Motion 410

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak unequivocally in favour of the motion that Senator Miville-Dechêne moved on November 22, 2018. I want to thank all my anglophone and francophone colleagues who have taken the time to speak on this topic. I read your eloquent speeches carefully, and I must admit they made me somewhat emotional.

Your speeches were sound and forceful. I’m sure they comforted Franco-Ontarians and all linguistic minority communities and gave hope to all Canadians across the country.

In your speeches, you reaffirmed the defence of official languages is not only the responsibility of official languages minorities or of a particular cultural group. You stated with conviction it is the responsibility of the governments, and each and every Canadian citizen, to stand up for our common values.

What more can I say, after all of your wonderful words, dear colleagues? What more can I do to convince certain elected officials and Canadians of how important official languages are to our country’s future?

What else can we say?

How many statistics do we need to cite? How many studies do we need to do? How far back into our history do we need to go to explain and to make people understand how much official languages, bilingualism and linguistic duality have contributed to the creation, continuation and development of the Canadian federation?

As a country, are we missing something in the way we are educating our people? Have we forgotten to tell our fellow citizens what it means to have the privilege to live, be educated and work in a country where the English and French languages are indeed part of our heritage? Even more so, they are the best tools we have to live together in peace.

What do we have to do, colleagues, to dispel the myths surrounding the allegedly excessive cost of bilingualism and linguistic duality in Canada? What are we supposed to say to those who claim that francophones and anglophones in minority communities are privileged because they have access to funding to protect their culture? How can we counter polarizing speeches that spread false information about linguistic duality and divide the Canadian public?

Maybe we need to think back on the findings of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, better known as the Laurendeau-Dunton commission, one of the most influential commissions in Canadian history. Struck in 1963, this commission spent several years inquiring into three main aspects of our country: the extent of bilingualism in the federal government, the role of public and private organizations in promoting better cultural relations, and the opportunities for Canadians to become bilingual in French and English.

The commissioners used the guiding principle of equal partnership, in other words, equal opportunity for francophones and anglophones to be part of the institutions that affect their lives. The commissioners were also tasked with reporting on the contribution of other cultural groups and on ways to preserve that contribution and promote multiculturalism in Canada. André Laurendeau, co-chair of the commission, said at the time, and I quote:

The Constitution formally recognized both French and English in 1867. . . . However, it has become evident to us that this recognition was incomplete in many respects and often disputed where the French language was concerned. If the principle of equality is accepted . . . the equal status of the two languages must be established without shadow of doubt. The implicit must become explicit.

Honourable colleagues, governments elected after this commission completed its report have made significant advances. However, it is obvious that much work remains to be done.

Upholding and recognizing bilingualism, linguistic duality and our two official languages in Canada remains a work in progress. A work which we must complete, honourable senators.

I am rising today as a senator from Canada’s only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick. A province which is currently going through a challenging time where people are calling into question the importance and value of our two official languages as drivers of our region’s social, economic and cultural development and vitality.

Considering what’s happening in my home province, and in Manitoba and Ontario, it’s clear that some of our leaders have forgotten that French and English enjoy equal status in Canada. Honourable colleagues, while respecting provincial jurisdictions, and without analyzing the current situation through a partisan lens, I would still like to say that the recent decisions by the Ontario government are completely unacceptable and fly in the face of Canadian values and the foundation of our federation.

Using economic reasons to challenge the importance of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner, the need for the Université de l’Ontario français and the relevance of artistic and cultural institutions like La Nouvelle Scène is a sign of sad and truly unfortunate short-sightedness. The recent announcement that the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner will come back under the ombudsman’s office is simply not good enough.

As the name suggests, the French Language Services Commissioner plays a very different role from that of ombudsman. The ombudsman is there to act as a last resort. Like a commissioner, the ombudsman receives and follows up on complaints. He ensures that complaints are admissible and investigates problems identified by the commissioner, but in order to take action, he must wait for a complaint.

The role of the French Language Services Commissioner goes much further than that. He makes the public service aware of Ontarians’ expectations, promotes the importance of services in French within the public service and Ontario, and works with the public service to develop projects and programs in French.

In a way, the commissioner is a great ally of the Ontario public service and a public protector. The commissioner’s independence and investigative power also make it possible for him to study issues of importance to the province, as he did in 2012 when he conducted a study on the French-language university programs on offer. This is what led to the creation of a French-language university in Ontario. That is why the government’s decision to postpone funding for the Université de l’Ontario français is so detrimental.

This decision by the Government of Ontario could be costly down the road. Each year spent waiting for the first class of this French-language university, the harder it will be to fill thousands of bilingual positions in the Greater Toronto Area and in the province. The need for this highly qualified labour is already there in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada.

Senators, when a factory is closed in this country, we rightly rise to its defence. When a proposed post-secondary institution or arts centre, sources of innovation and creativity, which can boost our country’s social, economic and cultural progress are threatened, we also have a duty to stand up and speak out.

That is what Franco-Ontarians are doing with dignity, and I applaud them for getting involved. I also want to express my great admiration for MPP Amanda Simard, for her courage and determination in standing up for Franco-Ontarians.

Honourable senators, although the situation in Ontario is disappointing, we can see the mobilizing effect it has had on the entire country. We can be grateful for civil society’s response to the cuts and applaud the fact that francophones and anglophones from across the country have stood up to proclaim how important they think linguistic duality is in maintaining a strong and prosperous Canadian federation.

Moreover, as chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, I cannot ignore the wealth of testimony we have heard for months as part of our important study on the modernization of the Official Languages Act.

Canadians from all regions, all sectors, all age groups and both of this country’s main language communities spoke to us with passion, dedication and a vision of the value of bilingualism and Canada’s linguistic duality.

They reminded us loud and clear that Canada’s two official languages are what make it unique. They clearly articulated their expectations regarding the Government of Canada’s leadership role, starting from the very top, in protecting, developing and promoting the equal status of French and English in Canada.

Dear colleagues, I am sure you have all read with enthusiasm and dedication both of our preliminary reports that state the aspirations and the precise proposals we have received from our witnesses for a modernized act. These reports show a clear desire of all witnesses that this quasi-constitutional act be fully respected and seen as a great source of pride for Canadians.

During our hearings, we were very pleased to find a lot of areas of common ground in the proposed changes we heard from both French- and English-speaking communities. We heard the principle of linguistic duality is at the heart of Canadian identity and that this act recognizes the official language minority communities are an integral part of Canada’s social contract.

The core value has social and economic dimensions for all Canadians and is central to the vitality of official language minority communities.

In order that these values are upheld, the witnesses we heard proposed that the role of the Commissioner of Official Languages be strengthened and that the mechanisms for implementing and monitoring the act be revisited. They were unequivocal in saying that a modernized Official Languages Act must be anchored in the principle of real equality for both communities.

That is why it is so important for the federal government to modernize the Official Languages Act as soon as possible and to work with provinces and territories to ensure it is respected and implemented in all regions of our country.

Honourable colleagues, we still have many problems to solve in Canada and a lot of reconciliation to do in this country. We must ensure First Nations, Metis, and Inuit languages are protected, preserved and promoted so they may be spoken now and in the future.

We must also recognize and celebrate the many different languages spoken in our country as they are the heritage left to us by generations of immigrants who chose to make this country their home.

That said, honourable colleagues, we have two official languages in this country, two languages that are inclusive and welcoming of different cultures, and that allow everyone to live together in harmony. Much like English, the French language in Canada has a lot of history and a bright future, which is a powerful testament to our ability to live together. French is a modern language spoken by millions of people around the world, and it allows Canada to do business, engage in strong cultural diplomacy, and fully participate in international fora on major global issues.

When we protect, promote and celebrate linguistic duality and our two official languages, we recognize that the people who make up this Canadian mosaic have the huge privilege of communicating with each other in both French and English, our two official languages.

I would like to conclude my speech on this motion with two messages.

One, with my colleagues, Senators Gagné, Moncion and Forest-Niesing, I have called for an open and honest dialogue on official languages. I very much hope you will all continue contributing to this conversation we must have, and continue to have, in Canada. I believe we must stand up to the rhetoric of austerity when it comes to guaranteeing constitutional rights and freedoms.

Two, I wish to call for solidarity among all peoples and communities and among the majority and all minorities. It is together we can stand and build an inclusive nation that we wish Canada to be. This, I believe, begins by adopting this motion unanimously.

A number of senators, both francophone and anglophone, contributed to the drafting of the motion moved by Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne. I am delighted that she, a senator from Quebec, was the one to move it in this chamber. The solidarity among the Quebecers, Acadians, Franco-Ontarians, Franco-Manitobans, francophones and anglophones of this country is remarkable and inspiring to us and to all Canadians. The motion is a clear, strong and inspiring call to action. I call on the Senate to vote on this matter now. I call for a vote on the motion. Thank you.