fast.

Minister, is there a political connection between your department and these appointments? As minister, do you personally recommend specific individuals to be nominated to CN's board.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

No. CN is a private corporation and they get to make their business decisions on their own. However, we at Transport Canada have a responsibility to ensure that they are upholding the highest safety rules and that they are meeting their—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thanks, Minister.

I have to cut you off there because there's another four minutes from our colleague, Ms. Arielle Kayabaga.

Ms. Kayabaga, you have the floor for four minutes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First of all, I want to thank the minister for being here today.

Minister, you wanted to finish your comment to Monsieur Beaulieu. I will allow you to start there, as I think he deserves to hear that answer.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Kayabaga.

On the question about uniform language, I understand the point you're making. However, I also want to remind everyone that just as we are talking about the importance of safety and the ability of workers to work so they can do their jobs properly, we also need to respect the rights of individuals who may not be able to speak French so they can do their jobs safely and adequately.

We want to protect the rights of both languages. Obviously, French is under a more significant type of threat than English. I recognize that, but when it comes to safety also, we want to make sure that those who don't speak French are able to conduct their jobs safely. That said, we will do everything we can to ensure that CN upholds its responsibility towards its workers and customers when it comes to the French language.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

How often are director positions renewed? How long are the terms, and how many times can they be renewed?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Again, at the risk of answering on behalf of CN, I will share with you my knowledge. I know that you're going to speak with CN.

My understanding is that each term is a one-year term. It's renewable, but it happens to be a one-year term.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

How do you think Bill C‑13 would change the way businesses like CN approach the French language?

How do you think that would benefit francophones across Canada?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Bill C-13 builds on our government's commitment to protect the French language and to ensure that francophones are supported whenever they want to work in the workplace, ensuring that they use their language of choice. It also gives additional powers and authorities to the official languages commissioner to impose significant fines to make sure that it's not only made public, but also imposed and that there are financial ramifications to such infractions.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have one minute left, Ms. Kayabaga.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

How do Air Canada and CN compare with respect to the Official Languages Act?

Do you think the present situation at Air Canada and CN is representative of the way we would like to see businesses of that size across Canada conducting themselves with francophones in and outside Quebec?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I think it's important to note the difference between Air Canada and CN, in that Air Canada has customer-facing interactions with its millions of passengers, while CN deals with business customers and obviously has a lot of workers. So does Air Canada, but there's a difference in the nature of their business, and that's why there is additional emphasis, as we've said before, on Air Canada and the complaints that Air Canada received.

I think both need to continue to uphold their obligation under the Official Languages Act.

I see you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Minister. It seems cruel, but I have to do that.

Minister Alghabra, as we say to our other witnesses who have been here in the past, if you have anything else that you think should be shared with our committee, please provide our clerk with a written addendum to today's testimony and she'll share that with all members.

Thank you, Minister. It was a pleasure and an honour to have you with us, as well as your officials here today.

We will reconvene on Wednesday. The meeting is adjourned.