Official languages: giving the law "bite"
The Official Languages Act “has worked” for the past 50 years, but today it should have “more teeth,” argues Minister Mélanie Joly.
On a media tour last week, the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages praised her bill reform, by focusing on the one hand on Anglophones so that they become bilingual in a greater proportion and on the one hand. another,
on new measures to protect Francophones outside Quebec.
Lhe minister hopes to see his reform book become a bill, and be adopted before the end of the year 2021. His minority government will have to find political allies in the House of Commons so that his wish comes true before the next meetings are held. elections.
“(The Act) worked because it made the federal government bilingual,” says Minister Joly. What more needs to be done today is to protect francophones outside Quebec and encourage anglophones to become bilingual. "
The reform book presented by Minister Joly last February provides more powers for the Commissioner of Official Languages. “When I say that the (current) law lacks teeth, it is because the Commissioner of Official Languages does not have enough powers. "
If its reform project is adopted as is, a new agency within the Treasury Board would have a decisive role in the application of the Official Languages Act. “Right now, as minister, I have to go to Treasury Board to make requests for each of the federal departments. If the Treasury Board automatically gives its directives by automatically applying the Official Languages Act, the departments have no choice but to comply. "
On a media tour last week, the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages praised her bill reform, by focusing on the one hand on Anglophones so that they become bilingual in a greater proportion and on the one hand. another,
on new measures to protect Francophones outside Quebec.
Lhe minister hopes to see his reform book become a bill, and be adopted before the end of the year 2021. His minority government will have to find political allies in the House of Commons so that his wish comes true before the next meetings are held. elections.
“(The Act) worked because it made the federal government bilingual,” says Minister Joly. What more needs to be done today is to protect francophones outside Quebec and encourage anglophones to become bilingual. "
The reform book presented by Minister Joly last February provides more powers for the Commissioner of Official Languages. “When I say that the (current) law lacks teeth, it is because the Commissioner of Official Languages does not have enough powers. "
If its reform project is adopted as is, a new agency within the Treasury Board would have a decisive role in the application of the Official Languages Act. “Right now, as minister, I have to go to Treasury Board to make requests for each of the federal departments. If the Treasury Board automatically gives its directives by automatically applying the Official Languages Act, the departments have no choice but to comply. "
“What we need to do more today is protect francophones outside Quebec and encourage anglophones to become bilingual. "
- Minister Mélanie Joly
- Minister Mélanie Joly
Minister Joly also plans to "increase the criteria for bilingualism among managers" in the federal public service.
Businesses
Its reform book, entitled "French and English: Towards a Real Equality of Official Languages in Canada", proposes to apply the Official Languages Act to private businesses under federal jurisdiction, such as air carriers, banks, or the telecommunications sector. It will not apply, for example, to small businesses in Montreal that serve their customers in English only. “We have jurisdiction over banks, telecommunications companies and large companies,” explains Ms. Joly. As for the small merchant on rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal ... If you are not a bank or a telecommunications company, it is Bill 101. ”
A committee of experts must submit, by May 7, a series of criteria used to identify the regions where the French-speaking presence outside Quebec is large enough to subject businesses under federal jurisdiction to these new obligations.
Immersion
The federal Liberals are banking on access to French immersion for English-speaking students. “The constitution recognizes the right of children to go to school in the language of the minority. The issue is that these schools (in minority communities) are underfunded. We want to fund more, and ensure that there is no “lottery” or waiting list for parents who want to send their child to immersion. The Trudeau government wants to allow better access to French immersion programs by attracting more French-speaking teachers outside Quebec.
Minister Joly recalls that her reform project is inspired by clear instructions from the Supreme Court,
which rendered an important decision on minority schools last June.
In its decision involving the Francophone School Board of British Columbia, the highest court in the country recalled that children must receive “an educational experience truly equivalent to that of the majority, regardless of the size of the school. or the program in question ”.
Businesses
Its reform book, entitled "French and English: Towards a Real Equality of Official Languages in Canada", proposes to apply the Official Languages Act to private businesses under federal jurisdiction, such as air carriers, banks, or the telecommunications sector. It will not apply, for example, to small businesses in Montreal that serve their customers in English only. “We have jurisdiction over banks, telecommunications companies and large companies,” explains Ms. Joly. As for the small merchant on rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal ... If you are not a bank or a telecommunications company, it is Bill 101. ”
A committee of experts must submit, by May 7, a series of criteria used to identify the regions where the French-speaking presence outside Quebec is large enough to subject businesses under federal jurisdiction to these new obligations.
Immersion
The federal Liberals are banking on access to French immersion for English-speaking students. “The constitution recognizes the right of children to go to school in the language of the minority. The issue is that these schools (in minority communities) are underfunded. We want to fund more, and ensure that there is no “lottery” or waiting list for parents who want to send their child to immersion. The Trudeau government wants to allow better access to French immersion programs by attracting more French-speaking teachers outside Quebec.
Minister Joly recalls that her reform project is inspired by clear instructions from the Supreme Court,
which rendered an important decision on minority schools last June.
In its decision involving the Francophone School Board of British Columbia, the highest court in the country recalled that children must receive “an educational experience truly equivalent to that of the majority, regardless of the size of the school. or the program in question ”.
Louis-Denis Ebacher
The right
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