Official Languages

The House of Commons Official Languages Committee met to study the proposed regulations under the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act. Appearing were Stéphanie Chouinard, an associate professor testifying as an individual, and Derrek Bentley and Jean-Michel Beaudry from the Société de la francophonie manitobaine.

Stéphanie Chouinard raised concerns that the draft regulations rely solely on 2021 census data to define regions with a strong francophone presence, arguing this approach underestimates community vitality and ignores the more flexible mechanism used in part IV of the Official Languages Act. She recommended requiring an explicit active offer of service rather than the current weak language in section 15, and questioned the asymmetry of applying a 25-employee threshold in Quebec but a 100-employee threshold outside Quebec, urging the committee to examine whether these thresholds are evidence-based or arbitrary.

Derrek Bentley welcomed the regulations as a major step toward enforceable language obligations, but stressed the need for end-to-end French services in complex matters like bankruptcy or divorce, and called for a mandatory review every five years with a ratchet principle to prevent rollbacks. He also supported creating a public directory of businesses subject to the act and ensuring the Commissioner of Official Languages has sufficient resources for proactive enforcement.

Jean-Michel Beaudry noted that Manitoba’s designated regions largely align with provincial bilingual areas, but pointed out that communities like La Broquerie and Ellice-Archie are not included despite their strong francophone presence. He advocated using additional criteria from the part IV regulations, such as the presence of schools and institutions, and supported lowering the employee threshold outside Quebec to match Quebec’s 25-employee standard, while acknowledging challenges in hiring francophone staff.

In response to questions, Chouinard suggested using Statistics Canada’s potential demand variable instead of first official language spoken to better capture communities, and agreed that consulting local organizations could improve region designation. Beaudry stated that a five-year review is preferable to waiting ten years, even if it is challenging, and that the ratchet principle should be embedded to ensure services are expanded rather than reassessed downward. The committee also heard that no registry of federally regulated businesses currently exists, and that the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages would need more resources to handle its new mandate.