RECOMMENDATION

Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled “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”.

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as An Act for the Substantive Equality of Canada’s Official Languages.

PART 1R.S., c. 31 (4th Supp.)Official Languages Act

Amendments to the Act

• 2 (1) The fourth paragraph of the preamble to the Official Languages Act is replaced by the following:

  AND WHEREAS employees of institutions of the Parliament or government of Canada should have equal opportunities to use the official language of their choice while working together in pursuing the goals of those institutions;

• (2) The seventh and eighth paragraphs of the preamble to the Act are replaced by the following:

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to enhancing the vitality and supporting the development of English and French linguistic minority communities — taking into account their uniqueness, diversity and historical and cultural contributions to Canadian society — as an integral part of the two official language communities of Canada, and to fostering full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to protecting and promoting the French language, recognizing that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to cooperating with provincial and territorial governments and their institutions to support the development of English and French linguistic minority communities, to provide services in both English and French, to respect the constitutional guarantees of minority language educational rights and to enhance opportunities for all to learn both English and French;

• (3) The 10th paragraph of the preamble to the Act is replaced by the following:

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of providing opportunities for everyone in Canada to learn a second official language and the contribution of everyone in Canada who speaks both official languages to a mutual appreciation between the two official language communities of Canada;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of supporting sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities and protecting and promoting the presence of strong institutions serving those communities;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation contributes through its activities to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities and to the protection and promotion of both official languages;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of remedying the decline in the demographic weight of French linguistic minority communities, including by restoring and increasing their demographic weight;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of francophone immigration in enhancing the vitality of French linguistic minority communities, including by restoring and increasing their demographic weight;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of the French language to trade and economic activity and the contribution of francophone immigration to the economy;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of including a francophone perspective in funding programs;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the presence of English or French linguistic minority communities in each province and territory;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the diversity of the provincial and territorial language regimes that contribute to the advancement of the equality of status and use of English and French in Canadian society, including that

  the Constitution of Canada provides every person with the right to use English or French in the debates of the Houses of the Legislature of Quebec and those of the Legislature of Manitoba and the right to use English or French in any pleading or process in or from the courts of those provinces,

  Quebec’s Charter of the French language provides that French is the official language of Quebec,

  the Constitution of Canada provides that English and French are the official languages of New Brunswick and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the legislature and government of New Brunswick, and

  the Constitution of Canada provides that the English linguistic community and the French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal rights and privileges;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes that each province and territory has adopted laws, policies or programs guaranteeing service in French or recognizing the contribution of the English or French linguistic minority community to Canadian society;

  AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes the importance of maintaining and enhancing the use of languages other than English and French and reclaiming, revitalizing and strengthening Indigenous languages while strengthening the status and use of the official languages;

  AND WHEREAS all legal obligations related to the official languages apply at all times, including during emergencies;

3 Paragraph 2(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

4 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 2:

5 The heading before section 3 of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

• 6 (1) The definition commissaire in subsection 3(1) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Commissioner

  commissaire Le commissaire aux langues officielles du Canada nommé au titre de l’article 49. (Commissioner)

• (2) Subsection 3(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

  business day

  business day means a day other than

  • (a) a Saturday;

  • (b) a Sunday or other holiday; and

  • (c) a day that falls during the seasonal recess, as defined in section 2 of the Federal Courts Rules; (jour ouvrable)

  communication

  communication means any form of communication, including oral, written, electronic, virtual or other communications; (communication)

  publication

  publication means any form of publication, regardless of the medium, including printed, electronic, virtual or other publications; (publication)

  restoration

  restoration means, in relation to the demographic weight of French linguistic minority communities, a return of the demographic weight of all members of those communities whose first official language spoken is French to the level it had at the time of the census of population of Canada taken by Statistics Canada in 1971, namely, 6.1% of the population outside Quebec; (rétablissement)

  service

  service means any form of service provided or made available, including oral, written, electronic, virtual or other services. (service)

7 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 3:

• 8 (1) Subsection 7(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Legislative instruments

  • 7 (1) An instrument shall be made in both official languages and, if printed and published, shall be printed and published in both official languages, if it is made in the execution of a legislative power conferred by or under an Act of Parliament and

    • (a) is made by, or with the approval of, the Governor in Council or one or more ministers of the Crown;

    • (b) is required by or under an Act of Parliament to be published in the Canada Gazette; or

    • (c) is of a public and general nature.

• (2) The portion of subsection 7(3) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Exceptions

    (3) Subsection (1) does not, by reason only that the ordinance, by-law, law or other instrument is of a public and general nature, apply to

• (3) The portion of subsection 7(3) of the English version of the Act after paragraph (b) is repealed.

• 9 (1) Subsection 10(1) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

  Marginal note:Traités

  • 10 (1) Le gouvernement fédéral prend toutes les mesures possibles pour veiller à ce que les traités et conventions intervenus entre le Canada et tout autre État soient authentifiés dans les deux langues officielles.

• (2) The portion of subsection 10(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Federal-provincial-territorial agreements

    (2) The Government of Canada has the duty to ensure that the following classes of agreements between Canada and one or more provinces or territories are made in both official languages and that both versions are equally authoritative:

• (3) Paragraphs 10(2)(b) and (c) of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • (b) agreements entered into with one or more provinces or territories if English and French are declared to be the official languages of any of those provinces or territories or if any of them requests that the agreement be made in English and French; and

  • (c) agreements entered into with two or more provinces or territories if their governments do not use the same official language.

• (4) The portion of subsection 10(3) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (3) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing the circumstances in which any class, specified in the regulations, of agreements that are made between Canada and one or more other states or between Canada and one or more provinces or territories