The Trudeau government is proposing to give new powers to the Commissioner of Official Languages, including the power to impose “administrative monetary penalties” on Air Canada, Via Rail, Marine Atlantic, as well as on major airports when the language rights of their customers will be violated.
These Crown corporations already subject to the Official Languages Act — which “carry out their activities in the field of transportation” and “provide services to travelers and communicate with them” — could be fined a maximum amount of $25,000, can we read in the bill aimed at giving “more teeth” to the Official Languages Act unveiled on Tuesday.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor introduced Bill C-13 not in the Parliament of Ottawa, but in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, from where more than 2,000 Acadians were deported under the threat of bayonets from British soldiers in 1755. “It’s a place that reminds us of the fragility of our communities, the challenges we faced and the battles we fought to protect our language and our culture,” she said.
The Minister of Official Languages says she has been busy over the 125 days making “additions” to Bill C-32, tabled by her predecessor Mélanie Joly last June and then dying on the order paper two months later. “We want to go even further,” she hammered at the foot of a bronze sculpture representing Evangeline.
As proof, Bill C-13 will “broaden the powers of the Treasury Board”, which will “supervise and verify compliance by federal institutions with the principles, instructions and regulations regarding official languages” among other things. things, in addition to “strengthening the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages”. “Administrative financial penalties are a tool that has been added to the toolbox [du commissaire]. There are many other tools that have been added, such as the power of mediation, the power of order…”, illustrated Mme Petitpas Taylor, 1500 kilometers from the federal capital.
“The imposition of a sanction is not intended to punish, but rather to encourage respect for the [Loi] “, for their part underlined senior officials in a technical briefing on the document of nearly 75 pages.
The Trudeau government has been careful not to impose fluency in French and English as a condition of employment for the bosses of companies subject to the Official Languages Act such as Air Canada or Via Rail. After saying she was still “disappointed and angry” at the remarks made last fall by the president and chief executive officer of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, who refused to learn the French language, Ms.me Petitpas Taylor indicated that he wanted to respond to the main “concern” of Canadians, that is to say “to have service in French”.
The Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, said he was “very pleased” with the power to impose administrative monetary penalties reserved for him by the government. “This new mechanism will certainly make it possible to ensure that the entities that serve travelers respect their linguistic obligations in terms of communication and services,” he said in a written statement.
Increased protection of French
Moreover, Bill C-13 will give workers in private companies under federal jurisdiction in Quebec, but also “in regions with a strong francophone presence” — which have not yet been identified by Ottawa — “the right to carry out their work and to be supervised in French”, “the right to receive any communication and documentation […] in French” as well as “the right to use work instruments and computer systems in common and general use in French”.
Private companies under federal jurisdiction may not “adversely treat an employee [au Québec ou dans une région à forte présence francophone] on the sole ground that he does not have sufficient knowledge of a language other than French” unless they are “capable[s] to demonstrate that knowledge of this language is objectively necessary because of the nature of the work to be performed by the employee”.
That said, the federal government intends to offer free choice to private companies under federal jurisdiction present in Quebec to conduct “their communications with consumers” in compliance with Bill C-13 — which reiterates that “consumers in Quebec have the right to communicate in French with a private enterprise under federal jurisdiction that carries out its activities there and to receive services in that language from it” — or even the Charter of the French language of Quebec.
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ demands that all workers in Quebec have “the same rights”. “And the application of their rights must be the responsibility of a single project manager, namely the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF)”, affirms the secretary general of the FTQ, Denis Bolduc. “Leaving Quebec companies the choice of regulation – federal or Quebec – as proposed in the bill only risks creating an administrative mess and bogging down the courts,” he warned.
“Quebec’s requests were rejected out of hand,” summarized Bloc Québécois MP Mario Beaulieu.
The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) said it was “dismayed” at the creation of new language rights protecting French in businesses under federal jurisdiction in Quebec, “where the use of French is not threatened.” On the other hand, the NPO notes with satisfaction the inclusion of funding for the Court Challenges Program in the bill, seeing it as “an essential resource for Canadians who exercise and advance their equality rights as well as their language rights “.
Bills C-13 in Ottawa and 96 in Quebec City “must not increase the administrative burden on businesses by multiplying the controls and procedures to be carried out with the various levels of government”, for its part underlined the Chambre de commerce du du Québec. Metropolitan Montreal.
More francophone immigration, more justice in French
Canada’s immigration policy “will contain objectives, targets and indicators with the aim of increasing Francophone immigration outside Quebec,” also promised Ms.me Petitpas Taylor, who represents the riding of Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe in the House of Commons.
Bill C-13 also provides that “final decisions of federal courts having precedent value” be simultaneously released in French and English. It also states that like other federal courts, the Supreme Court of Canada shall “ensure that whoever hears the case […] understands French without the aid of an interpreter when the parties have opted for the case to take place in French”.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor describes the situation of French in the country as “worrying”. “With 8 million Francophones in Canada, in an ocean of more than 360 million Anglophones in North America, the protection of French deserves special attention and immediate attention,” she argued at Grand-Pré on Tuesday. .
The first Acadian to assume the responsibilities of Minister of Official Languages is convinced that Bill C-13 “meets the needs of the French language in North America” as well as the “challenges” of Anglophones in Quebec without harming ” reclaiming, revitalizing and strengthening indigenous languages”.
The Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities (FCFA) expressed regret that the bill does not introduce an obligation to include enforceable language clauses in federal-provincial-territorial agreements. “We have seen, with the signing of the agreements on the National Daycare Program, how nothing is guaranteed when there are no clauses that explicitly require equitable services in French”, declared the president of the FCFA, Liane Roy, after hailing the “substantial gains” for the protection and promotion of French in the country in Bill C-13. “Minister Petitpas Taylor is to be congratulated. That said, some elements are not in place, and we must work on them before saying “mission accomplished”, “she added.