The Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, reiterated on Monday his calls for action to the government and federal institutions to supervise and implement the new law “as quickly as possible”.
“We are seeing a slow pace in the development of regulations. This is a pressing situation. In my opinion, we must move as quickly as possible,” he declared before the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
At the beginning of the month, Mr. Théberge had already invited the President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, to publish her regulations on Part VII of the Act “sooner rather than later”. Because this section of the legislative text, which concerns “progression towards equality of status and use of French and English”, is the one which will have “the greatest impact on the development of our communities”.
The commissioner also believes that the new version of the Accountability and Accountability Framework prepared by the Treasury Board is not “prescriptive” enough. “We were consulted, but it didn’t necessarily produce the results we wanted. […] We still give too much latitude to federal institutions to judge how they should implement the law. »
However, it is these same institutions that “do not take […] seriously” their linguistic obligations, warned Mr. Théberge a few weeks ago. The latter “will have to redouble their ardor”, he insisted again on Monday afternoon. “We need a revival […] commitment, and it starts with senior management and it also begins with leadership from ministers. »
“Work with respect” in committee
Even though it failed last Thursday to remove Franco-Ontarian MP Francis Drouin from his position as president of the Canadian section of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, the opposition returned to the charge, taking advantage of the commissioner’s presence to question him about the liberal’s comments.
“I think what is important is always to work with respect,” replied Raymond Théberge soberly. “A painting, in itself, does not represent an entire reality,” he added. “But I think what is important is to realize that it is extremely important, especially for Francophones in a minority environment, to have access to an education system from early childhood to post-secondary in the language of the minority to precisely counterbalance the very English-speaking environment in which he finds himself. »
The Minister of Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, declined the invitation to return to testify to conclude the committee’s study on the financing of post-secondary establishments in minority settings, President René Arseneault said Monday. Completely erased by the debates on the call for the resignation of Mr. Drouin, the elected official, who was to testify this month, had only answered one question, on his colleague’s excuses.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.