Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak today on Bill S-3, an act to amend the Official Languages Act (promotion of English and French). I would like to thank the hon. member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell for sponsoring this bill.
Before going into the topic in depth, I would like to thank Senator Jean-Robert Gauthier, now retired from political life, for his legacy. He always worked very hard for the francophone cause in this country, to eliminate injustices and to ensure the equality of this country's two official languages. Thank you, Senator Gauthier, and happy retirement. Although he is retired, I am sure the senator is still working hard on behalf of Canada's minorities.
There are three major components to Bill S-3.
First, there is the federal government's commitment to enhancing the vitality and supporting the development of the English and French linguistic minority communities of Canada and to fostering full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society;encourage the official
Second, the Minister of Canadian Heritageshall take appropriate measures to advancethe equality of status and use of English andFrench in Canadian society.
Third, any person who has made a complaintto the Commissioner in respect of aright or duty under sections 4 to 7, sections10 to 13 or Part IV, V or VII, or in respect ofsection 91, may apply to the Court for a remedyunder this Part.
However, the very essence of this bill is to reinforce the enforceable rather than declaratory nature of the obligations incumbent on the Government of Canada under part VII of the Official Languages Act.
For the past 17 years, the Government of Canada has had an Official Languages Act in order to remedy injustices within the francophone and anglophone communities.
Yet the problem has always been the government's failure to recognize the executory nature of its obligations under section 41 of the Official Languages Act.
Once and for all, we need to ensure that the government will honour its obligations in this respect.
The Commissioner of Official Languages has, moreover, recommended clarification of part VII, that is clarification of its mandatory nature and the commitment of the federal government. The problem encountered within federal institutions as far as bilingualism in the public service is concerned is that bilingual service to the Canadian public is poor. Francophone organizations end up having to deal with unilingual anglophones. Examples of this abound, the SANB and the SNA for instance., so there is a problem.
On that subject, I would like to add that not long ago the Standing Committee on Official Languages heard from the president of PSAC. She said there had been a complaint in the public service because an employee had received a letter of reprimand. This public servant, in Ottawa, in a federal office, had spoken in French. That is the point I want to raise.
Imagine what things would be like today if the government ignored the fact that senior managers in the federal government had reprimanded a francophone because he or she had used his or her mother tongue. The senior manager is the one who should be reprimanded. It certainly does not give an anglophone, who has worked hard to learn French in order to be able to serve the public in both official languages, a chance to put that second language into practice. It makes no sense.
The problem is really the government itself which does not respect the two official languages here in Canada, since it lets a senior manager act this way.
Yes, it is true that the law needs more teeth. At the same time, we need a government with more backbone.
If the federal government, the Liberal government, opposes Bill S-3, the message will be sent that it does not wish to respect our country's two official languages. This is the fourth time such a bill has been introduced in Parliament.
Today, Bill S-3 has come to us from the Senate. The senators thought voting in favour of this bill was the right thing and the wise thing to do. There were Conservatives there who agreed with it. We hope that the Conservatives here in the House of Commons will take a lesson from those older Conservatives, the ones that were called Progressive Conservatives. They must remember we have two languages that we must respect.
In the action plan for official languages, $751 million is earmarked to support the official languages. Each time, the francophone communities win something in court. They have had to go to court in order to obtain their rights and respect. The federal government goes to the appeal court.
I will give you an example. This morning's L'Acadie nouvelle reports:
Food Inspection Agency positions reinstated in Shippagan; Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear the Forum des maires case.
The Supreme Court will decide today whether it will hear the case of Le Forum des maires de la Péninsule acadienne v. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency in the matter of reinstating four federal positions in Shippagan.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is the Government of Canada. The Government of Canada is the one not recognizing both official languages in order to help the communities to develop. It is the Government of Canada that continues to go to court. In the meantime, Le Forum des maires de la Péninsule acadienne, an agency without means, has to use its savings to be heard in court and the Federal Court has ruled in its favour. The food inspectors are returning, but the federal government disagrees with the ruling and is appealing.
My colleague, the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, said that the government would like to respect both official languages, but the legislation does not allow it to. Stop appealing. Accept the court decision and the problem is solved. That is why I think it is the government that does not want to act. I have a hard time believing it will accept Bill S-3, because it does not want it. Bilingualism costs too much. I think that is the real issue.
There needs to be a desire to follow through and take the time. We have been waiting for 17 years. It is time for something to happen.
The government has the responsibility because there are laws in this country about bilingualism. We have two languages and we have to respect both languages and get services in both languages.
If the government continues to go to the appeal court or the Supreme Court saying it does not have any rights, then do not tell me it hopes and wishes for laws it could respect. The government has to respect the court's decision, but that is not what it is doing. I hope that attitude will change.
The Liberal government has always maintained that it recognizes the enforceability of the Official Languages Act, but never gave it any real recognition, because that would result in too many court cases. That is what it is saying. That is ridiculous. It wants legislation, but does not want it to be too good, because this would mean that minority communities would go to court.
Parliament passes legislation but the government does not want it to be strong legislation, because it does not want people to go to court. What is this nonsense? The government made this point on many occasions. If part VII of the Official Languages Act is strengthened, everyone will want to go to court.
If everyone goes to court, that means that there is a big problem. It means that the Official Languages Act was never respected. That is enough. The government has to show the political will to change that.
Today, we heard a group that appeared before our Committee on Official Languages. It was a group of parents, anglophone parents, who support the French language. They told us that they wanted to send their kids to immersion schools.
They said they want them to go to school to learn French. That is where we are in 2005. As for the people of this country now, when we go into the field, into the community, the majority of people understand that we need services in both languages in our country. They want to learn French, but we are not giving them the tools to do it, not the schools, not the teachers and, after that, not the follow up.
We had a situation, which I said was a shame, where a francophone was working in a public establishment in Ottawa and was reprimanded because she was speaking French. I can tell my friends in the House that if that is what is happening, what can we expect from an anglophone who worked hard, went to school, learned the French language and sees a francophone being reprimanded because she is speaking her mother tongue language? Why will he want to speak French at the age of 16?
The little bit of English I speak today I learned in Ontario when I moved here. I know this little bit of English today because I had the opportunity to practise it. That is what the English parents were telling me today. They were saying that they do not have that opportunity, that they do not have the tools. If we want the two communities to work together in order for people to speak their own language and learn the other language, then we are going to have to respect that.
Let us look at other countries. They do not fight over language. People learn six languages in some countries, five languages in others; it is a goal to learn different languages. As a Parliament, we have to provide the tools to do it and we will support Bill S-3. It is time to deal with it. It is time the government is forced to deal with it because we have a law in our country and there are two bilingual communities, the English and the French.