Official Languages committee  A grandfather clause should be inserted in the act to ensure an exception in New Brunswick, that is, where there is sufficient demand for services in French. You have to understand that, according to the criteria currently set out in the act, the only places where there is suffic

Official Languages committee  I have a mandate to speak on behalf of the Acadian and francophone community. I can tell you that Bill C‑13 may not go far enough in this regard, generally speaking. As you may know, immigration is a shared jurisdiction under section 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867. In the lat

Official Languages committee  From a legislative standpoint, this is probably the best proposal there is at this time. I myself am not a public administration expert. However, when we consult such experts, particularly those who have previously worked for the Treasury Board, they say that this organization d

Official Languages committee  I'm not here to talk about politics. The proposed legislative framework certainly features important and worthwhile advances. We wouldn't hesitate to implement the provisions of the bill tomorrow morning if it were to pass in its current form. On the issue of the lieutenant gove

Official Languages committee  It is indeed possible to include provisions in the act. However, legal experts have advised us that we can achieve the same aims through regulation, whether on this particular issue or on that of federally regulated businesses.

Official Languages committee  We currently have no specific requests since we'll be able to address these issues through regulation.

Official Languages committee  The fact remains that an act is just an act. They're just words on paper. Whether there is the political will to implement it is another question. Nevertheless, Bill C‑13 provides for some very worthwhile mechanisms that may have an impact on the ground in New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  The objectives should be set through regulation; you'll understand our position on the subject, Mr. Beaulieu. New Brunswick is the only province other than Quebec that has linguistic specificity. Our position on immigration has always been very clear. It's not just a question of

Official Languages committee  We're very much in favour of the proposed amendment that would force the government to do a legislative review every 10 years. In fact, this is modelled on New Brunswick's legislative model. Obviously we're happy with this because the government will be forced to start a process

Official Languages committee  As you must know, the 2021 census shows that the decline of French is proportionately greater in New Brunswick. Compared to the rest of Canada, New Brunswick has experienced the greatest decline in French. The last time the act was modernized, I wasn't even born. The act's imple

Official Languages committee  As I've just said, I believe this can easily be addressed through regulation. There should be a provision specifying New Brunswick's linguistic specificity, in terms of “significant demand” not applying to New Brunswick.

Official Languages committee  I'm not the official languages commissioner. Mr. Théberge should be the one to answer that question.

Official Languages committee  I understand completely. I'll try to be clearer. We all get different advice from experts in constitutional law and language rights. The advice we've received clearly indicates that the current flaws in Bill C‑13 can be addressed through regulation.

Official Languages committee  Absolutely. We're a part of the FCFA. That said, this isn't a priority for the Acadian Society of New Brunswick at the moment.

Official Languages committee  My initial position remains unchanged. We believe that Bill C‑13 represents a real step forward for institutional bilingualism in Canada. If the bill were to be adopted tomorrow, for instance, I believe it would allow us to make headway. Besides, the bill's implementation would r