Question Period Note: Governance and whole-of-government official languages coordination

Close collaboration is exercised to ensure governance and whole-of-government coordination of the implementation of the Official Languages Act (the Act) between Canadian Heritage and Treasury Board. Bill C-13 proposes significant adjustments that include, among other things, strengthening the government-wide coordination role of the Act by the Minister of Canadian Heritage (or the designated Minister responsible for Official Languages) and strengthening the oversight of the Act by the Treasury Board.

• Our government is fully committed to meeting its official languages responsibilities, particularly by ensuring ongoing and effective governance and whole-of-government coordination.
• With Bill C-13, we want to go even further and strengthen the governance of official languages. Bill C-13 gives Treasury Board a greater monitoring role to increase compliance by federal institutions. The Minister of Canadian Heritage retains the role of developing a government-wide official languages strategy and to undertake the ten-year review of the Act, in consultation with the President of the Treasury Board.
• This combination of responsibilities best reflects the respective mandates and strengths of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Treasury Board. It recognizes that several ministers work together to deliver on official languages priorities.

• The Official Languages Act (OLA) gives a legislative mandate to the Treasury Board and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, whose specific responsibilities with respect to official languages were assigned by order to the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency:
o The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) coordinates the implementation of the parts of the OLA dealing with language of service, language of work and the representation of English and French speakers in the public service (parts IV, V et VI of the OLA). TBS holds federal institutions accountable on these issues and its President reports annually to Parliament.
o Canadian Heritage (PCH) coordinates the efforts of federal institutions to enhance the vitality of official language minority communities and promote English and French in Canadian society (Part VII of the OLA). PCH holds federal institutions accountable on these questions and reports annually to Parliament.
• Furthermore, Justice Canada advises Government on legal matters, represents it in cases involving language rights, and assumes responsibilities in the administration of justice in both official languages.
• In addition to the legislative mandate of PCH, the Minister of Official Languages, supported by PCH’s Official Languages Branch, is responsible for the horizontal coordination of all Government of Canada activities related to official languages since the transfer, in 2006, of the activities of the Privy Council Office’s Official Languages Secretariat.
• Coordination is conducted through various mechanisms: for example, coordination of the OLA modernization project and coordination of governance structures such as the Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers for Official Languages, which has the mandate to oversee the development and implementation of horizontal official languages initiatives and promote concerted government action.
• This responsibility includes the coordination of five-year whole-of-government strategies for official languages such as the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023: Investing in our future. This Action Plan (as well as the next Action Plan which is in development) represents an important tool for horizontal collaboration between federal institutions and showcases a significant part of what the federal government is doing to support official languages.
• PCH has a long tradition of collaboration with TBS in the coordination and implementation of the OLA, in particular:
o planning and execution of the annual monitoring process in the form of official languages reviews (collection of information and statistical data on institutional compliance);
o the forum for governance and horizontal coordination of official languages, responsible in particular for strengthening bilingualism within the public service;
o the Council of the Network of Champions for the organization of the annual Best Practices Forum on Official Languages, Official Languages Day, as well as the Conference of Official Languages Champions.
• Furthermore, interdepartmental steering committees and working groups are set up to work on solutions to emerging issues, and to drive government priorities. For instance: the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Modernization of the OLA, which has been in operation since 2019; the Linguistic Insecurity Task Force; the Interdepartmental Working Group on Emergency Communications; the Language Training and Second Language Evaluation Steering Committee.
• While close cooperation is exercised in terms of governance and whole-of-government coordination of the implementation of the OLA, Bill C-13, aimed at modernizing and strengthening the OLA, proposes to do more:
o The government-wide coordination role will be assigned to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, while the roles of monitoring, making institutions aware of the requirements and accountability will be assigned to the Treasury Board (TB) on questions pertaining to its mandate.
o TB will also be responsible for establishing policy instruments for the adoption of positive measures by federal institutions.
• These changes would have the effect of clarifying the roles of the departments and fostering greater cooperation among them, ensuring greater involvement of a central agency in the governance of official languages, and promoting greater compliance by federal institutions.

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