Science and Research Committee on Sept. 24th, 2026

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

I'll go to your opening comments, in which you talked about publishing a road map and a timeline to implement. I believe this could be considered the third report in over three years. What has been the reaction of the government to that? In fact, is the recommendation you're putting forward a result of not getting satisfactory responses to the reports that have been prepared over the last three years?

[Linda Cardinal]

This is actually our recommendation to you.

People shouldn't think that nothing has happened over the past three years. Last Tuesday, you heard the testimonies of Ms. Montreuil and Mr. Maltais from Acfas. They have, in fact, received funding from the Canadian government to supplement the funding provided by the Quebec government and the Power Corporation for the Service d'aide à la recherche en français, or SARF. It was a measure—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I apologize for interrupting. The time is up for MP Baldinelli.

[Linda Cardinal]

That's fine. We can continue the discussion during the next round of questions, if there is one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will now proceed to MP Deschênes-Thériault for five minutes.

Please, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for Ms. Cardinal.

You spoke about francophone missions programs. Can you tell us what these would look like? Can you elaborate on this initiative?

[Linda Cardinal]

The recommendation regarding the $40 million includes $10 million for infrastructure‑related initiatives, such as funding for Érudit. We developed three francophone missions programs. The whole concept of francophone missions stems from discussions that took place regarding the new umbrella organization. The government wanted the new umbrella organization to allocate funding to government missions, or missions for Canada. We consider that the francophonie is one of Canada's missions.

These three francophone missions would include, for example, a program of chairs of excellence on the Canadian francophonie. This would be a highly concrete measure to support research on the Canadian francophonie. Another program would fund independent projects on topics related to the francophonie. A third program would be used to create international teams. As you know, in our report, we state that French is a strategic resource for the Canadian government to promote its international visibility. The idea is to allocate $10 million to form teams consisting of a Quebec university, one or more universities from the Canadian francophonie and a university from the international francophone community. The overall goal is to strengthen the position of French within the international ecosystem.

This is part of another recommendation, which calls on the government to lead by example. We would like the Canadian government to adopt a science diplomacy policy to strengthen its presence within the international francophonie. This research program could support work on topics that matter to the francophonie on an international level.

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

In the report, you also suggest establishing a secretariat for the coordination of research in French.

As you know, we're currently seeking to improve government efficiency. How would this secretariat supplement current efforts without duplicating them? I would like you to briefly explain the added value of the secretariat so that we can fully understand it.

[Linda Cardinal]

This is part of the Canadian government's efforts to establish an umbrella organization designed to promote the coordination of research in Canada. We were greatly concerned about whether the official languages would be respected within this umbrella organization. We want the person in charge of this umbrella organization to be required to speak both official languages and to be able to work in both English and French.

Since we want the Canadian government to adopt a francophone lens in the field of research, we believed that the secretariat would be the best position to develop this lens, together with the Treasury Board.

This secretariat would also manage and coordinate, in conjunction with the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada‑wide coordination table on the development of French‑language education in Canada. It would also manage various programs, such as the francophone missions, together with granting agencies.

In our view, this secretariat would clearly provide added value.

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

You have been talking about the government setting an example. You have brought this up a few times. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

[Linda Cardinal]

The government's good example—particularly in light of the new Official Languages Act—serves to ensure that the Canadian government upholds and implements substantive equality.

To that end, we need an enabling framework from the Treasury Board Secretariat for intramural research in French at the federal government level, meaning within the government's institutions. We spoke earlier about the coordination table led by the office of the chief science adviser for Canada and a special investigation by the Commissioner of Official Languages.

We also need bilingual abstracts. Did you know that, when Canadian government researchers publish articles, there aren't any French abstracts of their work? A recent report—not just ours—showed that researchers within the federal government publish almost exclusively in English.

So these are small steps, but they would help make research more accessible to the French‑speaking Canadian public. These are some examples.

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

I see that my time is up. Thank you for sharing your testimony today.

[Linda Cardinal]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will now proceed to MP Blanchette-Joncas for two and a half minutes, please.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My first question is for Ms. Cardinal.

I would like to extend my greetings, thank you for your dedication and congratulate you on your work. I know that you served as co‑chair of the advisory panel that drafted this report.

The report acknowledges that higher education falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. However, you're proposing a Canada‑wide mechanism for French‑language post‑secondary education, coordinated by Canadian Heritage.

I would like to understand how the federal government can take action within the limits of its jurisdiction, which doesn't include education. Could you explain your recommendations in more detail?

[Linda Cardinal]

Yes. Thank you for the question. It gives me a chance to talk about federal‑provincial relations, a topic that I appreciate.

The recommendation doesn't seek to take the provinces' place. It fully recognizes that education is a provincial jurisdiction. However, as you well know, in the field of research, we can now speak of a shared jurisdiction. During our discussions, on multiple occasions, we sought to find a way to bring together Quebec and the Canadian francophonie to develop French‑language programs.

As you know, Bill 96 even includes a section stating that the Government of Quebec wants to promote student mobility and programs. The goal isn't to interfere with jurisdictions. However, we would like the provinces to get involved with the federal government, rather than the federal government working alone without the provinces. We would like them to work on this together.

You might say that this is a pipe dream. I believe that, when it comes to the Canadian francophonie and the francophonie in general, we can look beyond our special interests to see the greater good at stake. That greater good is research in French and the education of the next generation in French. Our discussions have actually shown us that the provinces might be willing to work with us on this project.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I'll continue.

In another part of the report, you refer a number of times to the initiatives of the Fonds de recherche du Québec. You even cite it as an example for Ottawa to follow.

What could the federal government accomplish in Quebec that Quebec's institutions are unable to accomplish on their own with the same resources?

[Linda Cardinal]

To put it simply, Quebec researchers who submit applications to SSHRC, NSERC or CIHR don't receive funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec.

We recognize all the leadership work carried out by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and all the work done by Quebec's chief scientist. For us, this is a source of pride and it has been a source of inspiration. However, Quebec researchers also submit applications to the federal government. These applications fall outside the purview of the Fonds de recherche du Québec. There's room for improvement in this area in order to increase the number of applications submitted in French.

Also, in the Canadian francophonie, we're a bit like the poor cousins. These poor cousins—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you. I'm sorry for interrupting. The time is up. We have to keep track of the time.

With the time left, we will have two minutes with MP Ho and then end the panel with two minutes for MP Eyolfson.

Please go ahead, MP Ho.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first set of questions is for Professor Cardinal, who co-chaired the panel that produced this report.

Your report says, on page 79, that there is an “absence of readily accessible data combining language of study, underrepresented groups and socio-economic status”. It then says, “This lack of information precludes any rigorous assessment of [the] needs or participation” of racialized French-speaking students.

However, your panel immediately recommends, on page 12, that we need to establish, number one, “dedicated [race-based] scholarships” specifically for “racialized students studying in French” and, number two, “dedicated [race-based] funding and hiring targets for racialized” professors.

How did the panel go from saying that there's not enough available information for a rigorous assessment to all of a sudden recommending race-based scholarships for students and race-based hiring targets for professors and researchers?

[Linda Cardinal]

Thank you for your question, Mr. Ho.

Indeed, there's a lack of data. If you look closely at the report, you'll see that we started with the data already available. We also consulted with students. Based on this combination of existing data, we identified a blind spot and a significant lack of support for racialized students from francophone communities. There are initiatives—

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

There's no empirical data that you relied on, and this means you established that it was race itself. Rather than factors such as income, geography, institutional size, language ability or socio-economic circumstances, which was the barrier...you recommended a race-based, race-specific remedy. Shouldn't the remedy instead be focused on those barriers that you've identified rather than race? It seems as though you're jumping to conclusions.

[Linda Cardinal]

You're putting words in my mouth. If you reread the report carefully, you'll see that we aren't saying this. In the report, you can see that data is presented and that we held consultations—

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

How is someone's skin colour correlated to their linguistic ability? I want to know that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I will let the witness complete the answer.