Official Languages

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages met to study the use of French in government communications and federal institutions, with the Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board, and Bill Matthews, Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada, appearing as witnesses.

President of the Treasury Board Shafqat Ali stated his commitment to protecting and promoting both official languages, noting his responsibility for implementing parts IV, V, VI, and VII of the Official Languages Act across federal institutions. He highlighted ongoing initiatives, including the addition of over 700 bilingual offices by 2027 and raised second-language proficiency requirements for supervisors in bilingual regions. He acknowledged a decline in the proportion of Canadians speaking French at home, citing 2021 census data, but rejected characterizations that the Prime Minister does not speak French, calling such claims misleading. He declined to answer questions about the Prime Minister's 17% French usage, arguing his mandate concerns public service implementation, not the Prime Minister's communications.

Bill Matthews provided technical details on public service bilingualism, stating that 96% of employees meet their language requirements and that over 90% of public servants are comfortable speaking with their supervisor in their official language. He noted that the Treasury Board Secretariat recently strengthened second-language requirements for supervisors in June 2024 and published a new guide for employee language learning. He confirmed that regulations under part VII of the act will be tabled by the President of the Treasury Board soon, but could not explain why regulations regarding the Commissioner of Official Languages' monetary penalty powers were tabled by the Minister of Canadian Heritage instead.

A procedural debate arose at the outset, with Conservative MP Joël Godin questioning why Department of Canadian Heritage officials were present alongside Treasury Board representatives, arguing this was not the intent of the committee's October 23 motion. Liberal MP Madeleine Chenette defended their presence as an opportunity to maximize testimony. Later, Godin introduced a motion condemning Minister of Official Languages Marc Miller for stating he was "fed up" with debate on the decline of French, calling for urgent federal action. After amendments and subamendments, the committee adopted a revised motion urging Minister Miller to testify for two hours no later than February 12, 2026, with a report to the House if he fails to appear, and calling for measures to reverse the decline of French in Canada, including applying the asymmetrical approach of the Official Languages Act in favour of French in Quebec.