(Ottawa) Some would say the political stars were aligned for a rare time. Others will argue that the right ministers were in the right place at the right time. One thing is clear, however: the recent agreement reached between French Language Minister Jean-François Roberge and Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor marks a turning point in Quebec-Ottawa relations on the sensitive language issue.
Posted at 12:00 p.m
The turning point is such that the two ministers gave La Presse a joint interview this week via video conference to explain the downside of this “good language understanding”.
“There is a paradigm shift. In many people’s logic, there has to be a loser for there to be a winner. We’ve gotten away from that logic. It was like either Ottawa or Quebec would win. Either francophones in Quebec or francophones outside of Quebec win. And that is a spiritual prison. We had to get out. And that’s where we came out from,” analyzes Minister Roberge.
“I agree. You think it always has to be the bickering with the federal and state governments. It’s not the case at all. People want us to work together to advance their priorities,” adds Minister Petitpas Taylor, stressing that she “not the most partisan woman”.
Ten days ago, after several months of talks, Quebec and Ottawa agreed on the substance of amendments to the Trudeau government’s Bill C-13 to modernize the official language law.
The compromise that satisfies the two capitals concerns the obligation of federally licensed companies to French-speaking workers.
Quebec wanted the charter of French law to apply to these companies based on its territory. Ottawa has instead proposed incorporating certain elements of the charter that affect the same companies into the official language reform.
Result: State-licensed businesses must offer their employees internal communications in French when needed, not only in Quebec, but also in regions with a strong French-speaking presence such as Acadia and eastern Quebec, Ontario. These companies must also offer employment contracts in French and job descriptions in French, and francophones can request interviews in their language.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Quebec’s Minister for French Language Jean-François Roberge is also Minister for Canadian Relations and Canadian Francophonie.
“We are happy, Ginette and I. We are really happy. I appreciate his work very much,” says Jean-François Roberge right from the start.
“It’s mutual! It’s totally reciprocal! Ginette Petitpas Taylor replies.
Hooked Atoms
The talks began after the two ministers met in Ottawa last November.
At the end of that meeting, Mr. Roberge said he saw Ms. Petitpas Taylor as a serious conversationalist who listens. “As soon as I spoke to him, we immediately saw that we had something in common,” Mr Roberge said, while his on-screen colleague nodded in agreement.
The minister’s Acadian heritage helped build solid working relationships. Especially since Mr. Roberge’s wife is also of academic origin.
PHOTO PATRICK DOYLE, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVE
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Federal Minister for Official Languages
As the Moncton Region representative in the House of Commons, Ms Petitpas Taylor lives the daily struggle for the survival of the French language. It’s also hard for her to see New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs taking steps to sideline Francophone rights, even though that province is officially bilingual.
“I am the prime minister of Acadian origin responsible for the official languages. I live in an official minority language community. For me, the Official Languages Act is something that has always had a strong impact on me,” says Ms Petitpas Taylor
If I had the opportunity to live in French, work in French, do my post-secondary studies in French, it was thanks to the Official Languages Act. Yes, the Premier of New Brunswick is not an ally of our province’s Francophones. It reinforces the message that we should never take our rights for granted. So we wanted to make sure we had a law that had bite.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister for Official Languages
According to Mr. Roberge, Prime Minister François Legault’s decision to entrust him with the duties of Minister for French Language, Canadian Relations and La Francophonie has changed the situation. “I have the three hats. I want all three to work. I’m here to find solutions. »
“The defining moment was when we met in person in Ottawa and had a great dinner. We’ve had time to work around things. And then at the end we said that we agreed on the principles and values. It remained to be seen how this could be translated into a legal text. In both cases we also relied on our teams. There were cabinet meetings and officials with officials, lawyers with lawyers,” explains Mr Roberge.
“After that we talked to teams again, we saw that we had come a long way and we left. There were two or three such cycles. But every time I felt that we were getting closer to the solution,” he adds.
“I think we had the right ministers in the right place at the right time. Together we found a way. We wanted to make sure we could do our fair share to protect and promote French. In the case of federal companies, we have always said that we wanted to ensure that our regulations were harmonized and aligned. That actually happened,” said the Minister for Official Languages.
The two ministers concluded the interview with the hope that MPs would quickly pass Bill C-13 on third reading and that senators would ratify it before the end of June.