Question Period Note - Brief of the Commissioner of Official Languages outlining his position on Bill C-13

Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Issue

Brief of the Commissioner of Official Languages outlining his position on Bill C-13

New

November 2, 2022

Source

Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

Synopsis

On June 20, 2022, the Commissioner of Official Languages released a brief outlining his position on Bill C-13. The brief presents his analysis of the bill and details recommendations that he believes would further promote the achievement of the desired results of a modernized Official Languages Act.

Recommended response

• Our government welcomes the Commissioner’s Brief outlining his position on Bill C-13, and we are carefully considering his recommendations.
• We are collaborating on an ongoing basis with the partners in the modernization of the Official Languages Act and are taking into account the positions of the stakeholders. The Commissioner’s recommendations will ground our reflection.
• The purpose of the modernization exercise is to improve and strengthen the Act. The modernized Act will further contribute to achieving substantive equality among Canada’s official languages and will adapt it to a changing society.

Background

• On June 20, 2022, the Commissioner of Official Languages (Commissioner) tabled his Brief on Bill C-13 with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG Committee). The report presents the Commissioner’s analysis and recommendations to further promote the achievement of the results expected from the modernization of the Official Languages Act (OLA).
• The Commissioner provided his analysis and related recommendations at his October 6, 2022, appearance before the LANG Committee.
• The Commissioner submitted his recommendations under the following five themes:
• A robust and effective approach to official languages governance: According to the Commissioner, a central agency should coordinate the implementation of the OLA and ensure its results, have clearly defined obligations and an effective and transparent governance structure. He proposes that the administration of the OLA be the responsibility of the Treasury Board solely, and that its powers as a central agency be increased, particularly in terms of monitoring and accountability.
• Federal institutions that promote official languages among their employees and toward the public: The Commissioner suggests that provisions relating to communications with and service to the public (Part IV) should be added to the modernization effort to respect the right of Canadians to communicate with and receive services from federal institutions in the language of their choice, particularly for the travelling public, including in emergency situations. To achieve this, he suggested certain additions regarding the language of work of federal employees (Part V), including that designated bilingual regions should be renewed and the rights of employees working in them strengthened. He also recommended that the OLA codify the obligation of federal institutions to draft all federal-provincial-territorial agreements in both official languages, to incorporate enforceable language clauses and to disclose them to the public.
• Support for communities and advancement of official languages to preserve gains and clarify institutions’ obligations: The Commissioner points out that the amendments to Part VII contained in Bill-13 could weaken the Federal Court of Appeal’s interpretation of the obligations of institutions under Part VII in the Fédération des francophones de Colombie-Britannique (FFCB) case. In his view, the discretionary power of federal institutions to take positive measures and to limit the leeway they are allowed must be clarified, and they must also mitigate the negative impacts of their decisions and conduct impact analyses to do so. The Commissioner called for the rapid enactment of a regulation on Part VII to provide a framework for its implementation and to clarify the parameters of its application. The Commissioner mentions that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship must be better guided to ensure that the objectives, targets and indicators in the immigration policy are aimed at maintaining and increasing the demographic weight of Francophone minorities. Finally, the Commissioner states that a more binding obligation must be created to implement the commitment to contribute to the periodic estimation of the number of children of rights holders and include a clear obligation for Statistics Canada.
• Effective new roles and powers for the Commissioner: The Commissioner states that the power to issue orders needs to be more flexible and that he should have the discretion to make an order as part of his final investigation report, after notifying the institution. He also stated that the scope of application of the administrative monetary penalty regime should be reviewed and expanded. He questioned the regulatory route for designating the organizations to be subject to monetary penalties; feeling that listing the organizations subject to the monetary penalty system in the OLA would limit this risk. He also believes that there is a need to ensure better access to justice and that these remedies ensure that complainants have access to justice and can obtain timely redress for violations of their language rights.
• A coherent language regime for federally regulated private businesses: The Commissioner emphasizes that the regime of the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act (UFA) and that of the OLA must be consistent and both interpreted in accordance with the substantive equality standard, which only Bill C-13 expressly provides.
• On March 1, 2022, the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency tabled Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (Bill C-13) in the House of Commons.
  • Debate at second reading started on April 1, 2022, in the House of Commons and concluded on May 30, 2022, following a vote where almost all parties supported the Bill.
  • The bill is now before LANG, and the Senate Committee on Official Languages (OLLO) began its pre-study on May 31, 2022.