Official Languages Committee on Dec. 8th, 2022

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

What we fear is that the Liberal government will make investments and get no results. We don't just want to expand the bureaucracy; we want to see changes made. That's very important. There are a lot more workers in immigration, for example, but performance has declined. So that's very disturbing. Canadians want to see results on the ground.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

If you're sincerely concerned, stop filibustering on bills C-11 and C-18. That's part of the answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Généreux, you have 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

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

Minister, yesterday on Sans réserve, a program broadcast on 98.5 FM radio, commentator Meeker Guerrier, who attended the Qatar World Cup Soccer event, reported that the Canadian team players were introduced in English only, whereas those of the Belgian and other teams were introduced in both of their official languages, French and Flemish.

In addition, the word "welcome" was inscribed, in each team's language, on plaques that were mounted on the pedestals bearing each team's flag. For Switzerland, for example, the inscription was in French, German and Italian, even though only 1% of the Swiss population speaks that last language. In Canada, French is spoken by a much larger percentage of the population, and yet the Canadian plaque read only Welcome.

These things are unacceptable, and we've been seeing this in Canada for 50 years as a result of the present act. Minister, you are responsible for Canadian Heritage. If the new version of the bill that's on the table is passed, will we still see this kind of thing happening?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Once again, that's a specific question that you can ask my colleague, who is here with me. I definitely won't defend FIFA.

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

I'm talking about Canada, not FIFA.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

You're talking to me about national anthems and player introductions.

First of all, the anthems should have been sung in their language.

Second, I think the way FIFA behaved was unacceptable.

However, I congratulate the Canadian team. What it managed to do was outstanding.

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

Minister, in its present form, the Official Languages Act has prevented neither the decline of French nor this kind of incident from occurring for the past 50 years. And yet it has been said for 50 years that we should ensure that Canada is represented internationally in both official languages. However, it's nearly 2023, and today, in 2022, we're still witnessing these kinds of situations.

Who's going to say, once again, that it isn't his fault and that the problem should be directed to the Treasury Board?

All the organizations whose representatives have testified here have discussed this. Ms. Joly said in her own white paper on official languages that the Treasury Board should be entirely responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act. Like everything else, however, that will slip through the cracks.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Généreux.

I now give the floor to Mr. Iacono for five minutes.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the ministers for being with us this morning.

Ms. Petitpas Taylor, I've often heard francophone columnists and commentators say that Bill C-13 wouldn't go as far as Bill C-32.

I don't get the impression that's true, but I want to give you a chance to state your view of the matter.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you very much for that question, Mr. Iacono.

I read that in the news too. I have to say though that it's quite the contrary.

When we developed Bill C-13, we actually retained the principles of Bill C-32. That's in fact what we did, and then we went even further. As I said earlier, I had a chance to meet with stakeholders across the country when we were getting ready to introduce Bill C-13. I heard those stakeholders' comments on Bill C-32, and they also told me about the improvements they would like to see made.

That's exactly what we did. With your permission, I'll give you some examples. With regard to increasing the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages, I met with Mr. Théberge, who told us he would like to have more tools. The possibility of establishing and imposing administrative monetary penalties is one of those examples. Lastly, we want to ensure that the Commissioner has the tools he needs to do his job.

Stakeholders also told us they would like to see a clearer definition of positive measures. Once again, we went further and ensured that the positive measures would be more clearly defined.

Let's not forget the immigration policy either. This year, stakeholders across the country expressed concerns about francophones' declining demographic weight. We have to ensure that immigration is a key to restoring that demographic weight. Consequently, we've put considerable emphasis on the francophone immigration policy.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

Minister, the Liberal Party has committed to appointing bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada. However, the Conservative Party has long opposed that practice, which is deeply disappointing for anyone who believes that all Canadians deserve to be heard before the highest court in the land in the official language of their choice.

Please tell us more about that—

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

On a point of order—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Just a minute; I'm stopping the clock.

Go ahead, Mr. Vis.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Iacono did not correctly state the policy of the Conservative Party. We don't need that partisanship here. We support a bilingual Supreme Court of Canada—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Vis, sorry, that is not a point of order. Mr. Iacono is free to ask his question as he wants to.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

The Liberals want to continue with their—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Vis, I will stop you right there. This is the first time in seven years, that is, since I've been sitting here, that I've seen a meeting unfold this way around the table. I would ask everyone to be respectful and to follow the procedure.

I'm going to restart the clock, Mr. Iacono, but I believe Mr. Drouin wants to say something first.

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

No, that's not the case.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

If there are no further points of order, I will restart the clock for Mr. Iacono.

Mr. Iacono, the floor is yours.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Chair, I was interrupted as I asked my question, which was very impolite. I'll have to repeat my question from the beginning so the minister can understand and answer it. I would therefore like you to adjust the clock accordingly.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Iacono, I stopped the clock at the start of Mr. Vis's intervention. Two minutes and thirty-six seconds have elapsed.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

May I ask my question again from the beginning?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Do what you want, Mr. Iacono. You have about two and a half minutes left.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

I wouldn't want to lose time as a result of my colleague's interruption. The minister may not understand my question as a result of that interruption and I'll have to ask it again.