Question Period Note: Official Languages Exemption for Indigenous Language Speakers

On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13 received Royal Assent. Section 83 of the modernized Official Languages Act states that "Nothing in this Act affects any rights - whether before or after the coming into force of this Act and whether by law or custom - of languages other than English and French, including Indigenous languages."

• The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that federal public servants meet the official languages requirements of their positions. Public servants must be able to provide government services to Canadians in both official languages, as required by the Official Languages Act.
• Our government has already stated its position on this issue, and is not considering a blanket exemption from official language requirements.
• The modernized Official Languages Act recognizes the importance of reclaiming, revitalizing and strengthening of Indigenous languages, while strengthening the status and use of the official languages.

• On June 20, 2023, Bill C-13 An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts received Royal Assent. Section 83 of the modernized Official Languages Act specifies that "Nothing in this Act affects any rights - whether before or after the coming into force of this Act and whether by law or custom - of languages other than English and French, including Indigenous languages."
• On November 23rd, 2022, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nations Summit (FNS) submitted briefs to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (LANG), as part of its study of Bill C-13.
o In this study, the AFN and FNPS argued that official language proficiency requirements will limit Indigenous people’s access to key positions or appointments in federally regulated private businesses, the Supreme Court of Canada, the public service, and federal institutions.
o The briefs recommended an exemption for Indigenous people from bilingualism requirements for all positions in federal institutions, including senior management positions, federal courts and the Supreme Court of Canada.
o The AFN submission also called for the recognition of Indigenous languages as official languages, and the incorporation of the Indigenous Languages Act (ILA) into the provisions of the Official Languages Act (OLA) on federal court remedies and redress.
• According to press reports, a memo circulated in the fall of 2021, stating that a working group had been formed to discuss possible changes to bilingualism requirements in the federal public service. According to the memo, senior officials in several departments were considering offering an exemption for positions where bilingualism was mandatory to candidates who speak an Indigenous language and had sufficient knowledge of one of the official languages, and a network of some 400 Indigenous public servants had reportedly raised the need for "a general exemption".
• On August 15, 2022, the Bloc Québécois had publicly expressed its disapproval of this proposal, arguing that the federal government should immediately shelve the idea of granting an exemption from the bilingualism requirement to its public servants who speak an Indigenous language, but not proficient in English or French. According to Mario Beaulieu, the Bloc's official languages critic, "there is no way we are going to push French aside again, as if it were a second-class language".
• On August 18,2022, a statement from the office of the former President of the Treasury Board of Canada to Canadian Press clarified that "a general exemption from official language requirements is not among the options currently being considered", and that the government would "never" change the "fundamental principle of bilingualism" in the federal public service.
• Instead, the Government would consider encouraging more frequent use of "non-imperative appointments", meaning that a position designated bilingual could be filled by someone who is not proficient in both official languages, but who committed to doing so through language training at public expense.
• For the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, which had made it a "priority" to work with Indigenous people to find ways to "make our languages complementary," "if they [French and Indigenous languages] are pitted against each other, it is the hegemony of English that wins. The government must work to increase the presence of Indigenous people and their languages in the public service, but this must be done "within the existing legal frameworks," says federation president Liane Roy.
• With the modernized Act, the obligation for senior public servants to be able to communicate in English and French, as well as mandatory bilingualism for a number of public service positions, are maintained. New obligations have also been added:
o any deputy minister or associate deputy minister appointed (to this position or to a position of equivalent level) is required, on appointment, to take language training to ensure the ability to function in both official languages.
o as of the second anniversary of Royal Assent, that in regions designated bilingual for language-of-work purposes, managers and supervisors be able to communicate with employees in both official languages, regardless of the linguistic profile of their position.

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