Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is probably a question that should be asked of Statistics Canada. That said, there seems to be some confusion about the terms used in part VII of the Official Languages Act. So I'd like to clarify the distinction between the terms “commitment” and “duty”, if I may.

Official Languages committee  In the bill, the proposed wording for part VII of the Official Languages Act begins with a series of commitments. These cover four areas: protection and promotion of French; learning in the minority language; section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; enhancement of the vitality of minorities, and promotion of English and French.

Official Languages committee  It doesn't happen every year. In short, enumerating means counting. If we really want to count rights-holders, then we need to be able to use other tools that fall under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories. Ultimately, this comes down to a terminological choice between the verb “enumerate” and the verb “estimate”.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for the question. That is why the amendment proposes to add a reference to other necessary tools, which could contribute to a more accurate estimate of the number of rights holders, for example, between census periods.

Official Languages committee  The census is the primary tool the federal government would rely on to estimate the number of eligible children, but other provincially held tools are needed to come up with a more accurate estimate. In particular, I used the example of lists provided by school boards, which would really help confirm the number of children.

Official Languages committee  The remaining tools would fall under provincial and territorial jurisdiction in the area of education.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much for your question. When the government commits to something, it must be able to meet that commitment. The bill states that the Government of Canada commits to providing an estimate periodically, but it will need whatever tools are necessary to do that. You asked if the school boards could be required to provide that data.

Official Languages committee  Perhaps my colleague could complete my answer.

Official Languages committee  Thank you for your question. We understand the proposed subamendment to mean that the government is going to contribute to an estimate of the number of eligible children. The word “estimate” is used because the census can provide something close to the exact number, but it only represents one moment in time.

Official Languages committee  Therefore, those companies would not be subject.... We're really talking about the Air Canadas and other federal institutions that have Official Languages Act obligations.

Official Languages committee  Chair, I will do my best to answer this two-part question. On the first part, I think the amendment applies only to corporations.

Official Languages committee  I would think that, yes, it would be a board that would decide, but this would become an obligation that would limit their choices in terms of appointing a bilingual candidate. They would be legislated to do that, to be clear.

Official Languages committee  My team is anxiously saying, no, no, no. We wouldn't appoint the candidate, but if this amendment is retained and Bill C-13 passes, those private entities that have official language obligations from this legislation—including, for example, Air Canada—would have to name a bilingual CEO.

Official Languages committee  That is my understanding, yes.

Official Languages committee  This is one of the measures that my colleague Carsten Quell mentioned could be taken to meet this obligation, yes.