Question Period Note: Support for English-Speaking Quebec Communities

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 modernized Act includes new provisions to support Quebec's English-speaking communities. In addition, the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, unveiled on April 26, 2023, provides funding for new initiatives targeted at these communities.

• It is important for our Government to recognize the historical and cultural contributions of Quebec's English-speaking communities, and to take steps to address their specific needs and support their vitality.
• Our Government's commitment to our official language minority communities, including Quebec's English-speaking communities, remains unwavering. The provisions of the modernized Act and the funding set out in the Action Plan 2023-2028 are a testament to this.
• We will continue to listen to the specific needs and challenges of Quebec's English-speaking communities, and will continue to work with their representatives and our Quebec counterparts to take positive measures in a spirit of "by and for" the communities.

• The modernized Official Languages Act includes provisions that, while not exclusively aimed at Quebec's English-speaking communities, are just as beneficial to these communities as they are to French-speaking communities elsewhere in Canada:
o Acknowledgement in the preamble of the text of the Act that the federal government is committed to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities and supporting their development, while taking into account their unique and plural character, as well as their historical and cultural contributions to Canadian society.
o The purpose of the Act recognizes that English- and French-speaking minorities have different needs.
o Substantial enhancements to Part VII of the Act in terms of positive measures, thereby strengthening support for official language minority communities, including English-speaking communities in Quebec.
o A commitment by the federal government to strengthen opportunities for Anglophone and Francophone minorities to pursue quality life-long learning.
o A commitment by the federal government to strengthen opportunities for English- and French-speaking minorities to pursue quality lifelong learning in their own language.
o A commitment to support sectors essential to the vitality of English- and French-speaking minorities (e.g. employment, education, health, science, arts and culture) and to protect and promote the presence of strong institutions that serve them.
o An obligation to periodically estimate de number of children whose parents are rights-holders to have their children instructed in the minority language.

• The Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028: Protection-Promotion-Collaboration (Action Plan 2023-2028) also includes a series of measures that will directly benefit Quebec's English-speaking communities. This financial support will be determined through collaboration with the Quebec government on minority-language education and services, in addition to measures and investments aimed at community organizations working to enhance the vitality of these communities. In addition, the 2023-2028 Action Plan includes a targeted investment for these communities of $2.5 million over 5 years for their development through the arts, heritage and civic participation.
• The Québec Community Groups Network (QCGN) presented a detailed report of its expectations for the 2023-2028 Action Plan, organized around three priorities: access to services; economic prosperity; and identity and renewal.
• For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Government of Canada has invested in Quebec through the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023: Investing in our Future, a total of approximately $85 million for activities that support, among other things, the development of Quebec's English-speaking communities.
• On May 18 2022, the QCGN sent its brief regarding Bill C-13 to the official languages Committees of the House of Common and of the Senate. QCGN claimed that Bill C-13 "weakens the federal lifeline of our minority at a time when it is most needed" because of the asymmetry that was introduced into the federal regime with the addition of measures to protect and promote French, including in Quebec.
• Although English is the majority language in North America, English-speaking communities in Quebec are in a minority situation in their province. They are primarily located in the Greater Montreal area but are also found in small communities across the province, in areas such as Pontiac, Lanaudière, Eastern Townships, Gaspésie, Basse-Côte-Nord, l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, le Nunavik and the Magdalen Islands.
• According to Statistics Canada, from 2016 to 2021, the proportion of Quebec's English-mother-tongue population went from 7.5% to 7.6%.
• However, the proportion of people whose first official language spoken is English rose from 12% in 2016 to 13% in 2021. In this case, it is close to the threshold observed in 1981. For the first time since comparable data have been compiled, the number of people in Quebec with English as the first official language spoken topped the 1 million mark in 2021.

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