Ottawa reserves $26 million to “support the implementation” of the new Official Languages Act, almost a year after its adoption.
These funds will be paid from 2024 to 2029 to the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.
The “Act to achieve substantive equality between the official languages of Canada” notably gives the Commissioner of Official Languages the power to impose “administrative monetary penalties”. It also commits the federal government to ensuring the “reestablishment and increase of the demographic weight of French-speaking minorities”.
But since royal assent was granted in June 2023, the regulations which will strengthen this law are still pending, and certain institutions, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, are still struggling to comply with its requirements, which the Commissioner denounces. official languages, Raymond Théberge.
Politics and justice in French
In addition to implementing the law, the federal government wants to “support access to justice”. Nearly $10 million will be paid over three years, starting in 2024-2025, so that federal court decisions are translated into both official languages.
Ottawa also wants to “maintain participation in democracy” by investing in parliamentary translation services, “strained” by “labor shortages and resource constraints”.
“People have the right to listen to and participate in their parliamentary process in the official language of their choice,” the budget reads.
Access to education
Without much surprise for the Association of Colleges and Universities of the Canadian Francophonie, the Liberals have not yet delivered on their 2021 promise to establish a permanent fund of $80 million annually for post-secondary institutions in minority situations.
However, the federal government is expanding Canada student loan repayment waivers “to a greater number of health and social service specialists working in rural and remote communities,” including dentists, teachers and psychologists. . Early childhood education staff will also be exempt.
As announced in March by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, $1 billion in low-cost loans and grants of $60 million will be dedicated to non-profit daycares and early childhood centers to “create more childcare spaces.” » and carry out renovations.
Last April, the federal government announced funding of $4.1 billion between 2023 and 2028 — including $1.4 billion in new funds — as part of its Action Plan on Official Languages. An envelope aimed in particular at stimulating French-speaking immigration and financing education in minority contexts.