LANG meeting 23 · 2026-02-26 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages met to study the draft regulations for Part VII of the Official Languages Act. Appearing were Nour Enayeh, President, and Soukaina Boutiyeb, Executive Director, of the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne (AFFC), and Martin Normand, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC).

Nour Enayeh and Soukaina Boutiyeb of the AFFC argued that the implementation of gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) without a language lens weakens official language minority communities by pitting language rights against diversity issues. They stated that intersectionality must complement, not replace, the Official Languages Act, and that francophone women face a double or triple marginalization that remains invisible in public policies. They recommended that the regulations include a language lens in GBA+ and require all departments to develop concrete strategies for linguistic minorities, citing the lack of French-language services in the national action plan to end gender-based violence as a key example.

Martin Normand of the ACUFC stated that the draft regulations are too restrictive, stifle innovation, and fail to give federal institutions the means to take proactive action toward substantive equality. He criticized the regulations for not requiring that impact analyses be made public before consultations, for lacking detail on how analyses should be conducted, and for failing to address interjurisdictional conflicts that hinder equitable access to positive measures in post-secondary education. He recommended that Treasury Board review the regulations in light of widespread stakeholder dissatisfaction and produce a more robust framework that encourages innovation and addresses historical inequities, such as those in French-language research funding.

The committee then debated a motion to study the integration and acceptance of francoqueers within the Canadian francophonie. An amendment was proposed to replace the term "Francoqueers" with "2ELGBTQI+" to be more inclusive. After discussion, the debate was adjourned.

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Witnesses · 3

Nour Enayeh

President, Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne

Opening remarks

Thank you. Mr. Chair and members of Parliament, on behalf of the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne, thank you for inviting us to appear before you. My name is Nour Enayeh. I'm the president of the Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne, or AFFC. I'm joined by Soukaina Boutiyeb, the executive director. The AFFC is a national feminist not‑for‑profit organization dedicated to promoting the role and contribution of over 1.5 million francophone and Acadian women living in minority communities. We're backed by a network of 17 member organizations across the country. I would like to start by emphasizing the key role played by women in passing on the language, a factor often undervalued in public language policies. Francophone and Acadian women are true pillars of official language minority communities. They play a vital role as guardians of the language and they ensure the vitality of our communities. We would like to reaffirm our full support for the recommendations of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, or FCFA. These recommendations constitute a solid and crucial foundation. However, we would like to add a factor that we…

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Martin Normand

President and Chief Executive Officer, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne

Opening remarks

Thank you. In 2005, the Official Languages Act was amended to include the possibility of establishing regulations to govern the implementation of part VII. However, that year, a Department of Justice lawyer expressed concern that the greater the level of detail in the regulations, the greater the risk of limiting the scope of part VII. In other words, the potential for innovation was greater in the absence of regulations. The situation has changed. Part VII has been greatly expanded, and regulations have become a necessity. However, the warnings of the past have come to fruition. The Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne, or ACUFC, considers that the draft regulations for part VII run contrary to the legislator's intentions, considerably reduce its scope and fail to give federal institutions the means to take proactive action to advance the substantive equality of the two official languages. We'll soon be sending you a more comprehensive brief that elaborates on the observations shared today. However, I would like to focus on three of our general concerns. First, the regulations run a high risk of stifling innovation in official languages. In…

Official Languages

Summary

Witnesses · 3

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