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 (TB). The Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages, which received royal accent on June 20, 2023, provides for significant adjustments that include, among other things, to entrust the role of government-wide coordination of the Act and its good governance to the President of TB, while the Minister of Canadian Heritage (or the designated Minister responsible for Official Languages) leads the development and implementation of a government-wide official languages strategy, in consultation with the TB President.

• Our government is fully committed to meeting its official languages responsibilities, particularly by ensuring ongoing and effective governance and whole-of-government coordination.
• The modernized Official Languages Act goes even further, strengthening the governance of official languages by giving the Treasury Board a greater role in coordinating and monitoring federal institutions to improve the compliance of federal institutions.
• The new combination of responsibilities best reflects the respective mandates of the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister responsible for 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. The bill was tabled in the House of Commons on March 1, 2022.
• The modernized Official Languages Act (modernized OLA) gives a legislative mandate to the Treasury Board (TB), to its President and to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (PCH), whose specific responsibilities with respect to official languages were assigned by order to the of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages:
o The TB President is responsible for assuming a leading role within the federal government in the implementation of the OLA.
o TB 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). In addition, TB is now responsible for establishing, in consultation with PCH, policy instruments concerning two obligations of federal institutions: that of taking positive measures to foster the implementation of federal government commitments to advance the equality of status and use of English and French, and of taking necessary steps to promote the inclusion of language clauses when negotiating with the provinces and territories. Finally, it monitors and holds federal institutions accountable to account on these matters, and its President reports annually to Parliament.
o PCH develops and maintains, in consultation with the TB President, a government-wide strategy outlining key official languages priorities, and ensures that it is tabled in Parliament and made available to the public. It also takes measures to advance the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society, as set out in Part VII of the OLA. Finally, it reports annually to Parliament on matters relating to its official languages mandate.
• One of PCH's responsibilities includes coordinating five-year government-wide strategies for official languages, such as the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection - Promotion - Collaboration. This Action Plan represents an important tool for horizontal collaboration between federal institutions and showcases a significant portion of what the federal government is doing to support official languages.
• PCH has a long tradition of collaboration with the Treasury Board and its Secretariat 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.
• Finally, Justice Canada advises the government on legal matters, represents it in disputes relating to language rights, and assumes responsibility for the administration of justice in both official languages.
• The changes brought by the Act for the Substantive Equality of the Two Official Languages in Canada are designed to clarify 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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