Official Languages Committee on Feb. 12th, 2026

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

That's excellent.

[Alain Dupuis, Executive Director, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada]

May I add something?

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

Yes, go ahead, Mr. Dupuis.

[Alain Dupuis]

Regarding the language clauses, we'd also like to add that, when negotiating with provinces, the federal government's obligation must apply throughout the process.

As we said in our opening remarks, the framework agreement negotiated between the federal government and all provinces and territories is the first opportunity to include provisions. That said, if the provisions are not included in a framework agreement, there's still the second stage, which is bilateral agreements signed with each province. That's another opportunity to include commitments, because some provinces might, in good faith, want to include commitments regarding official languages.

The third stage we want to clarify relates to the action plan each province has to develop on a three- or five-year cycle. These action plans can also include tangible initiatives to support the francophone minority. It's this process and this obligation that allow commitments related to official languages to be brought to the negotiating table, so we'd also like to add that to the regulations.

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

What I understand, Mr. Dupuis, is that, under the act, the federal government is required to propose provisions at all stages, but you want to clarify this requirement so that organizations don't have to go to court because proposals weren't made at all stages.

Is that correct?

[Alain Dupuis]

Yes, that's correct.

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

Okay. I have 40 seconds left.

Beyond the priorities that have been established and the information you've already given us, what else could be included in this proposed draft regulation for part VII regarding positive measures to really protect official languages?

Is there anything in particular you'd like to add?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

There are five seconds left. If you could give a brief answer, please.

[Alain Dupuis]

We have to define what an effective consultation is and better define the consultation process so that communities can prepare themselves and collect the evidence.

Notices have to be taken into account, but we also have to make sure there are separate consultations for the francophone and anglophone communities, because they have different needs. We have a number of proposals to flesh out—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you. The time is up.

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

Thank you. You can send them to us in writing later.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for joining us today.

Ms. Roy, when you appeared before the Senate committee last Monday, you said: “I do not know if it is a lack of willingness or understanding, but certainly the spirit of the act, or of Bill C‑13, which we all worked so hard to get passed, is not reflected in the regulations as presented.”

How could we define the spirit of the act in a measurable way and how could we operationalize it?

[Liane Roy]

Our biggest concern is to have regulations that allow for proper implementation of the act. We think effective regulations enable positive measures to be taken, measures that have a tangible and verifiable impact on the vitality of communities, on the protection and promotion of French, and on learning in the minority language.

The regulations must also respect the principle of a differentiated approach. Just to remind everyone, the act acknowledges that French is vulnerable across the country and that more needs to be done to ensure its protection and vitality. In this case, a public servant who reads only the proposed regulations would never see the expression of a differentiated approach.

[Alain Dupuis]

I would also add that positive measures must not be incidental to the primary mandate of a federal institution. A positive measure cannot be a small, related initiative that isn't at the very heart of what a department does.

As we saw, the federal budget proposes significant investments in infrastructure and housing, for example. Will these new programs include an obligation to support housing and infrastructure construction in francophone communities?

Right now, there's no such obligation, but these are the types of flagship policies that communities want to get involved in and that have been relegated to the back burner for far too long. I'll give you an example. The Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities could use a very small budget to launch a small initiative that ultimately does nothing to ensure we get our fair share of federal programs and major initiatives.

I think that's the spirit of positive measures. They must not be parallel, but rather at the very heart of everything the federal government does, in all the political programs developed. We have to think about francophone minority communities, target their specific needs and adapt programs and projects to their reality. That is the crux of the modernization of the act.

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

Thank you very much.

You said that positive measures should be based on the institution's primary mandate. Since there's no mention of that in the act, how do you recommend this criterion be included so that it's clear for each department?

[Liane Roy]

I'm going to ask Mr. Keyes to answer that question.

[John Mark Keyes, Professor, Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada]

We think it's important to emphasize that positive measures should be included in the primary mandates and main activities of federal institutions.

As Mr. Dupuis just said, small initiatives that parallel departmental mandates are not going to yield positive results. These measures must be applied within the institutions themselves.

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

Thank you very much.

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

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have a minute and a half left.

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

Okay.

My next question is for all the witnesses.

You often talk about the consultation process and the need for consultation. We all agree that consultation must take place and that it's necessary to ensure official language minority communities can share their point of view. That said, the consultation requests you make can be a bit excessive.

Do you think the government should consult you, as if clause 35 applied to you?

[Alain Dupuis]

We make a number of proposals in our brief. I don't know what clause 35 you're referring to says, but I think there are ways to spread out consultations a little more so that communities get reasonable notice and have time to properly prepare.

Before taking part in a consultation, we have to consult our networks, collect evidence, and hire analysts to make realistic proposals that the public service can implement. When we're given insufficient notice, often only a few days, we don't have time to prepare.

Also, federal institutions must ensure that communities have the capacity to take part in consultations. They even have to plan funds in their budget to support the communities, so that they can do all this work to be ready.

Unfortunately, right now, those capabilities don't exist. We've often pointed out that under the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration, there are new consultation requirements, but that we also need to make sure funds are available so that any groups, including those in your ridings, could take part in consultations. At the moment, that's not the case, unfortunately.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Dupuis, I have to interrupt you. We're well over time. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you.

Could you give us a specific example of a positive, tangible measure that would meet your expectations, including the objective, the indicator, the timeline, the data source and how it would fit into a department's primary mandate?

[Alain Dupuis]

Well, for instance, the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, has adopted a francophone immigration policy that sets specific targets and includes initiatives to meet francophone immigration objectives. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we've seen significant changes at IRCC in recent years, as well as the adoption of a separate policy to support the francophone minority.

That's what we consider a positive measure. It's not a small initiative. It's really a consideration of the community's overall needs in relation to a specific mandate.