Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you for your question, senator, and thank you for your work on official languages.

Respect for both official languages is more than an obligation. For our government, it’s a priority. As we acknowledged last year in our reform document, we know that, too often, executives do not have the capacity to supervise their employees in the official language of their choice and are slow in setting an example for their organizations.

The result is that some government employees do not feel comfortable using their mother tongue at work. That must change. We must maintain the use of both official languages in federal workplaces because, in my opinion, the right to work in French in the public service is non-negotiable.

The reforms we will make to the Official Languages Act will give more power to the Treasury Board to realize the vision of a public service where everyone can work in the official language of their choice. We will also ensure that employees have the tools they need to work in the official language of their choice.

As we announced in our reform document, we are also revising the official languages qualification standards, the standards for second-language evaluations and the minimum second-language requirements in the case of bilingual supervisory positions in designated bilingual regions.

We’re also developing a new training framework for the public service that will ensure quality instruction and be adapted to learners’ specific needs.

The federal government must show leadership and take positive measures to protect and promote French in the public service, and this must be reflected in our laws and in our actions. Thank you.

Hon. Bernadette Clement: Good afternoon, minister.

[English]

Bill C-13 makes references to Indigenous languages, noting that the act does not abrogate or derogate legal or customary rights with respect to Indigenous languages. We often hear about founding languages, languages as a binary, and of the two official languages in Canada. I believe in the protection of English and French.

[Translation]

I’m a proud Franco-Ontarian.

[English]

But I also believe Indigenous languages need more attention, resources and protection.

[Translation]

What role should your office play in the reclamation, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous languages?

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you for that important question, senator.

The government is committed to ensuring that Canadians have access to justice in the official language of their choice. Many important parts of the Constitution, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are officially bilingual. However, as you mentioned, many equally important documents, such as the Constitution Act, 1867, were passed in English only, and their French versions are not legally binding.

My colleague, Minister David Lametti, recognizes that it is his duty to prepare and propose, for communication purposes, a French version of any Constitutional statutes that have not yet been made official in French. This work is ongoing at the Department of Justice.

The Minister of Justice also stated that he is fully committed to ensuring that the work done by the French Constitutional Drafting Committee is publicly known and easily accessible.

As Minister of Official Languages, I am pleased to support him in this important work since, once again, access to justice is a fundamental right for all Canadians. We want to ensure that the document is prepared properly.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Good afternoon, minister.

I find it hard to believe your government’s promises to ensure respect for the French language. Publicly, your Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport are up in arms about the fact that there are no francophones on CN’s board of directors, yet this is the same Prime Minister who appointed a Governor General who does not speak a word of French. This is also the same Prime Minister who appointed a unilingual anglophone Lieutenant-Governor in your own province, New Brunswick. He was just told by the Court of Queen’s Bench that his choice was unconstitutional, but he has not yet fixed it.

How can you possibly defend such political inconsistency regarding the constitutional rights of francophones in this country and your province?

Hon. Rose-May Poirier: Good afternoon minister, and thank you for being with us.

On April 14, 2022, the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick ruled that the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick must be bilingual and be able to perform all of the duties of that role in both French and English.

The last time French-speaking minorities won a case, which was last January with regard to Part VII of the Official Languages Act, your government was going to appeal.

Could you tell us today whether the federal government intends to appeal the April 14 ruling?

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you very much, senator. It’s always a pleasure to see senators from New Brunswick. Thank you for your work.

Once again, Justice DeWare’s ruling is currently being analyzed by the Minister of Justice. It is being reviewed.

As I mentioned, the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, Ms. Murphy, is a woman who has served her community and province for many years. She made a clear commitment to becoming proficient in French.

As for the appeal court ruling, the Minister of Justice is reviewing the decision and we hope to give you an update about the next steps as soon as possible.

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you very much for that important question, senator.

Our government has made significant investments in official languages in recent years, and I’ll mention three of them.

As part of our action plan that ends in 2023, we made investments to support official language minority communities.

We want to affirm and support the vitality of official language minority communities, and that means making the necessary investments. These investments must be made in the areas of post-secondary education, as well as in community activities and centres, in order to ensure, again, that francophones can come together and receive support. In recent months, we have made some very important announcements about post-secondary education, again to support these communities. We recognize that we want to encourage our young people by promoting the French language so that they can speak it, and to do that, you have to start at a young age.

All of this, supporting this education continuum, from early childhood through to post-secondary education, is extremely important. That is why our action plan provides for the necessary investments.

In addition to Bill C-13, we want to ensure that we are doing everything we can as a government to protect and promote the French language, both in Quebec and outside Quebec, because that’s one of our top priorities. We recognize that French is in decline in Canada, and we need to ensure that we continue making investments to promote our wonderful official languages.

[English]

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you so much for that question.

With respect to the work that is being done at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, a lot of great work is being done on the ground with respect to helping and supporting small- and medium-sized businesses. Being the minister responsible for ACOA, I oftentimes indicate that the secret sauce for the success of ACOA is the folks on the ground and the staff that we have in over 40 offices across Atlantic Canada, to make sure that they really know the pulse of what is needed in the communities. That is really the beauty of ACOA.

I’m happy to say that we’ll be celebrating 35 years this year for ACOA in Atlantic Canada. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been operational for that long, but we have certainly seen a lot of progress and a lot of support provided to small- and medium-sized businesses.

With respect to the Black Entrepreneurship Program, ACOA focused on a group in Nova Scotia that was able to deliver the programs that were needed for Black entrepreneur small- and medium-sized businesses. Through that Knowledge Hub as well, the monies have been provided to that group, and then from there they are able to do the analysis to make sure where the money should be invested.

Again, we’re extremely pleased to say that there is also a partnership that has been provided through another group in Moncton to make sure that through the Knowledge Hub program there was also a francophone component, because we wanted to make sure that the francophone Black entrepreneurs as well were going to have access to that program. The group in Nova Scotia is the lead, but we also have a group in Moncton that will be able to ensure the analysis of the funding requests that are made, and then from there, the proper disbursements of the funds will be able to be provided to them.

[Translation]

Hon. Percy Mockler: Congratulations, minister.

Much has been said about the Atlantic Loop and the possible closure of the Belledune generating station in 2030. Many concerns have been raised about a possible rate hike because of the high cost of this infrastructure. Port of Belledune officials came up with an ambitious green plan to create a green energy hub featuring a green hydrogen production facility right on port lands.

What are ACOA and the federal government doing to ensure that energy flowing through the Atlantic Loop does not cause excessive rate hikes, and what are your department and your government doing to support the green energy hub?

If you don’t have enough time to answer these two little questions, minister, a written response in a few days’ time would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hon. Julie Miville-Dechêne: Welcome, minister. As we know, many of the services offered to francophone minority communities depend on their demographic weight, which is declining. Francophone immigration is probably the most effective remedy. However, Bill C-13 merely states that the future immigration policy is one of the factors that contributes to maintaining or increasing the demographic weight of the francophone and Acadian communities.

Minister, isn’t this vocabulary too weak, too vague, to ensure that we have an ambitious policy, considering that, for more than 20 years, Canada hasn’t met the targets set in this area at all? The current rate of francophone immigration outside Quebec is only 2%, when we would need a target of 8% just to maintain our demographic weight.

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you, senator. Again, it’s always nice to see senators from New Brunswick, and I thank you for your hard work.

To be honest, these are not little questions, and I would really need more than 90 seconds to answer them. However, I would be more than happy to send you a detailed written response.

As for the Atlantic Loop, this is a priority for us. In one of my first meetings with the Premier of Nova Scotia, Premier Houston, it was the first issue he wanted to discuss. We realize that if the government wants to achieve its goal of net zero by 2050, we need to find innovative, green solutions. I also had the opportunity to meet with people from Belledune and they told me about the green energy hub project, which is very interesting. As the federal government, we want to work with our provincial and Atlantic partners, with the four premiers, to ensure that we come up with a solution that will meet everyone’s needs.

As you mentioned, high electricity rates are a concern for everyone, especially in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, as their prices are even higher than the national average. That’s why this is a top priority for them, and the federal government wants to work in close cooperation in order to find a solution to this situation.

I would like to mention one last aspect of Budget 2022. We set aside money for developing a game plan to allow us to begin this work. We look forward to working with the premiers of the four provinces to find an innovative, green solution to address this situation.

[English]

Hon. Mary Coyle: Minister, thank you for joining us today.

On April 6, 20 Atlantic senators wrote to Minister LeBlanc, copying you, regarding obstacles that our universities are facing in accessing federal infrastructure investments to support campus modernization, including decarbonization and accessibility.

Atlantic Canada is home to many high-quality universities that play an outsized role in driving economic growth and innovation in our region, as you know. In your role as Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, you support the Atlantic Growth Strategy. Minister, we have heard about serious obstacles faced by our universities, including narrow eligibility criteria for federal infrastructure programs and problematic requirements for provincial approvals and matching funds.

Minister, could you tell us if you and your colleagues would agree to reviewing the criteria for those existing infrastructure programs, and would you consider dedicated funding for post-secondary campus modernization?

Thank you so much.

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you so much for that important question.

We recognize that the need for making investments in post-secondary institutions is truly important. Yes, in Atlantic Canada I have met with a series of university presidents who are looking for investments from both the federal and provincial levels of government.

Just last week alone, I was at Université de Moncton, my alma mater. We were able to make an announcement not only for Université de Moncton but also for UNB to make sure that increased funding was provided so that we could prepare the youth of today for the jobs of tomorrow. That involved increased enrolment in the field of cybersecurity and others.

With respect to the federal government, Minister LeBlanc and I are always committed to making sure we can do all that we can to support our post-secondary institutions, because we know they are vital for the growth of our communities in the Atlantic region.

Finally, with my ACOA hat on, I often meet with employers who indicate to me that they sometimes need to ensure that their workforce receives specialized training in specific fields. That is why, through ACOA as well, we have been making strategic investments to make sure people could get micro-certifications to advance the skills they need in certain areas. That is one investment area.

With respect to infrastructure, I know Minister LeBlanc is committed to looking at ways to properly support our Atlantic-Canadian institutions, because we have stellar institutions here that are well known internationally.

[Translation]

Hon. Percy E. Downe: Minister, thank you for being here. I hear nothing but positive comments about the work you are doing as Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. It’s in that capacity that I want to ask you a question.

One of your duties regarding ACOA is to “. . . promote . . . long-term job creation and economic development in Atlantic Canada . . . .” To that end, will you be instructing ACOA officials to look at increasing regional employment opportunities by reversing the concentration of federal government jobs in the greater Ottawa area? Historically, only one third of federal jobs were based in the greater Ottawa area, but that has grown in recent years to almost one half.

Given the success many years ago of moving the national headquarters of Veterans Affairs Canada to Charlottetown, bringing some 1,600 employees and an annual payroll of over $120 million, can you, as minister, push for more federal departments to relocate their national headquarters to the other provinces of Atlantic Canada?

Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Welcome, minister. My colleagues, Senators Dagenais and Cormier, have pointed out two flaws in your bill. I will tell you about two more. The day before yesterday, the federal Minister of Transport, Mr. Alghabra, stated that Canadian National Railway, CN, must set an example by appointing francophones to its board of directors. Unfortunately, that was merely lip service because Bill C-13 does not have a mechanism for requiring the appointment of francophones to the boards of directors of corporations that are subject to the Official Languages Act.

Why didn’t you include something in the bill to require influential companies such as Air Canada and CN to appoint francophones to their boards of directors? Also, why doesn’t Bill C-13 provide for the inclusion of language provisions in agreements between the federal and provincial governments so that francophone minority communities can have French-language services in their province?

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you very much for these important questions, senator. Once again, the federal government recognizes that French is declining in Canada, including in Quebec. That is why we are addressing these concerns with a more ambitious bill that has more teeth. Federally regulated private companies like Air Canada and CN, which are subject to the Official Languages Act, need to step up and lead by example by respecting their official language obligations. Like you, I was angry to see that CN had not appointed a francophone to its board of directors. We would have expected the board of directors to be representative of Canada’s population and of our linguistic duality.

Our government has established strong measures in Bill C-13 to protect the use of French as a language of work and service in private and federally regulated businesses in Quebec, as well as in regions with a strong francophone presence. Again, with respect to the language provisions, which was part of your second question, we took the time to ensure that the text of Part VII clearly defines “positive measures.” We did that because we want to make sure that, in the context of issues such as language provisions, once Bill C-13 receives Royal Assent, the federal government will consider the impact that these issues will have on official language minority communities. As a government, we must ensure that we take positive measures to address these situations.

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you so much, senator, for your work and for those questions.

Again, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is an agency on the ground mandated to help tackle the challenges of small- and medium-sized businesses. I like to say that if it’s an economic issue or hurdle, it becomes an ACOA issue; if it becomes an ACOA issue, it becomes a Minister Petitpas Taylor issue. We want to ensure we can address these issues hand in hand in order to promote economic growth within the area.

When I meet with small- and medium-sized businesses — whether in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador — the number one issue I am hearing about from businesses is the labour force shortage, especially when it comes to rural parts of the country. That is why, through ACOA, we are looking at ways that we can help address those matters. One thing is for certain: We know the issue of automatization and digitalization is a tool that many small- and medium-sized businesses are using. However, we recognize that, for some jobs, it is very difficult to find people who want to do them day in, day out. So automatization and digitalization are really key. That is why ACOA is providing specific funding, namely, to encourage small- and medium-sized businesses to incur the expenses and make the needed investments in order to automate and digitalize their industries.

ACOA has supported some community groups with respect to immigration-type projects as well. If we are finding small communities that are successful in receiving immigrants in their areas, we have to ensure that we have the support services in place to keep them in those communities. I’ll use Chipman, New Brunswick, as an example. It is a small, rural community —

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you so much for that important question. Again, as I have indicated, there is a lot of benefit to the decentralization of jobs. I am a strong proponent of that as well.

You are absolutely correct. If the pandemic has taught us one thing, namely, it is that we can work from any part of the country; we can work remotely. With respect to ACOA, for example, many of our staff are still working from home but are still extremely — if not even more — efficient with their time. Therefore, when it comes to the decentralization of different departments, I don’t think all jobs need to be in the National Capital Region or in capital areas across the country. I think we can look at ways to disperse jobs across the country in order to provide opportunities for different provinces and territories along the way.

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, P.C., M.P., Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Thank you so much, senator, and thank you for the work that you have done, even prior to being in the Senate; I followed your career closely. Thank you for the work that you continue to do in the Senate as well.

With respect to addressing the social determinants of health — perhaps that will be the beginning of my answer — I think that our government has done a significant amount of work when it comes to addressing poverty within this country. And there is still a lot of work to be done; don’t get me wrong. But when it comes to the Canada Child Benefit, just to give you an example, back in 2015-16, we put in place the Canada Child Benefit program. This has helped lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty in this country. I know that in my office and being a boots-on-the-ground MP, I speak with a lot of my constituents who tell me that that program has made a real difference in the lives of Canadians.

We also know that, in the height of the pandemic, when we had over 4 million Canadians who lost their jobs, the federal government was very quick to put in place — not a perfect program but a program to make sure that Canadians had access to money in order to keep the lights on and put food on their tables. Once again, through the CERB program, we were quite successful in making sure that we were able to help Canadians during that time of need. So, through the course of the past six and a half years, our government has been there with substantive initiatives to make sure we were there to support Canadians.

Furthermore and finally, I will also mention our child care program. That is really a legacy item, if you ask me, for our country, now knowing that Canadians will have access to $10‑a‑day child care services. That, again, will make a real difference in the lives of Canadian families where they will be able to afford good, safe and affordable child care services for their children.

[Translation]