Official Languages Committee on March 10th, 2026

[Rénald Rémillard]

For our part, in the justice sector, we've seen very few changes, except in terms of the number of consultations. We did have a larger number of consultations. However, there are very few concrete results. In some cases, we've had consultations, but we still haven't seen the results or the benefits of those consultations. However, the proliferation of consultations is the biggest change.

In addition, one of the things we noted is that officials here and there take the initiative. We've seen that at times, but, systemically and generally, it's really the status quo, except when it comes to increasing the number of consultations. That's it.

[Nancy Juneau]

I'd like to add one thing. For our part, at the end of the day, we've worked harder since the new act was passed, precisely because of the increase in the number of consultations and the few associated results.

I think this goes back to the importance of taking advantage of these draft regulations to, on the one hand, provide clear definitions and on the other, impose accountability measures. We need to know how the consultations with us influenced programs or policy. We have to feel that the work we do to represent our communities results in changes, programs and policies that take our reality into account.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have 60 more seconds.

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

Madam Juneau, based on your experience, do you believe the proposed regulations are likely to produce meaningful change, or are stronger accountability and transparency mechanisms needed?

[Nancy Juneau]

Well, the short answer to that is no.

I think if this regulation project had put into practice what we're asking to be in it, we wouldn't be sitting here saying that we need to review it.

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Gill.

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

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

Greetings to all the experts.

It's always important to really understand what's going on and to really listen to what you have to say during consultations. I'm looking for something concrete, but, on the other hand, I understand that working with various departments, whether it's on national defence, culture, natural resources or immigration, is very complex. When I hear people talk about health, I understand health needs. When I hear people talk about culture, I understand cultural needs. However, when people talk about all those needs at the same time, it gets fuzzy. It gets to be a long shopping list, and people spend time justifying themselves instead of taking action.

How do we respond to those needs in a meaningful way? I'm going to explore that with you. Other experts have talked about the vitality framework. Ms. Henrie‑Cadieux, you said that it was essential too. Can vitality indicators be implemented quickly?

As you say, certain things are said in a preamble, but couldn't there be indicators to say that a particular group is already advanced? The cultural sector is much more advanced than many other sectors when it comes to our two official languages, although there is room for improvement. We would have to say that a particular sector is essential.

In addition, for all departments, we could use the gender-based analysis plus model, which is a Treasury Board tool used to analyze various aspects. In this case, we could focus on language to put linguistic equality on the same footing as gender equality and do that analysis for everyone to get to evidence-based findings. Getting evidence-based findings is the challenge.

I'm quite practical, so I'd like to hear your reactions to this, Ms. Henrie‑Cadieux, or your organization's chair.

[Manon Henrie-Cadieux]

That was one of our greatest hopes for the Treasury Board Secretariat's greater role in implementing the modernized act. The idea was to make full use of its expertise in oversight and accountability mechanisms. Based on our experience in previous decades, that wasn't something we were able to measure well. From the government's financial point of view, it was important to include conditions that were satisfied and to better describe the impact and benefits of the expertise we provide to the government for the sustainable development of our communities.

I strongly support what you're saying about the need for an accountability framework and specific performance indicators. Progress must be measurable. If not, on what basis can we plan future investments for a community in decline that is experiencing asymmetrical difficulties?

You already know that minority francophone communities are not monolithic. Their challenges and problems are unique to them and arise from the social, cultural and economic context of life in those provinces. As we said, we really expect to have differentiated analysis mechanisms. The FCCF strongly supports this idea, which was developed by academics and endorsed by Linda Cardinal, among others. We promoted the idea in presentations to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission as part of Radio-Canada's licence renewal. We believe that differentiated analysis with respect to language is absolutely essential to government decision-making.

I think all of those things—performance indicators, accountability and responsibility—really deserve to be set out in a lot more detail in the draft regulations we have here.

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

I'm going to talk about another practical aspect.

Mr. Rémillard, you said that every stage of negotiations between the federal government and the provinces should offer opportunities to produce something concrete. Here again, agreements between the provinces and the federal government are treated very differently from one department to the next.

How can we put something concrete in place? That's why I keep coming back to the issue of analysis. Are the provinces lacking the data they should be taking into account and basing decisions on?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Rémillard, you have 30 seconds to respond.

[Rénald Rémillard]

Obviously data is important, but some areas are more of a priority than others, and legal aid is a priority, as I said earlier. We know that's an important factor for us. We know that Canada's court challenges program is important for official language minority communities. National Defence may play an important role in promoting French in Canada, but it's probably less critical than other departments when it comes to the vitality of official language minority communities.

It may be necessary to marry priorities and general obligations. There are two aspects to part—

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm sorry, but I have to cut you off.

We'll go to Mr. Beaulieu for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Juneau, I don't know if this is already in your recommendations. On the one hand, since it's specifically in the act, every federal cultural organization or program must be evaluated to determine what contributions are being made to cultural organizations outside Quebec. Then, that contribution should grow in a way that can be tracked precisely. Is that already in your recommendations? Can you send them to us? I think it makes sense because it's right there in the act.

Mr. Rémillard, you've often pointed out that the shortage of bilingual judges, lawyers and staff is due to systemic challenges. Do we have a clear picture of this shortage that could be incorporated into objectives in the regulations?

[Rénald Rémillard]

Yes. Research is crucial to obtaining evidence-based findings. Some research is being done, but it could be done in a way that's much more aligned with the regulations and obligations arising from part VII.

I think that, in some cases, you have to use resources that already exist. In others, you have to fill gaps in the data. We're not starting from scratch, though. This could be included in regulations so we can set much clearer and more measurable objectives to gauge if we're making progress.

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

As far as access to justice in French outside Quebec is concerned, would you say that it's fairly accessible at the moment, or are there really huge challenges to be addressed?

[Rénald Rémillard]

Once again, there are a lot of differences from one region to another. It depends on the judiciary, the experts or the departments involved. There are lots of differences from one province to another, and even from one region to another in different provinces and territories, so there's certainly much to do in that regard.

While the justice sector has a community side, we are also largely called upon to work with a provincial or territorial apparatus. That's the thing about access to justice. There are two sides to it: the community side and government's justice administration system.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Your time is up.

I will now give the floor to Mr. Bélanger for five minutes.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good evening, everyone.

The official languages mandate is to protect and promote the French language in minority communities. That has been the intention since 2023. Arts and culture are essential to the growth and development of French.

However, you're saying that guidance for how to carry that out is lacking. We've been talking about being able to measure, analyze and research. My question is this: Are there any analyses, data or statistics to support that review and analysis? If so, who is responsible for analyzing that information and formulating a plan?

If I put on my business hat, I would say that success requires a plan with realistic and measurable targets. Whose job is it to do all that?

[Manon Henrie-Cadieux]

I think the action plan for official languages is for all of us. Generally speaking, it gathers information about community development needs and then structures its support measures accordingly. It's critical to….

I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought.

[Nancy Juneau]

Ms. Henrie‑Cadieux, I can speak to cultural data.

Thanks to the relationship we've developed over the past 25 years with our co-operation agreement partners—Telefilm, the National Film Board, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Arts Centre and Radio-Canada—we've started working together on data collection. As part of that agreement, we each collect certain types of data. We haven't made enough progress on that yet, but we're working on it together, and that's exactly how we figure out where we are, what's lacking and what steps we can take to address that.

Paradoxically, the hardest part is getting data from official languages support programs. We don't have a clear picture of the share of funding granted to arts and culture.

So, yes, data is essential and, speaking specifically to the topic of this meeting, I think the draft regulations must specify that developing positive measures starts with collecting data to identify the problem and then figuring out how to correct it.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

My next question just so happens to be about funding. We know that the plan we want to implement and the targets we want to achieve will take a certain amount of money. I gather you think financial support could be improved. Often, the provinces don't use the money transferred to them for the intended purposes. It takes a long time to get things done. I believe your current funding is guaranteed until 2027 or 2028. It takes a long time to accomplish something of this magnitude.

How can we help you in that regard?

[Manon Henrie-Cadieux]

Our priority request for the next action plan is the same as for the previous action plan. We want core funding for our organizations. Our organizations need predictable multi-year funding to retain qualified teams. I'll reiterate that these organizations, which are members of the FCCF in every province and territory outside Quebec, serve an essential role. Without their work, artists would not progress from emerging to professional at the national and international levels, so that's absolutely essential for us.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Bélanger.

We'll go to Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault for five minutes.