Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to appear today.
I'm speaking to you at a time when the expectations of francophone and Acadian communities are very high. After years of engagement, the modernization of the Official Languages Act was supposed to finally move us towards substantive equality of English and French in Canada.
I want to say, from the outset, that Société Santé en français fully supports the recommendations the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada made when its representatives appeared before this committee.
Keep in mind that the purpose of regulations is to give federal institutions the tools to truly follow through on the objectives of the act. Good regulations lead to concrete measures. Ill-defined regulations open the door to ambiguity and, in day-to-day practice, the temptation to take the path of least resistance.
Allow me to share a real-life example from the health sector.
In March 2023, the federal government and the provinces signed bilateral health agreements underpinned by clear key principles, one being “equal access for equity-seeking groups and individuals, including those in official language minority communities”. That principle is laid out in black and white in all the agreements. Seldom do you see such a clear and explicit consensus between Ottawa and the provinces on health care.
However, the mismatch between those bilateral health agreements and the plans to implement them—plans developed by the provinces and approved by the federal government—is pretty glaring. In every jurisdiction but one, this principle has not translated into a single concrete measure to provide access to health care in French.
The result is simple: despite existing on paper, the principle is not implemented when decisions are being made. Nevertheless, the act requires federal institutions to take positive measures to support the vitality of communities and to take the impact of their decisions into account.
On this issue, we have seen little in the way of impact analyses or concrete measures. Billions of federal dollars are transferred to the provinces to improve access to health care, with no regard for access to health care in French.
When the Official Languages Act is not implemented, the federal government is unfortunately helping to widen the gap between the services available to the majority and those available to our communities.
Allow me to put that into context. A modernized act clearly laying out federal institutions' responsibilities to official language minority communities was in place, and an agreement in principle explicitly recognizing those communities had been ratified by all the parties. Theoretically speaking, the time was ripe for official languages to be taken into account. The results, however, are meagre.
Why is there such a gap? I will venture a very simple guess: the path of least resistance won out. In complex negotiations with the provinces, language obligations were pushed to the side.
That gives rise to a fundamental question: What is the point of principles and laws if they don't translate into concrete decisions?
The main purpose of the regulations is to give federal institutions the tools to implement the act. When I read the draft regulations, another question comes to mind: Had these regulations been in force, would they have prevented the discrepancy between the health agreement principles and actions?
Given what's in the proposed regulations, I think not. They don't truly equip federal institutions to respect their obligations in situations as complex as intergovernmental agreements. A number of elements need clarity: the definition of positive measures; the analyses federal institutions are supposed to conduct; the community consultations; and the mechanisms to measure progress towards substantive equality.
Lastly—and this is especially important—the regulations should clearly state that language obligations must be considered every step of the way when agreements are being negotiated with provinces and territories. In other words, the regulations need to give federal institutions the tools to take action not just when it's easy, but also, and more importantly, when it's hard.
As committee members, you have spent hours upon hours studying official languages, so I turn to you. If, like me, you want to see real improvements for official language minority communities in Canada, the regulations currently proposed won't cut it.
Francophone and Acadian communities spent nearly a decade working to help modernize the act, and now they expect the spirit of that act to translate into the real world. Without clear and robust regulations, the modernized act will likely make no real difference, at least not in health care.
Thank you.
