Official Languages Committee on June 9th, 2026

[Eva Ludvig]

Canada can protect French without weakening linguistic duality, economic competitiveness or the confidence of 1.3 million English-speaking Quebeckers in Parliament's ability to uphold both languages.

As we have said from the outset, the question is not whether French should be protected—it must be. The real question is how to do this while respecting linguistic duality and both official language minority communities.

Our position is that it is possible, but only with transparency, monitoring, mitigation and a willingness to adjust course where necessary.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much, Ms. Ludvig.

We'll now go to questions from members. I'll start with Mr. Godin for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Ludvig and Ms. Sandilands, for joining us in person. It makes it much easier for us to do our job as members of Parliament.

I would like to ask an existential question.

Ms. Ludvig, you are familiar with the situation in North America. Quebec is the only province whose common language is French in a sea of anglophones.

That said, help us to help you. If you were a legislator, how would you implement legislation for private companies to halt the decline of French in Quebec?

[Eva Ludvig]

First of all, I've said this before and will repeat it: We understand—

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

Mr. Chair, I can't hear the witness very well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We're going to pause the clock, Ms. Ludvig.

Mr. Godin, are you saying that you can't hear the interpretation very well?

Ms. Ludvig, I'm sorry about that. We had a technical problem. Please continue.

[Eva Ludvig]

All right.

I just want to point out that we agree with you.

French needs to be protected. We truly believe in linguistic duality and—

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

I'll interrupt you briefly.

I want to tell you that we have a duty to protect both official languages, in Quebec and in Canada. For us in the Conservative Party of Canada, both official languages are important. However, the situation in Quebec is unique.

[Eva Ludvig]

We understand that, because we live in Quebec.

We know the challenges, and we realize that there are challenges. However, the Official Languages Act was created to protect both minority language communities. We want to make sure federally regulated businesses will not harm the minority language community's access to employment and services.

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

I share your vision.

Now, I just want to tell you that the Official Languages Act and part 2—which is the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act—are there to protect both official languages. French and English should not be pitted against each other. There should be a concerted effort.

You say that unilingual anglophones may face discrimination in terms of access to jobs, but the same is true for francophones. The problem, Ms. Ludvig, is unilingualism. Why not work hand in hand to promote bilingualism?

[Eva Ludvig]

I agree with you completely.

The English-speaking community understands the importance of this in Quebec and has made tremendous strides in learning French and working in French. Ninety-four per cent of English-speaking Quebeckers are able to have a conversation in French.

However, as with a francophone outside Quebec who is bilingual, it's important that we still have the federal organization services we are entitled to, as a minority linguistic community, and the opportunity for careers in federal organizations. There are positions, internally, that do not require you to deal with the public in both languages. That is fine. You can work alone. It gives you an opportunity to work, as I mentioned, in these federal organizations, which are national. You can have a career, nationally, while you remain in the province you love and want to work in.

Certainly, I agree with you. We should be more and more bilingual. As English-speaking Quebeckers, we understand the importance of being able to speak French and work in French. We just want to be respected as English-speaking Quebeckers as well.

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

Absolutely. I understand what you're saying, but you also have to understand that the Official Languages Act is there to protect the two official languages as opposed to other languages.

I concede that the official language minority community in Quebec is that of anglophones. We are not working against them. However, we also need to give ourselves the means to stop the decline of French.

Are you willing to admit, Ms. Ludvig, that the most vulnerable language in Quebec is French?

[Eva Ludvig]

Absolutely. We are talking about English-speaking Quebeckers as a minority language community. We're not talking about the English language. I agree with you completely that the English language itself is not under threat, but the English-speaking community in Quebec needs support and is entitled to support under the Official Languages Act. It is recognized as a minority language community. I will not argue with you about English versus French as a language. I agree completely with you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have 30 seconds left.

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

In concrete terms, how will the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act adversely affect anglophones in Quebec?

[Eva Ludvig]

What do you mean?

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

How will it adversely affect them? How will it weaken them? How will it lower the bar and discriminate against anglophones?

[Eva Ludvig]

There is noting in the federally regulated businesses act that protects service in English for the English-speaking community or protects employment for English-speaking community members. What we are saying is that it's very important that this be evaluated and monitored to see the impact on individual English-speaking Quebeckers as well as on the vitality of the English-speaking community at large.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Villeneuve now has the floor for six minutes.

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, ladies. Thank you both for being here.

As I told you earlier, when we met, I'm the member for Brome—Missisquoi, in the Eastern Townships. There is an anglophone community that makes up about 20% of the population of Brome—Missisquoi. I'm very happy about that, because the two communities work very well together, and they promote the entire region. They do a lot of events together in the region.

That said, I read your brief, which is quite comprehensive, to say the least.

In your opinion, does the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act strike an adequate balance between promoting French and respecting the rights of anglophone workers in Quebec?

[Eva Ludvig]

This is the concern we have, the importance of.... We understand that this particular act was created to support the French language. What we want to know is how this will have an impact as it moves on.

We were against this notion. The act is now done. That ship has sailed. We are saying that this needs to be evaluated and monitored carefully over time to see the impact on employment for English speakers but also on the access to services for the English-speaking community in the same way that services are provided by federal institutions to the English-speaking community under the Official Languages Act.

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Do you feel that anglophone workers are being wronged?

If so, to what extent and why?

In your opinion, how can the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act help or not help their situation?

[Eva Ludvig]

There are people who are now working, for instance, at federal institutions who will not have the language skills now required. We worry about their career development. We worry about new hires, people whose French may not be good enough yet. There are different kinds of positions that do not require you to serve someone in their language. It can also be somebody who is there to help serve English-speaking Quebeckers. At the moment, there are positions that do not require it, and it does not mean that service cannot be made available to English speakers as well by these people.

Career opportunities will be disappearing for those who may not feel 100% comfortable in French yet. I can give myself as an example. I'm now retired, but I worked in the federal public service in Montreal. When I started, my French was okay. I managed to get level B, but by the time I left work, I felt that my French was much better, and I was able to be a much better part of Quebec society.

These are opportunities that will not be available in federally regulated businesses.

[Louis Villeneuve, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you.

I'm having trouble hearing what the witness is saying, Mr. Chair. The volume keeps dropping every five seconds.

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

I had the same problem.