Official Languages Committee on Dec. 6th, 2022

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

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, but I am still going to ask for unanimous consent, if possible. I can also chair the committee, if you want.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Do we have unanimous consent?

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

You have our consent.

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

So that's good.

Is that for four minutes?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's right.

Go ahead.

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

Thank you again, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Excuse me.

I have Mr. Dalton's name on my document.

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

The clerk had the information. She may not have sent it to you. If you were on site, it would be easier. You are participating remotely and we are respecting that.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You have the floor, Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I simply wanted to verify something with you.

Do you support the idea that we propose amendments to make it so that Bill C-13 gives the president of the Treasury Board more powers?

I would like you to give me a quick answer, please.

[Mona Fortier]

The committee is obviously working very hard.

Personally, I can say that at Treasury Board we think we have found the right balance, precisely for playing a better role.

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

Would you support the idea?

[Mona Fortier]

I am going to support the idea of passing Bill C-13.

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

Would you support an amendment that gave you more powers?

[Mona Fortier]

I think I already have enough powers. If you think I should have more, I will leave it to you to do that. I really think we have found the right balance.

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

Thank you, Minister.

Until last May, Treasury Board had a directive that provided that when a federal institution disposed of surplus real property, it had to consider the interests of the communities, including official language minority communities, and of the other levels of government. It also had to prepare a balanced disposal strategy for real property, supported by an exhaustive evaluation of the interests of the federal government and other stakeholders, including the interests of official language minority communities.

That directive was repealed and replaced by the Directive on the Management of Real Property, which provides only that federal institutions must inform official language minority communities of the intent to dispose of real property.

Minister, this means that the rights of francophone and Acadian communities have been significantly weakened by the government.

Are you going to correct this and support an amendment to Bill C-13 that will guarantee that federal institutions are actually required to take the interests of francophone and Acadian communities into account when they dispose of surplus real property?

[Mona Fortier]

Thank you for telling me about that.

I heard about this change only quite recently. The official language minority communities were consulted. Nonetheless, I asked the department to take another look at this change, which was made in the wake of other changes made following the election. We are currently taking another look at that directive.

Thank you for pointing that out.

Other members have also pointed it out.

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

What you're telling me, Madam Treasury Board President, is that people in your department made adjustments or changes without consulting you.

[Mona Fortier]

I wasn't the President of the Treasury Board at the time, so I couldn't have been consulted.

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

Weren't you Treasury Board President last May?

[Mona Fortier]

The changes were made last May, but the decision was made before that.

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

I think the directive was in effect until last May.

[Mona Fortier]

I was told that the decisions were made before the election.

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

You understand what this demonstrates, Ms. Fortier.

[Mona Fortier]

What's important, Mr. Godin—and you pointed this out—is that the official language minority communities, as well as indigenous communities, are consulted. The same is true for the provinces and territories when it comes to real property requests. I think we need to revisit and review this.