Official Languages Committee on Oct. 20th, 2025

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have the floor, Mr. Lefebvre.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This is my first meeting here at the committee. When Mr. Beaulieu asked for the vote, no hands were raised. With all due respect for Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, I can tell you, Mr. Chair, that I was a spectator here, and it was his assistant behind him who was telling him to raise his hand.

In any case, a representative of his team was signalling to him to raise his hand, even though the request for the vote had already been made. There were no hands up from Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault. I think it's very clear in terms of the Standing Orders.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Okay.

There are a number of hands up.

Ms. Mingarelli, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, since we all have questions about this, can we suspend for a few minutes to discuss it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Okay.

I'm suspending the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I call the meeting back to order.

In the spirit of co-operation, the committee members have discussed the point of order that was raised and have reached an agreement.

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, you have the floor.

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to talk about why we support our colleague Mr. Villeneuve's motion.

The Liberal Party of Canada has always put official languages first. I represent the riding of Madawaska—Restigouche, which is 90% francophone. Our Acadian and Brayon communities are dynamic. The vitality and protection of our official language minority communities and the Canadian francophonie have always been priorities. They're partly what motivated me to run for federal politics, under the Liberal Party.

In 1969, the Liberals passed the first Official Languages Act, which made French and English our two official languages.

It was the Liberal Party that passed the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including section 23, in 1982, to give us the right to education in French across the country.

It was also the Liberals who put in place the first action plan for official languages in 2003. In 2018, after a decade of stagnation, there was a reinvestment in our official languages through the action plan for official languages 2018–2023. More recently, in 2023, as part of the action plan for official languages 2023–2028, the Liberals made the largest investment, considering inflation, for official languages in the history of the country.

They also carried out an ambitious modernization of the Official Languages Act, which communities had been requesting for a long time.

The government met its francophone immigration targets, which hadn't been met for more than 20 years. The Liberal Party has a high standard when it comes to official languages, and it has to be maintained at that level.

Our two official languages are a fundamental part of our Canadian identity, and that has to be reflected at all government levels, particularly through the use of French in communications at every level of government.

We're also aware that there has to be a significant presence of French in the Prime Minister's communications.

I think all of that is reflected in the content of my colleague Mr. Villeneuve's motion, so that's why we support it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you.

Do any other members want to contribute to the discussion?

Since there isn't anybody, let's call the vote.

(Motion negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

We don't really have the same understanding of how sensitive the Liberals are to the French reality. I've been here for 10 years. I took part in the modernization of the Official Languages Act, and we unfortunately brought forth a mouse.

However, I'm pleased that they recognize that the Prime Minister has to speak the language of Molière more.

In my opinion, the motion they tabled follows the same model of thinking as when the Official Languages Act was modernized. We've brought forth a mouse. They're trivializing the French reality in Canada.

I want to talk to you about the motion that I'd like to move.

For that reason, I'm distributing the text of the motion. I can also email it to the clerk.

[Voices]

We all have it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You can also send it by email after your remarks, Mr. Godin.

The floor is yours.

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

Thank you.

It's important to take the necessary measures. The Liberals appointed a bilingual Governor General, but she doesn't speak one of the two official languages. The list of actions demonstrating that they're trivializing the importance of the francophonie, the use of French and respect for francophones and francophiles is very long.

I travel all over Canada. Last week, I was in Kelowna at the conference of the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones. Those people greatly appreciate the work that we, the Conservatives, have done to prevent a step backward in the Official Languages Act, but they would have liked us to do more. I'll just give the example of the number of rights holders that were counted as opposed to the estimation. I won't belabour the point this evening, but it's important to remember that, in the last census, 300,000 rights holders were found out of the 600,000 in Canada. That's why there was a multi-party battle over this in 2019.

Now, Mr. Chair, I will read my motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), and in light of recent findings by Radio-Canada indicating that Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers only 17 percent of his public remarks in French despite prior commitments to improve his proficiency: a. The Committee invite the President of the Treasury Board…

To enrich your culture and for your information, I'd like to note that the only person who, under the Official Languages Act, is responsible for defending the French reality and respect for the French language in all departments is the President of the Treasury Board. Did you know that the Official Languages Act doesn't confer any powers on the Minister of Official Languages?

Anyway, I'll continue:

…and the Minister of Official Languages to appear for no less than two hours each, separately and at two distinct committee meetings, to discuss the state of official bilingualism in Canada and the Government’s plan to uphold the equal status of French and English in federal communications; b. The Committee hold a second meeting to hear from a panel of witnesses proposed by each recognized party, composed of experts, academics, and community representatives who can speak to the decline of French in Canada and the importance of its use at the highest levels of government; c. That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the Committee order the production of all documents showing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s calendar entries since assuming office, including any records related to French-language tutoring sessions, to be provided to the Committee in both official languages and in electronic format within 21 days, in order to assess the extent to which the Prime Minister has fulfilled his commitment to improve his French-language proficiency.

This has to be taken seriously. All the critics who will tell us that we have to focus on the economy, not bilingualism in Canada, are completely wrong. This is an important issue. Let's be proud of our French-English bilingualism. I always say “French-English” because, with all due respect to Ms. Simon, we have a Governor General who doesn't speak French, one of the two official languages. We have to take concrete action, and that's why we've reacted.

I would remind you that Stephen Harper started all his speeches in French and that Pierre Poilievre opened question period by asking half of his questions in French. That shows a willingness to respect both official languages. That is what's expected of the Prime Minister. Francophones and francophiles are quite resilient. They won't demand 50% French or perfect French, but they want to see the willingness. That has to change.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Overall, we support Mr. Godin's motion. We agree that Mr. Carney speaks less in French than the prime ministers who were in office before him. A head of state who uses little French reinforces the message sent to government employees that French is a second-class language. It's always been very difficult.

I'd like to come back to what my Liberal Party colleague said about the bilingualism model. The Official Languages Act has major flaws. Since its implementation, there has been a decline in French and the assimilation of francophones outside Quebec.

Following the Laurendeau-Dunton commission, André Laurendeau wanted Quebec to have a special status in order to strengthen French. He was a federalist, but he considered French to be the heart of French-Canadian society.

However, the opposite happened: Pierre Elliott Trudeau came along and gave Quebec special status by instead supporting English and recognizing Quebec's anglophone minority. He conveniently created a law to protect the linguistic minorities in the provinces, even though Quebec suffered the same treatment as francophone communities outside Quebec, albeit to a lesser extent. Of course, French schools weren't banned everywhere in Quebec, as had been the case outside Quebec. However, our francophone education system suffered from over 200 years of underfunding and attempts to hinder it. When the Official Languages Act was passed, the federal government at the time—the English Government of Canada—decided to support its own language.

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

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Go ahead, Ms. Mingarelli.

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

I apologize, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Chair, we didn't receive the motion beforehand. Could we suspend a few minutes so that we can receive and discuss it before continuing?

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

Mr. Chair, I think there's a debate going on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Ms. Mingarelli, Mr. Beaulieu has the floor, but you're next on my list. When you have the floor, you can ask to suspend the meeting.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I'll shorten it up.

In short, Mr. Carney should speak in French more, and he should also take action for French.

He's doing the opposite right now. He's challenging Quebec's Bill 101 and Bill 96 in the Supreme Court. He said he would. The Liberals said they wanted to protect French in Quebec, but their official languages support program shows that they're continuing to promote only English in Quebec. The federal government announced funding only for English-language health services, while it's getting harder and harder to get French-language health services in Montreal.

I support Mr. Godin's motion as a whole, but I'd like to propose an amendment to it. Can I move it now, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Yes.

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

In point a, which ends with “in federal communications;” I propose to add, “particularly the use of French in federal institutions in Quebec, given that the Charter of the French languages stipulates that French is the only official and common language;”

I'd then like to move a second amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Excuse me, Mr. Beaulieu. Could you send your amendment to the clerk? That would be helpful.