Official Languages Committee on Nov. 4th, 2025

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

Does it have full authority to act in this regard? Is it doing its job?

[Darius Bossé]

I don't know if it's doing its job. However, time is running out. Based on the testimony you've heard from various organizations, it should be assumed that it's not doing its job.

That said, on page 5, you will find subsection 2.1(1). It says, “The President of the Treasury Board is responsible for exercising leadership within the Government of Canada in relation to the implementation of this Act.”

Page 6 states that the President of the Treasury Board “shall, in consultation with the other ministers of the Crown coordinate the implementation of this Act, including the implementation of the commitments set out in subsections 41(1) to (3)”.

These provisions are exactly the commitments that are relevant to your study. Subsection 41(3) talks about the obligations imposed on the federal government with respect to the education continuum.

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

I apologize for interrupting, Mr. Bossé. I have only one minute of speaking time left.

Our study focuses on the education continuum. A number of witnesses have told us that there was a problem with rights holders in terms of their right to an education in the minority language. In Canada, that's a right. However, I can cite one factor that means that even rights holders can't benefit from that right. It's the fact that they often have to travel great distances to get to a school.

What measures would enable us to limit the travel time of rights holders who live in northern Alberta, for example, and who don't have access to a primary or secondary school?

How can we support access to a school? Are there any models that would meet that requirement? This is a fundamental right, and it is guaranteed by section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Is this a back door way for the government to not meet its obligations?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I would ask you to limit your answer to just a few sentences, because the time is up.

[Mark Power]

Exercising the right to education depends on the time it takes to get to school. Research shows that outside Quebec, travel time to school is the most important variable in determining which francophones and Acadians will exercise their right. That's absurd, and it's happening just about everywhere.

I'm speaking from my own experience. I'm glad to see that my daughter's experience isn't as bad as mine was, even though it's far from perfect.

In exercising its spending power, the Government of Canada can impose conditions and performance targets. For example, it can tell the Government of British Columbia or the Government of Nova Scotia that it will be entitled to more funding if travel times are reduced over two, three, five or 10 years. That could be done.

As an individual, I encourage the committee to be creative about what needs to be demanded of our public service going forward to ensure the interests of French are protected.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm sorry, but the time is up.

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

Mr. Chair, I just want to tell the witness that the majority of the members here would have liked to have an extra hour with him.

Thank you, Mr. Power.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

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

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, Mr. Bossé and Mr. Power. Thank you for being with us today.

For several years, our country has sought to strengthen the role of French and English while recognizing the importance of revitalizing and protecting indigenous languages. These objectives are essential to our collective identity, but they can sometimes seem hard to reconcile in the current constitutional framework.

How could Canada better reconcile the advancement of French and English with the revitalization of indigenous languages, within the current constitutional framework?

[Darius Bossé]

The official languages issue and the indigenous languages issue are two completely separate things. They even have constitutionally distinct sources. Indigenous language rights stem from section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, whereas there are provisions elsewhere for official languages. Sometimes these issues are wrongly pitted against each other, when the two language battles must be fought on common and distinct fronts.

Those issues were dealt with under separate legislation, the Indigenous Languages Act and the Official Languages Act. The issues addressed are specific to each of these streams under these separate statutes.

If I understand correctly, apparently the Indigenous Languages Act doesn't have a lot of teeth, and it won't lead to much meaningful action. Funding is also woefully inadequate for the revitalization objectives set out in the act.

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

Thank you very much.

Mr. Power, you've also worked on the issue of access to justice.

What concrete barriers do francophones in minority communities still face today when seeking to exercise their language rights?

[Mark Power]

If funding for colleges and universities were more stable, more predictable and multi-year, we would have better training for the staff needed so that courthouses could operate in French at the drop of a hat, not just after a week or two of notice, as is sometimes the case in certain regions, even where I live in eastern Ontario.

All roads lead to Rome. Federal funding spent through the action plan for official languages 2023–2028 in an attempt to implement the Official Languages Act must respect that. This needs to be better regulated.

We need to focus on results and transparency. We have to listen to our communities. In Ontario, the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario, or AJEFO, is, of course, in a better position than I am to identify those needs. They have, however, been expressed.

We need to take action, with an action plan that gets results. We must avoid giving false hope since the modernized act was passed in 2023.

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

Thank you. I think my time is up.

Mr. Chair, do I have time for one more question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have one minute left.

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

That's perfect.

Mr. Power, do you think constitutional recognition of indigenous languages would be necessary to ensure their long-term survival?

[Mark Power]

That question should be put to other people, not me.

Francophones across Canada have often suffered when the majority made decisions for them, even if intentions were good. I think it would be very awkward for me to answer that question.

I would note, however, that it is possible, as Europe teaches us, to protect and advance more than one language at the same time. Language protection is not a zero-sum game. There are many polyglots in Canada, thanks to our post-secondary institutions, for example.

I'm still trying to get back on topic. It's no longer acceptable, and I would go so far as to say that it's illegal, to appoint people who can't speak the languages required for their position, especially when it comes to key positions.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Power and Mr. Bossé, on behalf of the committee, I'd like to thank you for your testimony. We appreciate what you've offered to the committee, the time you've taken to prepare and the materials you've provided. Thank you for the work you're doing. Thank you for being with us today.

Before I conclude, I want to quickly remind my colleagues of a few points. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, November 6. We will continue our study on the minority language education continuum.

I also want to briefly remind you that last week, we adopted the deadline of Friday, November 7 at noon, to submit potential witnesses for the study on the use of French in government communications and federal institutions. The committee agreed to hear from seven witnesses: three submitted by the Liberal Party, three submitted by the Conservative Party and one proposed by the Bloc Québécois. Feel free to send more names to the clerk in case some witnesses aren't available.

I also want to take this opportunity to say that we will soon be conducting a study on the quota of French-language music imposed on French-language media. We'll need to submit the names of witnesses for that study. I'd like to propose November 13 at noon as a deadline for submitting names.

Is that okay? It's next Thursday. Are we in agreement?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Okay, thank you.

The meeting is adjourned.