LANG Committee Report

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT, NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA, ON THE STUDY TOWARD A NEW ACTION PLAN FOR OFFICIAL LANGUAGES AND BUILDING NEW MOMENTUM FOR IMMIGRATION IN FRANCOPHONE MINORITY COMMUNITIES

The New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) would like to thank all who appeared before or contributed to the Standing Committee on Official Languages study entitled “Toward a new action plan for official languages and building new momentum for immigration in francophone minority communities.”

The NDP supports the report and all of the recommendations made by the Committee. However, we wish to add some comments concerning the role of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, program funding, the next census, access to justice and the role of youth in minority communities.

First, the Department of Canadian Heritage must show leadership to ensure the recommendations in the report are reviewed and implemented.

As we understand it, the existing official languages policy is based on a Program Alignment Architecture (PAA) model.[1] We were told that the governance of the Roadmap is supported through three committees: the Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages (CADMOL), the Executive Committee of the Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages (EX-CADMOL), and the committee of Directors General (DG Forum) from Roadmap partner organizations and official languages coordination departments.

In the document presented to the committee on November 29 by senior Canadian Heritage officials,[2] we clearly note that the Minister for Canadian Heritage and Official Languages must show leadership to Cabinet to ensure respect for the Official Languages Act (Part VII).

The NDP calls on the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Mélanie Joly, to lead the way in the department’s areas of action under the Official Languages Act and defend Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs). The NDP would therefore like the Minister of Canadian Heritage to promptly take the necessary steps to ensure that the recommendations in this report are implemented.

Second, the current Liberal government announced some of the improvements expected by OLMCs, but these improvements are not expected to be introduced until a few months before the next election. For example, the FCFA and the QCGN asked that at least the funds invested in OLMCs be indexed in the 2017 budget. The budget for organizations and communities has not been adjusted for inflation in more than 10 years.

We therefore recommend that the Liberal government listen to OLMCs’ concerns about funding and increase the amounts invested in minority communities by indexing their funds starting in the 2017 budget.

Third, sufficient information is needed to plan official languages policy. As called for by several experts, we also ask that questions to better identify official language minorities in Canada be added to the next census.

Fourth, to improve access to justice in both official languages across Canada, we must be able to legislate the language skills of judges and Canada’s judiciary. We need to establish stable, long-term mechanisms that will provide better access to justice in both official languages. We hope that the official languages committee will be able to start a study on this subject in early 2017.

The committee did not have the opportunity to examine the requests of youth representatives. However, the NDP understands that OLMC youth are vital to the future of linguistic vitality in minority communities across the country. The NDP therefore reiterates the recommendations of the Fédération de la Jeunesse Canadienne-Française (FJCF) that the Government of Canada:

Increase funding for the Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages program.

Increase funding for high-quality, paid internships for French students in francophone minority communities through the Young Canada Works at Building Careers in English and French program.

Launch a public awareness campaign to promote official languages and linguistic duality in Canada.

Invest in youth leadership development.

[1] LANG, Evidence, 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 29 November 2016, (Hubert Lussier, Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizenship, Heritage and Regions, Canadian Heritage).

[2] “Governance and Accountability, Roadmap 2013-2018,” p. 8, LANG, Evidence, 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 29 November 2016, (Hubert Lussier, Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizenship, Heritage and Regions, Canadian Heritage).