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.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Maybe in the same light as my colleague, I would submit for consideration, seeing as the witnesses were cut off for an hour, that maybe we can reconvene them for another hour.
My question is for Ms. Jennings.
Since Bill C-13 includes the reference to the Charter of the French Language specifically, can you elaborate on the effects of the recent adoption of Bill 96 on English-speaking Quebec and how it ties in with those concerns?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
You only have three minutes for the question and answer. Clearly, I would not be able to provide a fulsome answer to that. I can highlight a number of things, which are, one, it puts restrictions on or makes it extremely difficult for employers, and that includes in public institutions, to hire individuals who speak a language other than French. It reduces the level of services, both in the health and social services sectors. It makes access to services in English in justice much more difficult. It's put a cap on the student enrolment in the CEGEPs. There is a whole list.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
I don't mean to cut you off, but maybe you can provide all of this in writing as I go on to the next question.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
You said that Bill C-13 does not go far enough to fix the historical problems of part VII of the act. Can you please provide a specific recommendation for how you think part VII should be amended?
My last question is more of a judicial one. What impacts would recognizing a provincial law, such as the Quebec charter, in a federal act have on the interpretation of the latter? Could this reference negatively affect the interpretation of the recognized rights of Quebec's anglophone communities?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
Those are excellent questions.
I'm going to ask Maître Sandilands to respond.
Counsel, Quebec Community Groups Network
Thank you.
I'll start with your second question first. Legally the impacts of acknowledging the Charter of the French Language in federal legislation are simply not known. Could they negatively affect the rights of English-speaking Quebeckers? Yes, they certainly could.
On part VII, we've expressed two main concerns, and our recommendations four, five, six and seven speak to the improvements to part VII that we're asking for, first, to make it legally enforceable and, second, to make it work better for English-speaking Quebec. Those are elaborated on in our brief.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Ms. Lattanzio.
We will now go to the Bloc québécois.
It's over to you now, Mr. Beaulieu, for no more than a minute and a half.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Once again, my question is for Ms. Jennings.
Ms. Jennings, the federal government considers anglophones to be the official language minority in Quebec, just as francophone and Acadian communities are in the minority in the rest of Canada. However, in Quebec, all funding for official languages programs goes to the anglophone community.
Do you find that acceptable?
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
For example, your organization receives perhaps $1 million per year, in addition to funds from the Court Challenges Program and from official language access to justice programs.
These programs were established under the Official Languages Act. The money that goes to the French schools is used to teach English to francophones. The rest goes entirely to the anglophone side of things.
Do you think that's reasonable?
President, Quebec Community Groups Network
You are well aware of the fact that the application of the Official Languages Act is currently asymmetrical. We find that perfectly appropriate. Let's look at Canadian Heritage spending in 2018.
Their mean expenditure by province for official language programming was $308.88 per official language minority citizen. It was $48.65 for each English-speaking Quebecker.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Mr. Beaulieu and Ms. Jennings, there is no more speaking time.
Thank you, Ms. Jennings. You can get back to what you were saying later on.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
I'm sorry, but the speaking time was for a minute and a half.
I'll be suggesting a little later on that you send your answers in writing.
The final speaker is Ms. Ashton.
Ms. Ashton, please go ahead for a minute and a half.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you.
My question is for Mr. Doucet.
Mr. Doucet, for the past few weeks we have been conducting a study on francophone immigration. Many witnesses, including people from New Brunswick, have told us that the issue of francophone immigration is a matter of survival.
Do you think that the government should develop a proper francophone immigration policy and work with the Société nationale de l'Acadie and other similar organizations that have links abroad?
Do you believe that the government should promote our francophone minority communities to those we want to welcome here as new Canadians in francophone communities, and particularly in minority communities?
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Moncton, As an Individual
I could not have expressed that any better than you have just done. Yes, francophone communities need more support in terms of immigration. Right now, the survival of these communities depends on it.
In New Brunswick, newcomers mainly integrate into the anglophone community. We are still not meeting either the provincial or federal targets.
The 4% target for Canada and the 33% target for New Brunswick are inadequate to maintain the demographic weight of francophone communities. The percentages would probably have to be reversed. It's essential for francophones to meet a francophone immigration target that is much higher than 4%.
If we believe in the survival of francophone communities across Canada, then the federal and provincial governments need to take this issue seriously.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Doucet and Ms. Ashton.
I apologize to the witnesses. I know that things were hurried. There are some days when, as part of our duties as parliamentarians, we have to deal with motions. So we're sorry, but that's just a fact of parliamentary life.
I'd like to ask the witnesses to send the committee clerk any additional information they consider important. She will get this information to us quickly.
Once again, thanks to everyone.
We have to leave, because another committee meeting is going to be held in this room.
The meeting is adjourned.