Official Languages Committee on Nov. 20th, 2025

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

Above him is the Governor General of Canada. The person appointed by the Liberals is bilingual, but doesn't speak French. It's the same symbolic value, and it has the same consequences.

Isn't that right?

[Nicole Gagnon]

Exactly. It's what it symbolizes.

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

Now, let's talk about the equality of status and use of both official languages.

Are you making the same observation as I am, that the government is not currently honouring them?

[Nicole Gagnon]

Radio-Canada did a report on the Prime Minister's French in which it had calculated the number of minutes he spoke French.

I can tell you that it doesn't stop there. There have been studies in the past. I'm thinking in particular of a study by the Commissioner of Official Languages of Canada in 2022, if I'm not mistaken. The study measured the speaking time in Parliament of a number of parliamentarians who spoke various languages. The finding was that English was indeed predominant at the expense of French.

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

Yes, that's true. Even in Parliament, we don't lead by example.

Is that right?

[Nicole Gagnon]

That's right.

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

You talked about the new rules regarding the lowest bidder. You've already told us about it here.

The officials told us that wasn't true, but you're saying that the new contract for interpreters could be awarded to the lowest bidder.

Can you tell us more about that?

[Nicole Gagnon]

I'd like to clarify that. The request for information was followed by the standing offer, which expires on November 24 of this year. So we're in a delicate period.

When I say that, I have to be very aware of the Competition Bureau rules governing this issue. However, no changes have actually been made to the procurement rules regarding the use of the lowest certified bidder.

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

You've testified here before. The officials did tell committee members that it was not true that the contract would be awarded to the lowest bidder. However, from what I understand from your remarks, that's where we're headed. Am I right?

I would ask you to give me a brief answer.

[Nicole Gagnon]

In its testimony, the translation bureau said that it wasn't true that the contract would be awarded to the lowest bidder. He went on to say that there would be accreditation and security clearance.

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

I'll stop you there because, in my opinion, that shows this government's inconsistency when it comes to enforcing the Official Languages Act.

Ms. Veronis, you talked about consistency issues with the Official Languages Act. I completely agree with you on that. This government has a long list of inconsistencies over the past 10 years.

I'd like to remind the people listening to us of one thing, so that it appears in the committee meeting evidence. The current Liberal government, which followed another Liberal government, received royal assent for the modernized version of the Official Languages Act on June 20, 2023.

Today is November 20, 2025, and this government has not yet tabled the regulations to implement the Official Languages Act.

So much for consistency.

Isn't that right?

[Luisa Veronis]

My specialty is more francophone immigration. However, I support you. In my opinion, that's inconsistent. As for francophone immigration, there's at least some consistency and progress. The inconsistency is that some of the proposals are being advanced and others are not.

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

I like your optimism, but I just want to remind people that the only time the francophone immigration targets were met was in 2022.

What was happening in 2022? The government and the drafting of the new version of the Official Languages Act were in the spotlight. What a coincidence. So I'm a bit skeptical about the future of francophone immigration targets.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have 15 seconds left.

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

Okay.

Mr. Slavkov, I hope to be able to ask you some questions later.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Ms. Chenette now has the floor for six minutes.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being with us.

Mr. Slavkov, it's very interesting to hear what you have to say about the emotion factor related to language. I say that because, as a francophone, having learned English and having used French across Canada and internationally, I can understand exactly what you're saying.

Indeed, there are people who speak and value French. However, even if they are francophone, they're afraid to use French. I heard people say it at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, among the professionals who were French from France. They told me that if they spoke in English, they'd be more credible. That's a complete myth. We've finally managed to change that attitude.

Given the emotion factor, what can the government do to really strengthen trust and pride in our language?

[Nikolay Slavkov]

Thank you very much for the question.

It's quite a complex situation, but we can use a lot of strategies.

I can start by talking a bit about the difference between the level of proficiency and the level of use of French.

Normally, it's easier to increase the use of French than the level of competence, because it takes much longer to increase the level of competence.

These are very different variables. Even though they are related, it's important to know that it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg question. On the one hand, we need to increase our level of use—our output—but on the other hand, our proficiency may be making us fear the fact that our proficiency is not perfect. Because of that fear, we may be tempted not to use our second official language, which is French in this case.

It's very important to relay the message to language users and language learners that we are not aiming for perfection. We should be embracing our errors. We should be okay with our identity as a second-language speaker. At the same time, we should be taking risks. These risks push us out of our comfort zone and help us to increase our language use without worrying too much about mistakes. We know that the more risks we take, the more our level of proficiency will increase as well.

In short, there are many other strategies, but that's something we can bring up.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Yes, that's certainly the case.

Ms. Gagnon, thank you once again for being with us today.

We had a chance to discuss how important interpreters are and how important their work is. I don't know if you have any data on that. Having worked in a number of government departments over the past five and a half years, I've clearly seen a progression of francophones who speak French when they're sharing the stage with their anglophone colleagues.

As far as interpretation is concerned, do you have any data or do you keep track of the data on the percentage of francophones who speak their language or who speak English when they're sharing the stage?

I'm able to speak both languages, so I can relate to the insecurity or the emotion factor. Pride in showcasing a language is also a choice people make to say they are asserting themselves.

Is there any data on that?

This also affects immigration, and I'll come back to that.

[Nicole Gagnon]

Thank you for the question.

AIIC‑Canada doesn't compile data per se. As I mentioned, the 2022 study by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages showed that the use of French was declining.

If we go back a little further, in 2020, Mrs. DeBellefeuille said that 86% of witnesses spoke in English.

I don't have any data for you. I'm just providing anecdotal evidence based on observations. It goes back to what I was saying at the very beginning of my remarks. When people speak French, there's a ripple effect. We're speaking in French more often, and that certainly includes parliamentarians. They must set an example for the Canadian people, for the people who have chosen to be part of a bilingual nation.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I completely agree with you. It is certainly important to our government to make that francophone presence evident in all our interventions.

Ms. Veronis, you talked about how challenging it is for newcomers to Canada to see the strength of the francophonie. I found out about an app called Canoo that helps immigrants find cultural organizations. I think this app encourages newcomers to connect with cultural organizations.

Our Prime Minister speaks French, and he intends to get better at it. We also have to look at the emotional aspect and the issue of the use of French.

That said, apart from showing leadership, which is key, should the government find other ways to really reinforce this perception of French among newcomers to Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have about 25 seconds left.

[Luisa Veronis]

Thank you for the question. It's a very important one.

It's very difficult. It varies a lot from one francophone community to another. You have to consider their diversity, size, population density and institutional completeness. The more visible, the better.

However, even francophones are sometimes afraid to speak French. That even happens here in Ottawa. People wonder where the francophones are even though we're in the national capital, right next door to Quebec.

One of the most impactful things has been the kiosk at Pearson International Airport, where we welcome and orient francophone newcomers. Many of them go through that airport to get to Ottawa, for example, or to go out west.

The kiosk provides them with information as soon as they arrive. It has had a huge impact. I should point out that, when immigrants arrive, it's information overload. They don't always have the right information when they need it—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Excuse me, Ms. Veronis. I have to cut you off there.

[Luisa Veronis]

This is true across the immigration continuum.