Hon. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu: Honourable senators, I rise today to support the motion presented in the Senate on November 25, 2021, by Senator Dalphond. First, this motion would have the Senate recall that section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982 requires the Constitution to be fully written in both official languages, that is, in French and English. At present, this provision is not being respected. Of the 31 enactments that make up the Constitution, 22 have not yet been translated, including almost all of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Second, this motion seeks to include in the Official Languages Act a requirement for a review, every five years, of the efforts made by the Government of Canada to comply with section 55 of the Constitution.

The Constitution is the foundation of our federation. It is commonly known as the foundational text and sits at the very top of our hierarchy of norms. It provides subtle coordination of our institutions and always manages to balance each of their powers. The Fathers of Confederation worked hard on it, often at their peril, and a failure to respect the Constitutions or one of its provisions would be a betrayal of their efforts. The basic text of the Canadian Constitution came into force in 1867, after long negotiations among the four founding provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. This foundational text, which was called the British North America Act at the time, is the bedrock on which the federation was built.

In 1969, the Parliament of Canada decided to enact the Official Languages Act for the first time, to officially recognize bilingualism within Canadian federal institutions. The repatriation of the Constitution in 1982 allowed Canada to definitively break from the United Kingdom and enshrine the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states the following in section 16:

English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada.

In order to uphold section 16 of the Constitution and end the injustice toward francophone communities, section 55 of the Constitution reads as follows:

A French version of the portions of the Constitution of Canada referred to in the schedule shall be prepared by the Minister of Justice of Canada as expeditiously as possible and, when any portion thereof sufficient to warrant action being taken has been so prepared, it shall be put forward for enactment by proclamation issued by the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada pursuant to the procedure then applicable to an amendment of the same provisions of the Constitution of Canada.

As Senator Dalphond said in his speech, section 55 is not currently being respected because only 9 of the 31 constitutional texts have an official translation in French.

In an October 2018 brief entitled “Access to Justice in French and English in the Context of Modernizing the Official Languages Act,” the Canadian Bar Association did a great job of explaining how harmful this failure to uphold section 55 is for francophone communities in Canada.

According to the report, francophone communities in Canada face a serious barrier to access to justice and defending the rule of law. The constitutional texts are not officially translated, and the unofficial translations do not have force of law. When courts render constitutional decisions in French, they refer to the unofficial French translations, which do not have the same legal or constitutional force as the wording in the official English version.

As a result, French-speaking jurists and litigants are at a disadvantage in the discussions on the interpretation of the constitutional texts that set out the fundamental principles of our rules-based state.

I would remind senators that Canada’s history acknowledges three founding peoples: the British, the French and the Indigenous people, or rather, the Indigenous peoples.

These three peoples have contributed to the construction, culture and development of today’s Canada. The province of Quebec and Canada’s francophone minorities total 10 million people. The federal government must fulfill its duty to ensure that bilingualism is recognized, as enshrined in our Constitution, because by ignoring the importance of the French language, it is contributing to the rejection of national unity and dismissing the identity, culture and social mores of millions of French Canadians.

The Supreme Court of Canada stated the following in Mahe v. Alberta:

Language is more than a mere means of communication, it is part and parcel of the identity and culture of the people speaking it. It is the means by which individuals understand themselves and the world around them.

In his speech, Senator Dalphond pointed out that the first obligation imposed by section 55 of the Constitution, namely that of drafting an official translation of the constitutional texts as soon as possible, was fulfilled back in 1990.

Unfortunately, the implementation of this provision has been met with a series of failures and setbacks in the negotiations between the federal government and the provinces. It has now been more than 20 years since the federal government last resumed negotiations. That is how long it has been shirking its institutional obligation to uphold section 55 of the Canadian Constitution.

In closing, I fully support Senator Dalphond’s motion. It is based on the second recommendation in the brief submitted by the Canadian Bar Association and proposes that the federal government include in the official languages bill, which it announced in the last Speech from the Throne and which should be introduced shortly in the other place, if it has not been already, a requirement that a report be submitted every five years detailing the efforts made to comply with section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

I invite you, colleagues, to support Senator Dalphond’s motion to have the Government of Canada do its homework and implement the provisions of our Constitution to ensure that the rights of francophone Canadians are finally respected. Thank you.

(On motion of Senator Wells, debate adjourned.)

[English]

On the Order:

Resuming debate on the motion of the Honourable Senator Deacon (Nova Scotia), seconded by the Honourable Senator Kutcher:

That the Senate adopt the following Environmental and Sustainability Policy Statement, to replace the 1993 Senate Environmental Policy, adopted by the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration:

The Senate of Canada is committed to reducing the Senate’s carbon footprint to net zero by 2030 and to implement sustainable practices in its operations. Achieving this goal requires a whole-of-organization approach which prioritizes reduction of outputs and utilizes standard-leading emission offsets. The road to net zero will include quantifiable regular reporting on progress towards target. These actions are to demonstrate leadership as an institution on climate action, to encourage accountability of federal institutions and to inform the legislative process.

The Senate is committed to achieving its objective through adherence to the following principles:

That the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration examine the feasibility of implementing programs to establish:

(a)an accountability framework and annual reporting cycle;

(b)the promotion of climate-friendly transportation policies and reduced travel;

(c)enhanced recycling and minimizing waste;

(d)a digital-first approach and reduction in printing;

(e)support from central agencies to allow the Senate to charge carbon offsets as part of operating a sustainable Senate; and

(f)a process for senators and their offices to propose environmental and sustainability recommendations; and

That the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration acquire any necessary goods and services to examine the feasibility or to implement these recommendations.