(Ottawa) Some would say that the political stars were aligned for a rare time. Others will argue that the right ministers were in the right place at the right time. However, one thing is clear: the recent agreement reached between the Minister for the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, and the Minister for Official Languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, marks a turning point in relations between Quebec and Ottawa on the delicate linguistic question.
The turning point is such that the two ministers granted a joint interview to The Press this week by videoconference to explain the underside of this “good linguistic understanding”.
“There is a paradigm shift. In the logic of many people, for there to be a winner, there must be a loser. We got away from that logic. It was like either Ottawa or Quebec winning. Either francophones in Quebec or francophones outside Quebec win. And that is a mental prison. We had to get out of that. And we got out of that, ”analyzes Minister Roberge.
” I agree. People think it always has to be the bickering with the federal government and the provinces. It is not the case at all. People want to see us work together to advance their priorities,” adds Minister Petitpas Taylor, emphasizing that she is “not the most partisan lady”.
After a few months of talks, Quebec and Ottawa reached an agreement ten days ago on the content of the amendments to the Trudeau government’s Bill C-13 aimed at modernizing the Official Languages Act.
The compromise that satisfies the two capitals concerns the obligation of federally chartered companies towards French-speaking employees.
Quebec wanted the Charter of French law to apply to these companies located on its territory. Ottawa has instead proposed integrating into the official languages reform certain elements of the Charter affecting these same businesses.
Result: federally chartered companies will be required to offer internal communications in French to their employees who require it, not only in Quebec, but also in regions with a strong French-speaking presence such as Acadia and eastern Quebec. Ontario, for example. These companies will also have to offer employment contracts in French, job descriptions in French and Francophones will be able to demand interviews in their language.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Quebec’s Minister for the French Language, Jean-François Roberge, is also Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie.
“We are happy, Ginette and I. We are really happy. I really salute his work,” says Jean-François Roberge from the outset.
“It’s mutual! It is absolutely reciprocal! “replies Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
Hooked atoms
The talks kicked off following a meeting the two ministers had in Ottawa last November.
At the end of this meeting, Mr. Roberge said he saw in Mme Petitpas Taylor is a serious interlocutor who listens. “As soon as I spoke to him, we saw right away that we had something in common,” said Mr. Roberge, while his colleague nodded his approval on the screen.
The Minister’s Acadian origins helped establish solid working ties. Especially since Mr. Roberge’s wife is also of Acadian origin.
PHOTO PATRICK DOYLE, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Federal Minister of Official Languages
Representing the Moncton region in the House of Commons, Mr.me Petitpas Taylor lives the daily struggle for the survival of the French language. In addition, she finds it hard to see the premier of New Brunswick, Blaine Higgs, taking steps to push the rights of Francophones by the wayside, even though this province is officially bilingual.
“I am the premier of Acadian origin who is responsible for official languages. I live in an official language minority community. For me, the Official Languages Act is something that has always greatly influenced me,” says Ms.me Petitpas Taylor
If I had the chance to live in French, to work in French, to do my post-secondary studies in French, it was thanks to the Official Languages Act. Yes, the premier of New Brunswick is not an ally of the francophones of our province. It reinforces the message that we should never take our rights for granted. That is why we wanted to make sure we had a law that had teeth.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages
According to Mr. Roberge, Premier François Legault’s decision to entrust him with the duties of Minister of the French Language, Canadian Relations and La Francophonie has changed the situation. “I have the three hats. I want all three to work. I am here to find solutions. »
“The defining moment was when we met in person in Ottawa and had a great dinner. We had time to go around things. And then at the end, we said that we agree on the principles and values. It remained to be seen how to transform this into a text of law. In both cases, we relied on our teams as well. There were cabinet-to-cabinet meetings, and civil servants with civil servants, lawyers with lawyers,” explains Mr. Roberge.
“After that, we spoke again by Teams, we saw that we had come a long way and we were off again. There have been two or three cycles like that. But I always felt each time that we were getting closer to the solution, ”he adds.
“I believe we had the right ministers in the right places at the right time. We worked together to find a way through. We wanted to make sure we could do our fair share to protect and promote French. In the case of businesses under federal jurisdiction, we have always said that we wanted to ensure that our regimes were going to be harmonized and aligned. This is indeed what happened,” said the Minister of Official Languages.
The two ministers concluded the interview by saying they hoped that the deputies would pass Bill C-13 at third reading quickly and that the senators would ratify it before the end of June.