Evidence of meeting #35 for Official Languages in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was regions.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
Most banks are subject to that act on a voluntary basis.
As for the situation in Quebec, the 45,000 men and women who work in banks work and live their lives in French there.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
That's excellent.
Perhaps some smaller banks or some of the other banks are not subject to that act.
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
As I was saying, they are in competition. So if they can serve their clients in the language of their choice, the employees will speak French,
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
It will be a free choice between two concurrent language situations. Don't you think that it will lead to a loss of efficiency because of the duplication of oversight and of systems? I feel that any reluctant banks, especially the smaller ones, will turn to the federal program because the legislation is less stringent.
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
If I may, I'd like to tell you that, according to my discussions and my information, the banks that are already subject to the Charter of the French Language on a voluntary basis will continue to adhere to the tenets of the Charter of the French Language.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
That's great. That's a good situation. Maybe things will be a little more difficult outside Quebec, but let's hope that everything goes well.
For the—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yvan Baker
I am sorry, Mr. Beaulieu, but your time is up. We shortened the times in this round.
The floor now goes to Mr. Gill, for three minutes.
Actually, I see that Mr. Godin will be speaking for him instead.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am going to turn to the representatives from the Canadian Bankers Association.
Mr. Prud'homme, you said earlier that you have good-quality, well-paying jobs and yet, at some point, you may well have problems with French-speaking staff.
In terms of financial services, does the association provide its members with a program to train people and have them grow in French?
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
I repeat that the association is not involved in operational activities. However, our members have language policies in place. They also have codes of conduct.
Why do I mention codes of conduct? The gentleman next to me talked about company values. For the banks, the major values are inclusion and diversity, and language is a factor in diversity.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
You know that French is not a factor in inclusion, right?
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
I would say—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
French is not a minority either. In a bilingual country with French and English as the official languages, it must be part of a whole. Speaking French is not an exception. It's important to make that distinction.
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
What I mean is that it takes buy-in from all the employees, whether they speak English or French. Everything is operational, in fact; they have continuing education programs—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
As an association, do you have a program to encourage your members to do that, or are they already doing it independently?
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
The members are already doing it independently and they are doing it very well. As you can hear today, we as an association feel that it is our duty to communicate in French and in English. We have employees who speak French.
Conservative
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
I won't offer an opinion on that, but we certainly—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Let me clarify my question. Do you communicate with your members half in English and half in French? Are all your communications bilingual?
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
I facilitate working groups in Quebec. We also have working groups in the Atlantic region. In Quebec, for example, we do that in French.
Conservative
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
That can happen too, depending on the location of the meeting. Yes, we can do it.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
You can do it, but you do not do it automatically.
I understand that it's an operational matter. Okay, that's fine, I don't want to—
Director, Québec and Atlantic Government Relations, Canadian Bankers Association
Actually, we have only been dealing with the Atlantic provinces from our office for three months, so I don't really have an answer for you.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Ah, okay. That's a good reason. So you go ahead, and you can tell them I said so.
How much time do I have left, Mr. Chair?