Official Languages Committee on Nov. 18th, 2025

[Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter]

I’m sure it is, but more needs to be done. What is currently being done is far from enough. Our children say it’s “cool” to speak English.

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

I think it should be sexy to speak French.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Dalton, you have the floor for three minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Arseneau‑Sluyter, is it true that the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick doesn’t speak French?

[Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter]

Ms. Louise Imbeault, the current Lieutenant Governor, is Acadian and is fluent in English and French. I think her predecessor, Ms. Brenda Murphy, who was appointed in 2021, was unilingual anglophone.

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

I see.

We have a similar situation at the federal level with a Governor General who does not speak French, but she does speak another language.

Do you think this shows a lack of commitment from the Liberal government towards francophone minority communities?

[Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter]

It just goes to show one thing: We continue to be at risk. We should continue to press this issue. We saw the ease with which a unilingual anglophone person was appointed to such an important position and that was in the only bilingual province in Canada. We experienced that.

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

Thank you very much.

Ms. Alepin, thank you for your testimony.

When I was young, which is not that long ago, I went to an anglophone school in Abitibi when my dad was with the Canadian Armed Forces. It was a very old Catholic school. There was also a Protestant school for anglophones and a brand new comprehensive school.

You spoke about underfunding from the federal government, but isn’t this area under provincial jurisdiction?

[Marie-Anne Alepin]

No, Quebec doesn’t distort our funding. The distortion really comes from the federal government. We could also talk about spending authority and Canadian Heritage. Our schools are really underfunded.

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

How much time do I have left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have 45 seconds.

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

Okay.

I used to be a teacher and I also worked for the British Columbia provincial government, and so I know that funding is provided by the province. Education falls under provincial jurisdiction. It’s important to point this out. At the time, schools were divided into two systems: Catholic schools and Protestant schools. I only want to point out that this is a provincial, not federal responsibility. Yes, the federal government provides some funding for minority language communities, but it’s not much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Your time is up, Mr. Dalton. Thank you very much.

Ms. Mingarelli, you have the floor for three minutes.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all witnesses for joining us today.

I have questions for Ms. Arseneau‑Sluyter and Mr. Chaisson.

In your opinion, what would a francophone education system that is in full compliance with the Constitution look like in New Brunswick? From your perspective, what would be the priority investments or reforms to achieve this vision?

[Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter]

In the current economic climate in Canada, I think it’s more important than ever to be bilingual and to have the ability to use English and French domestically and internationally.

Anglophones can easily live without speaking French. It’s far too easy.

We need French immersion for francophones in New Brunswick if we want to survive. Given the current shortage, it’s important to prepare teachers who are equipped to teach in any setting. If I had to put a price on that, I would say that regardless of the cost, be it $1, $2 million or $2 billion, this should be done promptly before it is too late.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

District education councils, or CEDs, have an important cultural and community role. What additional human resources would be required to ensure they carry out these responsibilities more effectively?

[Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter]

I know we are doing a lot of francization in New Brunswick, and that requires more employees. The fact is that many school-based kindergartens have a lot of children who do not speak French at all. Anglophones definitely don’t have these challenges when children come to school, except when it comes to allophone immigrants. That is why more investments are needed in this area.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have 30 seconds left, Ms. Mingarelli.

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

I don’t have anything else to add.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much, Ms. Mingarelli.

I would like to thank the witnesses on behalf of the committee.

We’ll suspend the meeting for a few minutes to bring in our second panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We are resuming meeting number 10 of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. We are continuing our study on the minority-language continuum.

I would now like to welcome the witnesses for the second hour of our meeting.

First, we have two representatives of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie Britannique, namely Ms. Marie‑Pierre Lavoie, president, and Ms. Pascale Bernier, who is the superintendent and is joining us by video conference.

We also have two representatives of the University of Moncton, namely Mr. Mathieu Lang, who is the dean of the faculty of education, and Mr. Denis Prud’homme, the rector and vice-chancellor. Both of them are joining us by video conference.

Welcome to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Each organization will have five minutes for its opening remarks. We will then proceed with a question and answer period with committee members.

Ms. Lavoie, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Marie-Pierre Lavoie, President, Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Honourable members, good afternoon. Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie Britannique, the CSF.

I am the president of the CSF and I’m here with the CSF superintendent, Ms. Pascale Bernier.

The French version of the brief prepared by the CSF was emailed to the committee, which will make arrangements for translation.

The CSF is the only francophone school board in the province. It manages 47 French-language schools and serves nearly 6,000 students.

The French-language education continuum, from early childhood to the post-secondary level, is central to the mission of the CSF.

As you will see in our brief, two parliamentary committees on official languages have studied issues around the education continuum many times.

What is new, however, is that the legal framework in which the questions now arise has changed because of the following three factors: first, the modernization of the Official Languages Act in 2023; second, the enactment of the Canada Early Childhood Learning and Child Care Act in 2024; and third, recent case law developments on the statutory obligations of education stakeholders, such as majority-language school boards and the federal government, under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Details on these three legal factors are included in our brief.

Although education is an area of provincial jurisdiction, the federal government can and must give effect to its new obligations.

Issues related to the education continuum that affect the accessibility and quality of French-language services in a minority setting cannot depend on five-year plans arising from the policy decisions of each government.

The survival of French in British Columbia and other parts of Canada, as we heard earlier, requires permanent, sustainable solutions.

The CSF has addressed three issues in its brief.

The first issue concerns recommendations on the official languages in education program, the OLEP, which governs federal funding to support minority language education. Our recommendations aim to address the long-standing and systemic deficiencies described in our brief and in various reports prepared by this committee.

The CSF has three recommendations. First, that the next protocol be dedicated exclusively to education in the minority language; second, that minority school boards be parties to this new protocol and all resulting bilateral agreements; and third, that the proportion of funding allocated to second-language instruction, which receives over $10 million under the protocol in British Columbia, and the proportion of funding allocated to minority-language education, which receives just over $6 million, be reversed. This means that right now, the minority language receives 38% of core federal funding.

The CSF is also calling for an increase in core funding and additional funding for minority-language instruction. The CSF needs an increase in the core federal funding it will receive under the next protocol to truly advance the vitality of the francophone minority in British Columbia.

It’s especially galling to see that the additional funding allocated under the protocol in table 2 of our brief is strongly tipped in favour of second-language instruction and is four times higher than for minority-language education. I will say that again: it’s four times higher.

Second, the CSF calls on the committee to recommend that the federal government uphold its commitment to maintain long-term funding for early childhood services in French in British Columbia and other parts of the country.

Of the 36 CSF elementary schools, only half offer day care or pre-kindergarten. Where child care centres exist, they have long waiting lists.

The CSF is looking to expand early childhood services in French across the province. For example, it plans to launch a program for four-year-olds in five schools starting in January 2026. However, this initiative requires additional stable funding beyond the five-year period of the agreement signed between the federal government and the provinces.

Third, the CSF wishes to ensure that future censuses contain the same questions to enumerate all the children of rights holders under section 23 of the Charter.

The data is crucial for targeting underserved and unserved communities as part of financial planning.

The 2021 census shows that more than 43,000 children aged 5 to 17 are eligible for French-language education in British Columbia, but the CSF reaches only 14% of them.

I’d like to use the rest of my time to bring another issue to your attention. The CSF would also benefit from other initiatives that have been raised by other stakeholders, such as stable, long-term federal government funding for the training of French-speaking early childhood school staff and educators. To—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I’m sorry to interrupt you, but your time is up. Please wrap up your remarks. You’ll have a chance to provide more details during members’ question period.

[Marie-Pierre Lavoie]

Okay. I just have one more sentence.

In closing, the CSF needs the necessary school personnel to fulfill its mission.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much. That was quick. My apologies for interrupting you.

I’ll now give the floor to the witnesses from the University of Moncton.