Official Languages committee  The relationship with the provinces can be difficult. What I would say is that, if the federal government keeps to its responsibility of ensuring community vitality and development—again, this ties in with what I said earlier—it can achieve progress without encroaching upon provi

Official Languages committee  The provinces must ensure the vitality and development of linguistic communities, but the federal government also has a responsibility. That's how the federal government can help to improve things in the event of a crisis or erosion in language, as we have seen recently. It has a

Official Languages committee  Yes. We would like to see section 23 as a floor, not a ceiling. The enumeration can be done, but there are many other people who would like to study in a first or second language. That is why we recommend aiming higher than what is currently in place. Section 23 should not be se

Official Languages committee  I would recommend that we stick to what is at the heart of the act, which is the vitality and development of communities. Then, we move on to demographics and so on. I think that if we all work in that direction, we can achieve great things. It will also be a matter of ensuring t

Official Languages committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, good afternoon. I want to thank you for your invitation to participate in the ongoing study on the modernization of the Official Languages Act. “Imagine being condemned in a language you don't understand or only slightly understand.” This is