Evidence of meeting #25 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 subamendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Moncton, As an Individual
I'd rather let the people of Quebec answer this question. I believe that francophone communities outside Quebec have enough problems already.
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
I'd like my colleague, the Honourable Joan Fraser, to answer the question.
Director, Board of Directors, Quebec Community Groups Network
I believe that it's altogether possible to promote, encourage and enrich the use of the French language in Quebec without impinging upon the anglophone community.
For example, according to the provisions of Bill C‑13 that pertain to the use of French in federally regulated private businesses, services must be provided in French, and may be provided in English.
For federally regulated private businesses, it would be desirable, and perhaps consistent with the official languages principle, to provide customer services in French. However, if someone were to request service in English, that person should have the right to receive it in English. French as a second language, for people from elsewhere who come here…
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Ms. Fraser.
Mr. Beaulieu, the second vice-chair of the committee, will ask the next question.
Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first question is for the representatives of the Quebec Community Groups Network.
Ms. Jennings, you said that Bill 96 was a recipe for the eradication of Quebec's anglophone community. You also drew a parallel between Bill 96 and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Isn't that a little over the top?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
I sent a tweet to congratulate Premier François Legault for his assistance and very clear support of the Ukrainian people during the horrible invasion by Putin. He was praising the Ukrainian people, who were defending democratic principles. I asked Mr. Legault why it would be necessary to suspend fundamental rights guaranteed by the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I then sent another tweet because I thought I had expressed myself poorly or perhaps drawn a tactless parallel related to democracy and rights…
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Thank you for acknowledging that you expressed yourself poorly.
Was your mention of the eradication of English or the anglophone community also poorly expressed?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
I definitely did not express myself poorly.
I was not talking about the English language, but the English-speaking minority community, one of Canada's official language communities.
Bloc
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
When you restrict employment opportunities, access to government services in English and all the possibilities…
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Ms. Jennings, I don't have a lot of speaking time to ask my questions.
You're not answering my questions.
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
As speaking time is very limited, I would suggest that the QCGN answer all the questions in writing. That would enable us to go into greater depth. We'd be happy to do that.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
You could certainly do that.
I have another question for you, Ms. Jennings.
Do you agree that Quebec is a minority within Canada.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
So you should be in agreement with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. According to this UN committee: “A group may constitute a majority in a province [like French-speaking Quebec] but still be a minority in a State and thus be entitled to the benefits of article 27 [which is about minorities]. English-speaking citizens of Canada cannot be considered a linguistic minority.”
In Quebec, anglophones are part of the majority. It's as a result of this majority that they can enact legislation like the Official Languages Act and make it applicable to the Quebec, francophone and Acadian minority, even though it is anglicizing Quebec.
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
Canada's Official Languages Act recognizes two official languages and English-speaking and French-speaking minority communities everywhere in Canada. Recognition is through a quasi-constitutional Canadian statute, the Official Languages Act, or the OLA.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
The brief presented by the QCGN says that the Charter of the French Language is incompatible with the policy objectives of the OLA.
I think that we are going to have to agree on the fact that newcomers have to be integrated to assure the future of French in Quebec.
Researchers and the government say that 90% of language transfers would have to be towards French. And yet you believe that you have the right to assimilate newcomers.
You use the first official language spoken criterion, and include newcomers to Quebec who speak English and who will have to be taught French to assure the future of French in Quebec.
You are therefore against French as a common language.
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
No, that's not the case Mr. Beaulieu.
To begin with, we said that the Charter of the French Language, as amended by Bill 96, a Quebec bill which is now an act, was incompatible with the Official Languages Act, a quasi-constitutional statute. The reason we said that was because its use...
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Ms. Jennings, my speaking time is nearly up.
Quebec is trying to make French the only official and common language for the integration of newcomers. According to the Official Languages Act, there are two official languages. This therefore prevents the francization of immigrants.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Ms. Jennings and Mr. Beaulieu.
That's all the time we have.
Ms. Ashton, you have the floor for six minutes.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to welcome all the witnesses.
My questions will be for Mr. Doucet.
Mr. Doucet, we think that if the language clauses were systematically negotiated in agreements between the federal government and the provinces and territories, they might have a considerable impact on the availability of services in French across Canada. If language clauses had been negotiated for the provision of early childhood education services to francophones and francophiles in Canada…
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Ms. Ashton, I apologize for interrupting.
The technicians are telling me that your mike isn't working well. They're suggesting that you should unplug your mike and plug it back in.
Don't worry. I stopped the clock.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Okay.
If language clauses had been negotiated for the provision of early childhood education services to francophones and francophiles in Canada, we could have sustainably altered Canada's social fabric and built bridges.
Manitoba is coping with the same challenge. We need to make sure that our children can attend day care services in French. These kinds of missed opportunities must be avoided in future.
Do you think that the government should systematically negotiate language clauses with the provinces and territories in agreements of this kind?
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Moncton, As an Individual
I believe that it's absolutely essential for the federal government to make sure that the provinces, and the anglophone provinces of Canada in particular, respect the francophone communities. You mentioned early childhood. In my view—and I have been saying so since the 1990s—for francophone communities outside Quebec, early childhood is the heart of the matter. Without tools to enable young children to have access to French-language day care services and programs that will prepare them for French-language school attendance, the francophone communities may lose the battle. It's therefore an essential factor.
The federal government needs to make sure that the funds earmarked for francophone communities are indeed used for that purpose, and not something else. We need clauses, but we also need to make sure that they are binding on the provincial governments, which must be made accountable for how they have used these funds.
