Official Languages Committee on Oct. 30th, 2025

[Ronald Ajavon]

Absolutely.

The francophone system is important. It's important to have schools by and for francophones, while recognizing that immersion schools also have an important role.

However, schools by and for francophones need to be better equipped. By that, I mean proper infrastructure and a proper funding formula.

[Nathalie Lachance]

Quickly, I want to add that, in Alberta, we are trying to obtain a francophone list, in order to know what francophones and schools need. We don't want to be in competition with anglophone schools.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank all the witnesses.

Mr. Fiola, Mr. Ajavon, Ms. Lachance and Ms. Laurin, thank you for being with us.

Ms. Lachance and Ms. Laurin, again, please accept our apologies for the technical difficulties. Thank you for being patient and working with us so diligently to fix the issue. We appreciate your input and your time.

Honourable members, with your permission, we are going to say goodbye to the witnesses, so we can carry on our discussion.

Is everyone fine with that? Yes?

All right.

In that case, thank you, witnesses.

Colleagues, we will now move to the item you wanted to talk about.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I sent a notice of motion.

I will now put forward the two-part motion.

I think the motion is just as important for francophone and Acadian communities as it is for French in Quebec.

We know that since the Official Languages Act came into force, federal support in Quebec has served only to strengthen the vitality of English. Based on my calculations, at least $3.6 billion has been invested in that goal.

However, since 2020, there's been what I would call a historic shift. The Governor General of Canada, several Liberal ministers and members of other political parties acknowledged that French was declining, even in Quebec. They also acknowledged that the responsibility to protect and promote French, not only outside Quebec, but also in Quebec, should fall on the federal government. This vision was partially included in the new Official Languages Act.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed since. Case in point: No changes appear in the public accounts of Canada for 2023-24.

What's more, although the new act was passed two years ago, the regulations have not been implemented. It's actually something the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the Commissioner of Official Languages and pretty much everyone, really, have been asking for. The regulations of the new act regarding federally regulated businesses have not been implemented either.

That is why I am putting forward the following motion:

Be it resolved that the committee report to the House its desire:

a. to see the implementation of the regulations of the new Official Languages Act take place as quickly as possible;

b. to see the new asymmetric approach of the Official Languages Act in favour of French in Quebec become a reality.

What's in paragraph (a) has been promised many times already. We're now talking about November. Great, that's perfect, but we want to make sure it happens. Regarding paragraph (b), it's important to note that the new act recognizes that French is declining across the country and is in a minority situation in Canada and North America.

I hope that things will change once the regulations are implemented and that measures will finally be adopted for French in Quebec. We'll see what the plans are.

That is the motion I propose. I think you all have a copy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Beaulieu, is the motion you're putting forward today the same one you shared with the committee a few days ago?

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

Yes. It's the one with paragraphs (a) and (b).

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

Are there any questions or comments?

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, I would like to add a paragraph (c) to Mr. Beaulieu's motion, to ask for a government response.

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

Asking for a government response without necessarily referring to Standing Order 109 would allow us to have a debate. If so, I have no objection.

I would like to have a debate on the matter once the committee reports back to the House.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, could we take a short break?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'll suspend the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We're resuming the meeting.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

We don't support the amendment, because we'd like to have a debate right now, not only once we get the government response.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Are there any other comments?

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

Mr. Chair, if there are no other comments, we can go to a vote.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'll consult the clerk.

To clarify, I will explain. Mr. Beaulieu, you have put forward a motion to which Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault has proposed an amendment. We were discussing the amendment. If there are other comments regarding the amendment, I will hear them now. Otherwise, we'll vote on Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault's amendment.

If there are no other comments on Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault's amendment, we will go to a vote.

(Amendment negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We will now move to Mr. Beaulieu's motion.

If there are no other comments on Mr. Beaulieu's motion, we will go to a vote.

(Motion agreed to: yeas 9; nays 0)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Colleagues, can we adjourn the meeting?

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, I don't want to put the clerk on the spot, but I'd like to come back to something. Our friends are looking for some predictability to help them manage the schools in their province or territory. Could we also have some predictability to know what's coming?

Requests have been made regarding the ministers' mandate letters and the 21‑day deadline. I just want to remind my colleagues that 21 days takes us to a break week.

Will the government comply with Standing Order 106(4) and what the committee has voted on? Will it comply with the 21‑day deadline? Could we know ahead of time?

I know there are a lot of things going on, not to mention hearing from witnesses on the reasons why the Prime Minister should speak French more often.

Could all this information be updated?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, the clerk and I cannot directly answer your question regarding the ministers' intentions.

I will ask the clerk to give us an update on the committee's schedule.

[The Clerk]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

After the motion to invite ministers to appear before the committee for the study on the use of French in federal communications was adopted, the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister responsible for Official Languages were invited to appear within 21 days. I have yet to receive an answer, but I contacted them again this morning to remind them of the 21‑day deadline.

Meanwhile, I am inviting witnesses for the meetings we have left for the study on the minority-language education continuum. Those meetings are planned for Tuesday, November 4, and Thursday, November 6. However, if one of the ministers wishes to appear on one of those days, we can give them priority and postpone the witness remarks for the study on the minority-language education continuum until the week following the constituency week.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Madam Clerk, what day will the 21‑day deadline fall on?

[The Clerk]

The motion was adopted on October 23, so the 21‑day deadline would fall on November 13.