Official Languages Committee on Nov. 6th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have 10 seconds left.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

In that case, I will just ask Mr. Larocque a question. He can answer along with the others.

Mr. Larocque, given the question I asked Mr. Bouchard, in your opinion, what practices should be implemented across Canada to promote this diversity and strength of the French language, while taking advantage of our francophone community in Quebec?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Your time is up. Thank you, Ms. Chenette.

Mr. Larocque, you may have an opportunity to respond in a future round. I must now move on to the next member.

I now give the floor to Mr. Beaulieu for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Bouchard, I would like you to tell us a little more about the concept of the English-speaking minority in Quebec and how it is conveyed by English-speaking pressure groups, which are funded by official language support programs and attempt to portray English speakers as a minority in difficulty.

[Éric Bouchard]

About a hundred groups are funded by various programs under the Official Languages Act. Among them is TALQ, formerly the Quebec Community Groups Network, which was preceded by Alliance Quebec. Those groups are funded; their mission is funded. By funding their mission, continued funding is ensured, which allows the development of a narrative that, in parliamentary committees and English-language newspapers, presents anglophones as a minority victimized by a francophone majority that seeks to eliminate them. We often see this approach, particularly in the parliamentary commission on Bill 96.

Furthermore, these same organizations are featured in The Gazette and continue to promote the same narrative of victimhood among anglophones. They try to make francophones feel guilty because they want to implement Bill 96 and shape society to promote franconormativity in Quebec. Francophones want two speakers with different mother tongues who meet in Montreal to use French naturally and effortlessly, much the way two people with different mother tongues meeting in Toronto use English effortlessly.

This whole conversation undermines efforts to maintain the health of French in Quebec and Canada, because if French declines in Quebec, it is clear that minorities outside Quebec will suffer. A Quebec that is strong in terms of the French language will benefit minorities outside Quebec.

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

We are currently studying the continuum in minority-language education. Can you tell us more about English-language post-secondary institutions? Experts testified before the committee that these institutions contribute to the anglicization of Quebec, but their testimony was dismissed. Can you tell us more about how this occurs?

[Éric Bouchard]

That is according to Statistics Canada. One of Statistics Canada's researchers, Étienne Lemyre, says that studying in English leads to working in English, which leads to speaking English in public, which leads to speaking English at home. When you are born francophone and use English fluently at home, it is English that you pass on to your children. Children therefore end up with English as their mother tongue, and that's when it happens. There are 130,000 assimilated francophones in Quebec—not in provinces outside Quebec, but within Quebec itself.

The funding of English-language institutions, particularly the English-language university network in Quebec, makes these institutions extremely attractive to francophones and allophones who want to rise to the top of Montreal's anglonormative world. In fact, you must be perfectly bilingual to get a good job in Montreal, which structures the anglonormativity of society. To illustrate how investments in English-language institutions have an anglicizing effect, francophones outside the Montreal area do not want to live in Montreal because they are convinced that they will not find work there. Clearly, any emphasis on post-secondary institutions in the continuum has an anglicizing effect in Montreal.

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

Where does this overfunding come from?

[Éric Bouchard]

It makes no sense. Anglophones make up 8.8% of Quebec's population, yet 29% of funding goes to English-language institutions: It's not double or triple, it's 3.4 times the demographic weight of anglophones. Do we see the same situation in reverse for francophones in English Canada? Does the University of Ottawa have as much funding for its French-language faculties? The answer, of course, is no.

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

What is the federal government's role in that regard?

[Éric Bouchard]

The federal government's role is clear. The Official Languages Act is a bad thing. Through its laws, its money, and its Constitution, the federal government promotes the anglicization of Quebec. Today, we know that you, as legislators, are responsible for voting for $100 million each year. Quebec is becoming anglicized, French is in decline, but despite this, $100 million is voted for each year by Ottawa's Parliament to anglicize Quebec. This is a genocidal act against the French language.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I'm sorry, Mr. Beaulieu, but your time is up.

We will now move on to the second round. To ensure that we finish on time, I will have to shorten the speaking time for each member. The Liberals and Conservatives will have four minutes per member instead of five, and you, Mr. Beaulieu, will have two minutes.

Mr. Bélanger, you have the floor for four minutes.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Bouchard, I'm going to continue asking you questions because I'm quite intrigued by your remarks. At first, I wasn't sure I agreed with you, but now I think I am beginning to.

You say that anglophones are not a minority in Quebec. Is that correct?

[Éric Bouchard]

That's obvious. Conceptually, they are part of the Canadian state, so they are part of Canada's majority. In Quebec, they are fewer in number, but they are an extension of the Canadian majority. They therefore belong to the Canadian majority within Quebec territory.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

In your opinion, there should be no funding for anglophone institutions in Quebec. Is that what you're saying?

[Éric Bouchard]

Exactly.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

I'm not sure I understand. I'm speaking to you from my perspective as an Ontarian. My ancestors come from Quebec. The province of Quebec is very important to us, since we see the province as a support network for francophones outside the province. It is therefore important that the predominant language in Quebec remain French. We agree on that.

For the other provinces and territories, the problem seems to be that funding is given to provinces before being distributed where it is needed. It should be an advantage for you in Quebec if the province decides where the funds for official languages go, shouldn't it?

[Éric Bouchard]

It's not an advantage, because the Quebec government is forced to add money. For example, an English-language high school and a French-language high school, each with 1,000 students, receive the same operating budget. Federal government money is then added to the Quebec government's money, but only for English-language institutions. So, in Quebec, English-language institutions receive more funding, even at the elementary and secondary levels.

Why should we receive this money to anglicize Quebec? It would be better if Franco-Ontarians received it. Seriously, you need quite a bit more money for your universities and your elementary and secondary schools. In order to make the French language attractive in a minority setting, you need money to have strong institutions, highly trained teachers, and medical schools, for example.

At the University of Ottawa, medical students who speak French are told to “speak white.” Marianne Dépelteau of Francopresse revealed that last spring. It is unbelievable that such words are spoken in a country that is supposed to be bilingual. These words are directed at Franco-Ontarians. Franco-Ontarians say they feel embarrassed to speak English as a result. It makes no sense. Instead, money should be spent on explaining to anglophones that you don't say such things to francophones, especially in a place like the University of Ottawa.

[Jim Belanger, Conservative, Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, ON]

You’ve converted me.

In Sudbury, a medical program is available, but not in French. It is offered only in English. And yet, the region’s francophone population is still rather significant.

Thank you very much.

[Éric Bouchard]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Bélanger.

I now give the floor to Ms. Mingarelli for four minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for being with us today.

Ms. Tanguay and Mr. Larocque, the lack of francophone teachers is a problem affecting every region in the country. How does the Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française support teacher training, succession planning and promoting their profession in a minority situation?

[Marcel Larocque]

The Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française offers training in every French-language faculty of education, among other things, to promote identity building. We dare believe it helps future teachers become interested in working in French throughout the country. We are also working with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, which is campaigning more on the union side.

I’d like to take 20 seconds to reiterate our work’s collaborative and creative aspects. One of our bodies, the strategic orientation committee, includes people from all over the country. At that table, we have 13 ministries of education; those from the three territories and the 10 provinces are represented. This is real cross-Canada representation. Once they’re in the room, there are no more titles; everyone works together. We talk about what we like and what we want. For someone coming from the outside, it would be very hard for them to tell who comes from a department, who comes from a university and who is a parent for whom French-language education is important.

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

Thank you very much.

The continuum of French-language education cannot be limited to passing on language. It must also feed a feeling of belonging in the francophonie. How do your programs, your research or your work with schools support this aspect of identity?

[Marie-Hélène Tanguay]

First, I’d like to very quickly come back to your previous question. We also offer two other programs. One of them is a teaching internship for students to discover the provinces and territories and learn how to teach. It is part of the budget envelope to address the teacher shortage. We also work with the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones to offer training within the initial learning framework, as well as support teaching staff working with students aged 0 to 5 years old.

To answer your last question, all our programs integrate identity building. We organize a national French-language education conference that brings together people working with children and students in early childhood education, as well as at the primary, secondary and post-secondary level. It includes school principals and cultural facilitators to inspire, train and exchange ideas on identity building. We also offer professional development internships throughout the summer. All the barriers are broken down, and people sit down for a week to see how they can better help children and students make room for French in their lives. We presented a booklet, booklet no. 15, but we have 17 that focus on identity building. All the Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française programs focus on identity building.

I don’t know if I properly answered the question, but that is what we do, while working with different stakeholders throughout the country.