Bill C-13

An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada's Official Languages

An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts

Part 1 amends the Official Languages Act to, among other things,
(a) specify that all legal obligations related to the official languages apply at all times, including during emergencies;
(b) codify certain interpretative principles regarding language rights;
(c) provide that section 16 of that Act applies to the Supreme Court of Canada;
(d) provide that a final decision, order or judgment of a federal court that has precedential value is to be made available simultaneously in both official languages;
(e) provide for Government of Canada commitments to
(i) protect and promote French,
(ii) estimate the number of children whose parents are rights holders under section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ,
(iii) advance formal, non-formal and informal opportunities for members of English and French linguistic minority communities to pursue quality learning in their own language throughout their lives, including from early childhood to post-secondary education, and
(iv) advance the use of English and French in the conduct of Canada’s external affairs;
(f) clarify the nature of the duty of federal institutions to take positive measures to implement certain Government of Canada commitments and the manner in which the duty is to be carried out;
(g) provide for certain positive measures that federal institutions may take to implement certain Government of Canada commitments, including measures to
(i) promote and support the learning of English and French in Canada, and
(ii) support sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities and protect and promote the presence of strong institutions serving those communities;
(h) provide for certain measures that the Minister of Canadian Heritage may take to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society;
(i) provide that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is required to adopt a policy on francophone immigration and that the policy is to include, among other things, objectives, targets and indicators;
(j) provide that the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of cooperating with provincial and territorial governments;
(k) provide that the Treasury Board is required to establish policies to give effect to certain parts of that Act, monitor and audit federal institutions for their compliance with policies, directives and regulations relating to the official languages, evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and programs of federal institutions relating to the official languages and provide certain information to the public and to employees of federal institutions;
(l) enable the Commissioner of Official Languages to enter into compliance agreements and, in certain cases, to make orders; and
(m) enable the Commissioner of Official Languages to impose administrative monetary penalties on certain entities for non-compliance with certain provisions of Part IV of that Act.
It also makes a related amendment to the Department of Canadian Heritage Act .
Part 2 enacts the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act , which, among other things, provides for rights and duties respecting the use of French as a language of service and a language of work in relation to federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and then, at a later date, in regions with a strong francophone presence. That Act also allows employees of federally regulated private businesses to make a complaint to the Commissioner of Official Languages with respect to rights and duties in relation to language of work and allows the Commissioner to refer the complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board in certain circumstances. It also provides that the Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for promoting those rights. Finally, Part 2 makes related amendments to the Canada Labour Code .

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Once again, I'm eager to see Bill C‑13 make its way through the House of Commons and the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

I should mention in passing that it would be very helpful if the committee could begin a preliminary study. I'm keen to begin drawing up the application regulations because we really want to see the final outcome of this act, which will genuinely change things in the lives of Canadians and Quebeckers.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Stakeholders have told us they want to ensure that Bill C‑13 addresses francophone immigration. I'm very pleased to have worked closely with Minister Fraser, who I believe will be meeting with you next week to discuss francophone immigration. We want to ensure that our bill includes an ambitious immigration strategy with objectives, targets indicators…

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

One of the interesting aspects of Bill C‑13 is the way it reinforces positive measures by encouraging the government to take into consideration the impact its decisions have on official language minority communities. That impact study is similar to the one the government conducts as part of its gender-based analysis.

Is that an accurate comparison?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you very much for that very important question.

As you know, being a proud Acadian who lives in an official language minority community, I experience that reality on a daily basis, as I said earlier.

As the federal government, we must discharge our responsibility to protect and promote our beautiful languages in Canada. That's why we'll be moving ahead with Bill C‑13, which will be much more robust than the present legislation. We definitely want to make our contribution toward protecting our beautiful languages. That's something we must do both in and outside Quebec.

I'm very pleased with the work we've managed to do. I hope the bill sails through the committee stage and the House of Commons and receives royal assent because we'll still have a lot of work to do to develop its regulatory framework.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, I'd like to thank our minister for being with us today and for presenting Bill C‑13 to us. I think it's a good thing for francophones across Canada.

Minister, earlier the Bloc Québécois asked a question about the principle of territoriality. I'd like to go back to that question. Some witnesses suggested by the Bloc Québécois told us in previous meetings that the best way to protect the French language was to adopt an approach based on the principle of territoriality.

As a francophone from outside Quebec, I feel that approach is very concerning, and I believe you'll share that opinion, knowing that you are Acadian.

Why must the government use its legislative authority to protect and promote French across Canada?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you very much for your question, Ms. Ashton.

I also recently read your tweet in which you said you were looking for day care spaces for your children. I understand you because people here at home are in the same situation.

I have to go back in time to answer your question on language clauses in bilateral agreements.

After Bill C‑32 was introduced, stakeholders said they wanted the definition of positive measures in part VII of the Official Languages Act to have more teeth. When Bill C‑13 was drafted, we paid special attention to the terms used to define positive measures. That was necessary because part VII is closely related to the question you just asked.

We did that to ensure that, when the bill receives royal assent, all the decisions the government makes regarding bilateral agreements or anything else are subsequently analyzed to assess their impact on official language minority communities.

As I said, we want substantive equality, and we need to ensure that the measures we introduce help to achieve it. Consequently, we want to make sure all the analyses are done. I often compare this to gender-based analysis.

When we formed the government in 2015, we didn't discuss this at length, but now all decisions presented to cabinet are analyzed with respect to their gender impact. The Minister for Women and Gender Equality isn't the only one considering this matter; now all ministers do so, and we debate it.

So as regards the definition of positive measures and the work we've done on that, stakeholders are very pleased to see that we genuinely want to resolve the issue.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Beaulieu. I'm always glad to see you as well.

We state very clearly that French is in decline in Quebec and Canada. We haven't downplayed that fact in our bill's provisions. We acknowledge that we must do more to protect and promote French in Quebec and Canada. When you look at our reform document, Bill C‑32 and Bill C‑13, the common denominator is that we want substantive equality. We have to take further measures to ensure we make a difference for the greater francophone community. That's very clear in our bill.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Good afternoon, Minister. Thank you for being with us.

The Quebec government has made its demands regarding the modernization of the Official Languages Act. The first of those demands was that the act recognize that only one of the two official languages, French, is in the minority. That's not what appears in Bill C‑13. There's a statement of principle, but you still consider that anglophones in Quebec constitute the official language minority. I'd like to hear your comments on that subject.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Thank you for that very important question.

As Minister of Official Languages, I wanted to be sure I did nothing to undermine Bill C‑91, which was introduced to protect indigenous languages and has now become law. You can see very clearly at a number of places in Bill C‑13 that we would be doing nothing to undermine indigenous languages. We recognize that we have 70 indigenous languages in Canada, and we want to be sure they can thrive too.

I had the good fortune to meet the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages, Ronald E. Ignace, and we had a very constructive conversation. We agreed to meet again because we want to work together. If there's anything that we can pass on to him, advice or details on the work the Commissioner of Official Languages is doing, or if he wants to learn from our experience or draw on our strategies, we're prepared to work with him. He left with a clear understanding of our approach, and it was a very good meeting.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

It's always a pleasure to see you, Mr. Iacono. Thank you for that question.

I was appointed Minister of Official Languages about five months ago. From the start of my mandate, I've been privileged to meet many of my colleagues who are around this table, members of the opposition parties, senators and many stakeholders. I wanted to hear their comments on Bill C‑32 and find out what they'd like to see in its new version.

I've met many national and provincial groups. I met with the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, or SANB, because it's in my riding. I met with the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, the FCFA, the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, or AFO, the Quebec Community Groups Network, the QCGN, and others. All those conversations gave me a lot of food for thought, and my thoughts were included in Bill C‑13, which we introduced three weeks ago.

I heard a number of people say that Bill C‑13 didn't include all the aspects that were in Bill C‑32. I want to state clearly that that's absolutely false. All the elements that were in Bill C‑32 are in Bill C‑13. However, we've gone even further. Stakeholders told me they wanted a more robust bill, and that's exactly what we introduced. I'd like to say I've met the expectations expressed in the comments we received from stakeholders. Here are a few examples.

I'd like to address the matter of the Commissioner of Official Languages. The Commissioner asked us for more powers and tools to do his job. We all acknowledge that the Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, is doing extremely important work to protect our official languages. However, the only power Mr. Théberge currently has is the power to conduct investigations and issue reports. So he wanted better tools to do his job, and that's precisely what we've given him.

We added tools in Bill C‑32, and, in Bill C‑13, we've also added administrative monetary penalties, which could be imposed on some federal institutions. In short, we want to ensure that our bill has teeth. We wanted to create a central agency, as was mentioned, since many stakeholders I spoke to raised the issue. That's precisely what we've done.

I genuinely hope we can work closely together to adopt Bill C‑13 as soon as possible since I'm really looking forward to continuing work on the regulatory framework. We definitely want to forge ahead.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Minister. It's always a pleasure to see our Acadian friends. I have to say that Quebec does things its own way. Oh, oh!

Minister, the work involved in modernizing the Official Languages Act has been ongoing for many years. You've been responsible for this portfolio since last October. Would you please tell us about your interactions with stakeholders representing official language minority communities and how those interactions have influenced the differences between Bill C‑32 from the last Parliament and Bill C‑13?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

You said in your opening remarks that you were counting on our support. I would invite you to do the same, to be very open. I hope we can count on your support to improve the bill. You said it had teeth, but we don't think it's robust enough. Rest assured we'll cooperate with you in the hope you'll be as open as we are.

I have another question for you.

Why isn't the central agency, the Treasury Board, defined in Bill C‑13, as many organizations have requested. There are still grey areas between the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Treasury Board. Why haven't all the powers been centralized in the same place?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

Since you're used to testifying in committee, you know that our speaking time is limited. I don't mean to be rude, but I have more questions for you and plan to ask them in quick succession.

If Bill C‑13 came into force tomorrow morning, exactly how would it help halt the decline, flatten the curve and improve the situation of French in Canada?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to start by acknowledging that we are joining you from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg nation.

It’s a pleasure for me to meet with the Standing Committee on Official Languages for the first time in my capacity as Minister of Official Languages. When the Prime Minister gave me this mandate, I was deeply touched.

As you know, I’m Acadian—the first Acadian to hold the position of Minister of Official Languages. So, I personally know how important it is to be able to speak your first official language every day. To study. To work. To live.

I know how important it is to live in a thriving community. And a thriving community is, above all, a community that can freely speak its first official language. This is true for Francophones and Anglophones in minority situations, and for everyone who supports our official languages. It’s a responsibility that I take to heart, and a responsibility that is at the heart of my mandate.

On March 1 ^st in Grand-Pré, I was proud to fulfill one of the most important parts of my mandate letter by introducing Bill C‑13, our legislation to modernize the Official Languages Act. I chose to introduce the bill in Grand-Pré because it is a place that reminds us of the fragility of our official language minority communities and the battles we have fought to protect the French language. The protection and promotion of French throughout Canada, including Quebec, and defending our official-language minority communities remain a challenge today, and we will seize every opportunity to respond to it with Bill C‑13.

However, that responsibility goes beyond just introducing a bill. Our government is committed to implementing the measures outlined in our reform document, English and French: Towards a Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada. Across the country, we’re helping to build and support institutions that help official-language minority communities grow and prosper. We’re improving access to French immersion and French second-language programs, from early childhood learning to post-secondary education. We’re working to increase the demographic weight of Francophones.

In this work, I have been fortunate to be supported by a Prime Minister and cabinet colleagues who share the same goal, and a parliamentary secretary, Marc Serré, as well as many parliamentarians, some of whom are here today, and members of this committee who are doing an incredible job.

As I have always said, we wanted a bill that reflected the linguistic realities of all Canadians, both Anglophone and Francophone. We wanted a bill that would meet the needs of official-language minority communities from coast to coast to coast and help them thrive. And we wanted a bill with more teeth. Bill C‑13 meets those objectives.

I know I have a lot of work to do, but I also know I can count on your support and your advice. I look forward to working with you and with all those who love our official languages and the minority communities that enrich our lives so much.

Once again, I'm happy to be here with you today and happy to answer your questions.

Mr. Chair, thank you for reminding us not to speak quickly as I tend to do just that. Don't hesitate to remind me if I do though, and I'll slow down.

[Michael Rousseau]

Mr. Chairman, I do find my response credible. Our performance has been improving on a relative basis over the last several years.

We know we can do more. We know we can do better. My objective is to do that.

Again, we recently put in some new enhancements. We are encouraged by what's in the draft Bill C-13 regarding immigration and education. We do believe our performance will continue to improve.