Official Languages Committee on Dec. 6th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have 15 seconds left, Mr. Dalton.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Okay.

In that case, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much.

The last five-minute round will be divided in two, between Mr. Drouin and Ms. Kayabaga.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

We've discussed the targets. We've talked about taking in more francophones. To do that, we obviously have to have the local infrastructure with which to receive them.

There's a francophone community in my riding, a small welcoming town called Hawkesbury. I know the Cité collégiale campus was established there, and the minister responsible for that is here today.

The Cité collégiale's mandate is to train and prepare francophone immigrants who are in Africa. I also know that, when we came to power, francophones were welcomed in English at Pearson airport, but that has changed.

With regard to all that, Minister, how important do you think it is to welcome francophone immigrants to Canada?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

It's very important.

But there's a problem. This isn't the topic of the day's discussion, but it's an essential factor in providing services in French. In francophone immigration, it isn't enough just to reach a certain number. It's essential that we enable people who have chosen to live in French to do so.

It's important to welcome francophones in French, but it's also important to provide services in both official languages in day care centres, high schools and stores.

I come from a very small rural community. During my first election campaign, my community lost a school and mental health care services. Imagine the consequences if the francophone community lost those same services. The community wouldn't exist in French. Families would lose the opportunity to live in the language of their choice. That's not acceptable in Canada.

It's important to promote an inclusive culture so we can promote and protect the French language, but also to protect Canada's culture and its two official languages.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

There's not much time left, Mr. Drouin. We will go to Ms. Kayabaga.

Ms. Kayabaga, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll ask these questions in English to save time, as I have only two minutes. I'll also ask two questions in one.

I'm wondering if you think it would beneficial for us to boost the number of French-speaking PRs if we were able to bring more francophone workers into the country.

I'm also wondering if we can do something to leverage the express entry program, which we amended in 2017.

Lastly, how can we use the tools at our disposal to tell the francophone world that Canada wants to make this a priority?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I'll reciprocate and answer in English, because I talk really fast in English too.

The answer to your first question is, yes, let's increase the number of permanent residents who are francophone. We need to do that not just because it's the right thing; the economic opportunity for Canada to be a destination of choice for people who want to live in French and work in French would blow you away. When I meet with organizations in western Canada—I was in Alberta a number of months ago with a network promoting francophone immigration—the opportunity to attract skilled workers to communities where they can live in the language of their choice is extraordinary. We need to embrace it for economic as well as moral reasons.

On express entry, new flexibilities that will come into effect this spring will allow us to choose workers through the federal economic streams for the first time based on the sector they work in, the region in which they plan to live and their linguistic competencies. We will have the ability to do a targeted draw based on a person's linguistic competencies, including whether they can speak French or whether they are francophone. This will create a flexible opportunity for me in the short term to further increase the number of francophone newcomers who obtain permanent residency. We plan to look at the best ways to do that in collaboration with communities across the country.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you.

Before the chair cuts me off, Minister, I want to make sure I correct myself.

I talked about reducing the number of tests that francophones are required to take.

What I meant was that we should update that so they're on the same level as Canadian francophones. The tests that people currently take are at such a level that even Canadians couldn't pass them.

I absolutely wanted to make that correction before my time is up in the chair cuts me off.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I understand. I have already had the opportunity to discuss with my deputy minister the need to review some of the language testing requirements to facilitate the entry into Canada of more francophones.

I appreciate your clarification.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Minister.

I daresay that everything that comes from the Atlantic is invaluable and clear. I want to thank you for your poise and for expressing yourself in French.

Thanks as well to Mr. Vis, who is on screen, to Mr. Dalton, to Ms. Ashton, who speaks very good French too, and to Mr. Drouin, who masters the French language as well.

The effort that you make is an example for others to follow, and it's reassuring.

That being said, we will briefly suspend to allow the next panel of witnesses—

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, before you suspend, I'd like to tell you that the quality of your French is excellent too.

[Some voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you,

We will suspend briefly, and then we will hear from the team of the President of the Treasury Board, Ms. Fortier.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We will resume.

We are in the second hour of the meeting.

We have the pleasure of welcoming the Hon. Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board. She is accompanied by Sonia LeBris, Acting Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, and Carsten Quell, Executive Director. Welcome to the committee.

Ms. Fortier, I think this is the first time that we have had you here in your capacity as President of the Treasury Board, although you have previously been with us around this table as a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Everyone knows the routine. You will have five minutes for your presentation, after which we will go to rounds of questions. I am very strict on time.

Ms. Fortier, the floor is yours.

[Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I feel very honoured to be here today.

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that I am speaking to you from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

I have defended and promoted the official languages and linguistic duality all my life. As a proud Franco-Ontarian who has worked in this field for the past 35 years, I am very honoured to be here with you today to advance the first major modernization of the Official Languages Act in more than 30 years.

As you know, English and French, together with the Indigenous languages and cultures, are central to Canada's history and identity. They contribute to our diversity, our inclusivity, our social cohesiveness and our resilience.

According to the results of a recent poll released by the Commissioner of Official Languages, the population of Canada is very much in favour of the act's objectives, and 87% of Canadians across the country support it.

The current Official Languages Act dates back to 1988, and it really needs to be updated to reflect changing realities. Bill C-13 modernizes the act, proposing major improvements that would help address challenges facing the French language in Canada and official language minority communities.

Notably, it will help clarify and strengthen the part of the act that supports the vitality of minority communities, including the English-speaking communities of Quebec, and it would provide more robust tools for the Commissioner of Official Languages to address shortcomings. Importantly, it also clarifies and strengthens requirements for institutions to take positive measures to promote official languages.

As this committee knows, Mr. Chair, the Treasury Board Secretariat shares a responsibility for the implementation and the administration of the Official Languages Act with other federal institutions. Under the current act, the Treasury Board is responsible for the general direction and coordination of policies and programs relating to communications with and services to the public in part IV, the language of work in federal institutions in part V, and the participation of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians in the federal public service in part VI. The Treasury Board Secretariat establishes and interprets official language policies, directives and regulations, and monitors federal institutions’ compliance with them.

Under Bill C-13, the Treasury Board would play a more significant central agency role. This is in response to a major request that stakeholders and parliamentarians made during the consultations.

The Treasury Board Secretariat would play a greater role in better supporting and monitoring federal institutions' compliance with their linguistic obligations.

Bill C-13 would also require the Treasury Board to provide directives and establish policies for the federal institutions. This would include, for the first time, responsibility for monitoring the manner in which the federal institutions take and implement positive measures to improve the vitality of the minority communities. As a central agency, the Treasury Board is ideally suited to holding institutions accountable, a fact that will reinforce the positive measures taken within government.

The implementation of our new responsibilities would result in the creation of an official language policy centre integrating parts IV, V, VI and VII of the act. The Treasury Board would report on compliance in its annual official languages report.

Our legal measures are supported by administrative measures such as a new second-language training framework for the public service and the new Official Languages Regulations, under which we anticipate that approximately 700 currently unilingual offices will become bilingual in the next few years.

Mr. Chair, for the past half century, the Official Languages Act not only provided Canadians with fundamental language rights, but also shaped our identity. Quasi-constitutional, it is a law of fundamental importance to the social fabric of the country.

Bill C-13 modernizes and strengthens Canada’s official languages legislation. Simply put, official languages need to be an all-of-government effort.

I want to thank the committee for its contribution to the modernization of Canada’s official languages.

My colleagues, Carsten Quell and Sonia LeBris, whom you have already introduced and who are with me today, can also answer your questions.

Thank you very much for allowing me to be part of this historic moment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Minister.

We will now go to the first round of questions. Each of you will have six minutes. The first vice-chair of our committee, Joël Godin, will start us off.

Go ahead, Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Fortier. It seems strange to be questioning you since we used to sat together on this committee.

Here's my first question. Ms. Fortier, as you know, since we have a time limit, I may interrupt you, but not out of a lack of respect.

First, I would like to know whether you've read the white paper.

[Mona Fortier]

Yes.

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

Was it written to improve the situation of both official languages, but especially French, here in Canada?

[Mona Fortier]

Yes.

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

Madam Chair, here's what Minister Joly's white paper says about the Treasury Board:

The Treasury Board already has considerable powers concerning Parts IV, V and VI of the Act, but the use of these powers has declined over time, contributing to a weakening of oversight. With this in mind, the Government intends to proceed with a series of reforms to strengthen coordination and accountability for official languages. Legislative proposals Strengthen and expand the Treasury Board’s powers, notably the power to monitor compliance with Part VII of the Act as appropriate, by providing the Treasury Board Secretariat with the necessary resources so that it assumes the role of a central body responsible for ensuring the compliance of federal institutions and by examining cases where permissive provisions would be made mandatory. Assign the strategic role of horizontal coordination to a single minister in order to ensure effective governance and implementation. Create the authority to enact policies, directives and other policy instruments to clarify guidelines on positive measures taken by federal institutions under Part VII, and as proposed in section 3.3 of this document.

Madam Chair, can you tell us why this wording doesn't appear in Bill C-13 right now?

[Mona Fortier]

First, thank you for your question.

As we know, we have been studying this bill for quite some time. We have met with a number of stakeholders and examined ways within the government of putting this modernization of the Official Languages into concrete action.

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

Minister, I apologize for interrupting you, but I want to know why...

[Mona Fortier]

I will explain.