Yes, of course.
Substantive equality is the concept that applies to language rights. When it comes to equality between Canada’s official languages, section 16(1) of the charter states that: English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada.
This means that official languages must be part of Canada’s DNA in every aspect of its administration, be it federal, legislative or judicial. This also means that when official languages are applied, they must be equal in terms of quality. It is not a matter of offering a service in English and not offering it in French, for instance. On the contrary, it must always be offered in both languages. Furthermore, services offered and published texts, among other things, must be of equal quality. That is part of substantive equality.
There is another important aspect. With the concept of substantive equality, we recognize that not everyone in life is equal from the start. Some advantages, for example, flow from the fact that the English language has spread throughout the world and is in a hegemonic position. We cannot deny that English is omnipresent. In the same way, we cannot deny that French is in decline. Therefore, more must be done to better support French and level the playing field. That is what substantive equality means. It means establishing true equality between two entities, two languages which, in this case, do not have equal weight on the playing field. Every tool available under the law must be brought to bear to level the playing field, to establish equality between both languages.