Question Period Note: Support for English-Speaking Quebec Communities

According to her mandate letter of December 2021, the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is called upon to "Protect the institutions of Quebec’s English-speaking community and support the creation of new education and community spaces for the community”.

• The Government of Canada is committed to preserving and promoting the vitality of the country's two major official language communities. The Government of Canada's commitment to Quebec's English-speaking communities remains.
• Over the past two fiscal years, our Government invested nearly $82 million per year to support the vitality of English-speaking communities of Quebec, as well as the promotion of the two official languages.
• While Bill C-13 aims to better protect French, we are working to achieve real equality between English and French. The bill also includes enhancements that recognize the historical and cultural contributions of both language communities.

• On May 14, 2022, members of Quebec's English-speaking community, as well as Francophones and allophones, gathered in Montreal to demonstrate against Bill 96, Quebec's Official and Common Language Act, French, denouncing the "divisive" nature of the bill. One of the main issues is a provision that would require English-speaking students to take three French courses at the college level. The province's First Nations are also opposed to this requirement. The bill is expected to be passed before the end of the legislative session.
• On March 1st, 2022, the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency tabled Bill C-13 An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts in the House of Commons.
• Bill C-13 includes key measures from the previous version of the Bill, including a strengthened Part VII to support official language minority communities, including English-speaking communities in Quebec. In the bill, the government also recognizes the minority status of French in Canada and North America, and is committed to protecting French outside Quebec, as well as within Quebec, while fully respecting the rights of its English-speaking minority.
• On May 18, the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) sent a brief to the official languages committees in the Senate and the House of Commons. The QCGN claims that the bill "weakens the federal lifeline of our minority at a time when it is most needed" because of the asymmetry it believes is being introduced into the federal regime with the addition of measures to protect and promote French, including in Quebec.
• In 2020-2021, through the 2018-2023 Action Plan for Official Languages : Investing in our Future (Action Plan), the Government of Canada invested in Quebec a total amount of nearly $82 million for activities that support the development of the English-speaking community, and that promote bilingualism and second-language learning.
• Thanks to the Action Plan, 22 community organizations in Quebec received a 20 % increase in their annual programming funding, starting in 2018-2019. Key achievements include:
o The English Language Arts Network has partnered with Seniors Action Quebec to launch the project "E-Share: English Seniors Heritage a Reflection of Everyone." This initiative was designed to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the English-speaking elderly population of Quebec. A 36-week program of digital content for autonomous and semi-autonomous seniors living independently or in residence has been created. In addition, the project has provided technical support to many seniors who would otherwise have had difficulty accessing programming.
o Action Plan funding enabled the Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) to launch a province-wide media campaign aimed at raising awareness among the majority language population of the presence of the English-speaking community in Quebec and its challenges and contributions.
o To date, 16 new organizations received financial support from the program through the Cooperation with the Community Sector subcomponent of the Development of Official-Language Communities Program, an increase of 59 %.
• Although English is the majority language in North America, the English-speaking community in Quebec is in a minority situation in their province. It is primarily located in the Montreal area but are also found in small communities across the province, in areas such as Pontiac, Eastern Townships, Gaspésie, Basse-Côte-Nord and the Magdalen Islands.
o According to Statistics Canada, from 2011 to 2016, the proportion of Quebec's English-mother-tongue population went from 9.0% to 8.9%, despite a growth of more than 19,000 people during this same period.
o However, the number and proportion of people with English as their first official language spoken has increased. The official language minority grew from 1,058,250 people in 2011 to 1,103,480 in 2016, which represents an increase of 45,230 people. In addition, the relative weight of the official language minority was 13.7% in 2016, compared to 13.5% in 2011.

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