Official Languages Committee on Dec. 9th, 2025

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I quite agree with your proposal that there should be higher amounts.

Do you think it's compatible with what was set out in the act? There was discussion of an amount of $25,000.

[Liane Roy]

Yes, it's compatible.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

That's perfect.

[Liane Roy]

It's higher.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I agree with that.

We also asked questions about federally regulated private businesses. There's the modernized act. We will eventually see how it applies. However, we were told that there would be no monetary penalties in the case of federally regulated private businesses.

What do you think? We're talking about the new regulations, not these regulations. There will be regulations that will affect these companies.

[Liane Roy]

We're really targeting the administrative monetary penalties set out in the regulations we're discussing today.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Doesn't limiting it to only the four targeted entities and not including all federal institutions show a lack of political will?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

There are about 15 seconds left.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

You can answer in 15 seconds.

[Liane Roy]

Very quickly, I think that if we could already extend the scope of the regulations to all traveller experiences, as mentioned, that would be very good. Other businesses related to the travel sector should also be included.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

I give the floor to Mr. Godin for three minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Actually, Ms. Roy, I'm going to go back to the question my colleague asked.

Don't you think it would be wiser to extend administrative monetary penalties to federally regulated businesses?

You said that we are working on the regulations today. I completely agree with you, except that, considering that the process of developing regulations is long, in the current government, don't you think we could seize the opportunity and add this category?

[Liane Roy]

I'll refer the question to Mr. Lepage.

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

Please be brief, Mr. Lepage.

[Roger Lepage]

Yes, we agree that penalties—

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

That's perfect, Mr. Lepage. Thank you. You told me you agreed, and I appreciate that. I have very limited time, unfortunately, and you're a victim of that.

Ms. Roy, you talked about will and intent in your opening remarks.

Do you think that these regulations are an undue burden in terms of the notice of violation that must be submitted before a fine is imposed, as your colleague Mr. Keyes said?

That's what I understand from your colleague's comments.

Doesn't this once again show that this government has neither the will nor the intention to do everything in its power to defend the status of French in our bilingual country, Canada?

[Liane Roy]

At the FCFA, we are calling for more flexibility to facilitate much more effective implementation.

If Mr. Keyes would like to add a few points, I will give him the floor.

[John Mark Keyes]

It's hard to assume the intent behind this way of including all these details.

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

I'm not the one saying it.

[John Mark Keyes]

It may be included in the regulations because legal experts at Justice Canada recommended it. I don't know. It seems to me that it isn't necessary to have all these details in the regulations.

Of course, these are good internal guidelines, but in regulations, no, they are not.

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

When it comes to efficiency, I agree with you. I don't want to put words in your mouth. That's my opinion, and I think the point has been made a number of times now.

Ms. Roy, you talked about a five-year review process. We had asked that the Official Languages Act be reviewed every five years, as is the case for the Indigenous Languages Act. Unfortunately, the Liberal government rejected my amendment.

In terms of the regulations, would it be important to amend the regulations so that there's a review every five years?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Ms. Roy, there are about 15 seconds left. I would ask you to be brief.

[Liane Roy]

The simple answer is yes. There should be a review every five years.

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

Thank you.

I wish you all happy holidays. Thank you for being here today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

I now give the floor to Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault for three minutes.