Official Languages Committee on Oct. 25th, 2023

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

You can contact Ms. Anand or the Commissioner of Official Languages, but you have to speak to the minister responsible for the situation because every department is responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act.

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

You're telling me that you have to choose the right minister. However, that's why we requested a central agency so that a single minister would be responsible for forwarding complaints and administering the act.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

You have that: it's the President of the Treasury Board.

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

All right.

Which cabinet minister will decide to introduce the immigration order?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

First, it's the responsibility of Mr. Miller, then that of the entire cabinet.

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

I'll continue. We've expanded the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages, but the sanctions, for which he is now responsible, aren't applicable. Perhaps that's news to you. When will that be put in place?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I've met the new Commissioner, and he's in the process—

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

No, I want to talk about you, the government. Who will stand up in cabinet and say the order must be made so it can come into force?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

That's me?

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

When will you do it?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Godin, there are five stages that have to be followed. There's the pre-consultation, the consultation, the cabinet brief, and so on. It will take months.

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

This is urgent; French is declining, but you aren't ready to give me a date today. That's what I understand.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

I don't have the timeline today, but—

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

That's what I understand. Is it—

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

It's very important to do the work properly in the coming months.

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

I have a final question, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Just a moment, please: it's impossible for the poor interpreters to follow the conversation when everyone speaks at the same time.

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

You can see my passion, and that of the minister as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, but one person at a time.

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

Minister, we debated the inclusion of rights holders in the 2021 census here. The bill unfortunately didn't include that obligation. Consequently, how will you go about enumerating rights holders across Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Godin, that's an excellent question, but we'll hear the answer to it later.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for six minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm going to share my time with my colleague Ms. Kayabaga.

My colleague Mr. Godin mentioned the Commissioner of Official Languages. On that subject, I want to point out before this committee that I entirely disassociate myself from the comments of the former Commissioner, Graham Fraser, that were published in a recent article in Le Devoir. I completely disagree with him and want to say that anyone, past or present, who takes part in the debate on the decline of the francophonie and the defence of official languages has a duty to inquire into the matter before expressing an opinion.

I want to point out, Minister, that you are the author of the word "francocurieux", or "Franco-curious". You mentioned that you had visited, for consultation purposes, 17 municipalities, including my own, Alfred, which I would note is the most beautiful one. Thank you for that.

You also said that the remarks of the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Modern Police were unacceptable. We of course have an official languages policy, and we require that our senior officials be bilingual, whether at the RCMP, in the Canadian Armed Forces or elsewhere. As Minister of Official Languages, what will you do to resolve the situation, which is entirely unacceptable?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

As I said, I will be working closely on that with the minister, Ms. Anand, who is also responsible in this matter.

I answered a similar question on the subject from Mr. Beaulieu in the House, and I'll repeat the answer I gave him: positions are clearly designated bilingual, and it is the responsibility of the minister and cabinet to ensure that the public service staffs those positions with bilingual personnel.

Training will be provided within our government. I believe that, within the framework for the modernization of the Official Languages Act, $20 million has been earmarked to establish a centre within the Treasury Board, a gain that has been made thanks to that modernization.

Since you may wonder what our respective roles are, I'll be very clear for my colleagues opposite. As the conductor of this orchestra, I ensure that all the musicians are playing the right music to promote our linguistic duality. Ms. Anand is responsible for putting the right people on stage and ensuring that they're in the right place and have received the right training.

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

Thank you very much, Minister.

I will now give the floor to my colleague Ms. Kayabaga.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Good afternoon, Minister. Welcome to our committee. Congratulations on your new position.

Francophone immigration was discussed earlier. You aren't the Minister of Immigration, but you have an influence on francophone immigration.

Unless I'm mistaken, the 4.4% francophone immigration target was reached last year, and many organizations and communities now want to see that target raised because French is still in decline across Canada. Would you be able to encourage Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to raise the targets both to offset that decline and to help restore the francophonie across Canada?