Official Languages Committee on Nov. 1st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Drouin.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I appreciate the history lesson my colleague is giving us, but we are dealing with the administration of the bill, not the content. Mr. Beaulieu's comments are in no way connected to the content of the motion. I do not want to take away his right to speak, he has the right to speak, but his comments must be related to what we are discussing at this time.

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

I see this as very relevant to the motion. Gagging Quebec once again—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Drouin, I was going to make that observation, but, however tenuous, there is still a link with what Mr. Beaulieu is telling us.

Mr. Beaulieu, I could see the connection you were making, but please try to focus as much as possible on the subject of the motion.

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

The main point I want to make is that the Official Languages Act completely ignores French Quebec. This committee was created by that act and we want to see its work continue. French in Quebec, as well as outside of Quebec, cannot continue to decline.

Before the Official Languages Act, 6% of francophones lived outside Quebec. Today, outside Quebec, just over 3% of people have French as their mother tongue and 2.1% have French as their home language.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Beaulieu, I apologize for interrupting—

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

Now, they're telling us that they won't listen to Quebec's requests because they want to rush to help francophones outside of Quebec, but that's not working.

I'd like to quickly come back to that point. It is very important to consider the Quebec government's demands. It is the only francophone state in America. All the federal government has managed to do is say that anglophones are the minority in Quebec and that it will support them with a series of official language programs in health and education, among other things.

When the Official Languages Act was established in the 1960s, anglophones were the dominant class and elite in Canada, even in Quebec. Their institutions were in the majority and overfunded.

With the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, the Quebec government began to wake up. As a result, the federal government decided to help francophone and Acadian communities. For a long time and over several generations, these communities had been prohibited from teaching French. Statistics Canada figures showed that 70% of francophones outside Quebec had been assimilated. A movement originating in English Canada had actually risen up in opposition to the collecting of this data.

Now we decide to help—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Beaulieu. You may continue to speak, but your comments must be on the motion.

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

I find this motion unacceptable because it aims to prevent debate. Bill C‑13 is unacceptable for Quebec. If this gag order is passed, there is no doubt that we will continue our work and do everything we can, because their action will effectively demonstrate that the only solution for the future of French in Quebec is independence.

I think that I am one of the few people here to want that, but this will help us do it. With respect to the Official Languages Act, the Government of Quebec is asking for a differentiated approach that will introduce an asymmetry of principles in favour of the French language, because anglophones in Quebec, I said it, cannot be considered the equivalent of francophone communities outside Quebec. From the outset, francophone communities outside Quebec have needed far more support.

According to a study conducted by the Commission nationale des parents francophones titled “Où sont passés les milliards $?”, based on data collected from 1970 to 1996, 47% of the money was invested in English-language educational institutions in Quebec even though they were already overfunded. I believe that less than 30% of the money was invested in French-language schools outside Quebec. According to this study, assimilation is continuing, it is progressing at a rapid pace and yet nothing is happening. I think that this must be condemned.

I want to come back to the motion before us. Equating anglophones in Quebec with francophone minorities outside Quebec divides francophones in Canada by putting us in opposition. The rights that are granted to francophones outside Quebec are granted to anglophones in Quebec, who are already overfunded

I want to talk specifically about the proposed amendment. You said that the Minister of Official Languages, the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship have been invited to appear no later than Thursday, November 17. Will all of them appear? What will happen to the other witnesses? Several other witnesses were supposed to come explain what I am currently talking about. They can't come next week, since it's a break week. That brings us to November 17.

Clearly, they don't want to listen to us. They don't want to hear from the people of Quebec. Basically, the statement in the Speech from the Throne and everything the Liberals have said about defending French in Quebec is smoke and mirrors. There is nothing in the bill in this regard. It continues to talk about official language anglophone and francophone minorities.

With respect to Part VII of the Official Languages Act and positive measures, the federal government will continue to fund all anglophone organizations that are actively working to teach immigrants English. If these organizations were working to ensure that anglophones had services in English, everyone would agree, but what they want is to be able to anglicize about one-third of immigrants, which would increase the demographic weight of anglophones. This phenomenon was already well under way before the Official Languages Act and Bill 101. The latter managed to redress the situation somewhat, but it was quickly weakened by the federal government, especially after the adoption of the Constitution Act of 1982. This is deplorable. In the Constitution Act of 1982, there were very useful principles for francophone and Acadian communities and—

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Chair, a point of order.

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

I want to come back to that second point.

I have the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Please wait a moment, Mr. Beaulieu.

Someone has raised a point of order, and we need to hear it.

I think it was Mr. Serré.

We are listening, Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Beaulieu will likely continue to speak and give a history lesson, as mentioned earlier.

Mr. Chair, I see that the first hour is coming to a close. Should we take leave of the witnesses and ask them to submit a brief to the committee?

By the way, Mr. Beaulieu, the Government of Quebec declined to come testify before the committee. I just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you.

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

Point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Does this have to do with Mr. Serré's point about the witnesses?

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

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead.

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

I disagree with Mr. Serré. Witnesses need to see precisely what is happening. I absolutely do not want them to miss this ridiculous smoke show we are witnessing. I need to address them about the motion that we are discussing right now. Mr. Chartrand mentioned my name in his testimony, so I absolutely must speak to him before he leaves.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are debating a motion and we still have Mr. Vis, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Godin who wish to speak.

Mr. Serré, you did not make a motion, rather you made a suggestion. Consequently, there will be no debate on that. I'm sorry. I want to do my job as chair correctly, so—

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

I wasn't done speaking, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I have not forgotten you, Mr. Beaulieu. I am closing the parenthesis that was opened by Mr. Serré. It was not a motion. For the benefit of the witnesses and all those listening, I would like to point out that there will be no debate on this.

We will not be able to release our witnesses before the hour. In the meantime, they are free to do whatever they want, of course, but there are about five minutes left, so we ask them to stay, if possible. Then there will be a second panel of witnesses.

Before you take the floor, Mr. Beaulieu, for those who are wondering if their names were noted, I simply want to say that I have taken down their names and I will call them in chronological order. There is Mr. Vis, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Godin.

With that, I'll close the parenthesis and give the floor back to Mr. Beaulieu on the motion.

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

I would like clarification on the order, as there seems to be some confusion.

The names you listed were Mr. Vis, Mr. Généreux and myself, correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

As I mentioned in my introduction when I was addressing the committee members and the witnesses, the clerk and I will note, in chronological order, the names of those who indicate their intention to speak. In chronological order, after Mr. Beaulieu, we have Mr. Vis, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Godin.

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

Actually, Mr. Chair, I just want you to verify that information with the clerk.

Madam Clerk, is that what you noted as the chronological order regarding speaking rights? Is that Mr. Vis, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Godin?

[The Clerk]

I just clarified that with Mr. Vis and Mr. Généreux.

I confirm that it is Mr. Généreux, Mr. Vis, Mr. Godin and Mr. Dalton.