LANG Committee Report

Supplementary Report from the BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS

The Bloc Québécois would like to point out that the evidence heard during the study identified shortcomings in the areas of federal government communications and service delivery in both official languages, and in most cases with respect to French-language services, even in Quebec.

In the federal public service, French is relegated to the background and to the role of a mere translated language in favour of English.

Recommendation 1

That any amendments to the Official Languages Act (OLA) recommended in this report, and in particular the recommendations with respect to Part V of the Act (Recommendation No. 7), take into account the specific and unique linguistic situation of Quebec and, in accordance with the requests made by the Government of Quebec, that no interpretation of the OLA be allowed to adversely affect the use of French as a common language in Quebec.

Recommendation 2

That the Official Languages Act aim to further encourage bilingualism in the public service and protect the right to work in French across the country, particularly in francophone environments such as Quebec and French‑language minority communities, and that Treasury Board develop a new second‑language training framework and review the language qualification standards for all positions to that effect.