Appearance Before the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages Submitted by the Association francophones des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick for Hearings on a Review of the Official Languages Act April 2018 Introduction The Committee Chair, the Honourable Senator Cormier, Honourable Senators, I wish to begin by thanking you on behalf of the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick (AFMNB) and its 50 member municipalities for this opportunity to present our organization’s views and make a few suggestions for the review of the Official Languages Act that you have been asked to conduct. Before delving right in, allow me to briefly introduce our organization. The AFMNB was created in 1989 and today includes francophone and bilingual municipalities in six large regions in northwestern and southeastern New Brunswick. Our member municipalities represent a population of close to 300,000, or about one third of the province’s total population. About 40 of the province’s 104 municipalities have very large francophone majority populations and operate almost exclusively in French, whether it be at municipal council meetings, the language of work or in the delivery of public services. Since the 2000s, about a dozen member municipalities have language obligations under New Brunswick’s Official Languages Act, which ensures the right of anglophone and francophone residents to receive services in their language. The AFMNB has forged close ties with other Acadian and francophone civil society organizations and with municipalities at the provincial, national and international levels. Our organization is a member of the Concertation des organismes de l’Acadie du N.-B. (COANB), the Conseil provincial-municipal du 1 N.-B., the francophone network of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and its board, the leaders forum of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA), the Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF), and it is involved in the development of the Réseau des villes francophones et francophiles d’Amérique (RVFFA). We hasten to point out that today we are appearing only on behalf of our own association. Although Canada’s Constitution only recognizes two levels of government— federal and provincial, the way our society has developed and the kinds of public services provided have led to a third level of government, which over the decades has been taking on increasing responsibilities. In the Local Governance Act, which came into force on January 1, 2018, the New Brunswick government now legally recognizes municipalities as a full-fledged level of government, just like several other provinces that have officially recognized their own local governments. This new status is more than just symbolic—it must result in a new culture of cooperation between the federal, provincial and municipal governments for developing and implementing legislation and programs that ultimately relate to the same citizens. For the full implementation of the OLA We are not the first to say it, and you will not be surprised to hear that, in our view, one of the major weaknesses of the Official Languages Act is the lack of certain provisions enabling it to achieve its full potential. Specifically, subsections 1 and 2 of section 41, in Part VII of the Act, set out the fundamental principles defining the scope it should have and Parliament’s intent when it was enacted. The problem is that there have been no regulations drafted or enacted specifically defining the 2 positive measures that federal institutions are responsible for taking, even though this is stipulated in subsection 3 (section 41) of Part VII of the Act. Such regulations could easily codify the various positive measures that federal institutions could take, as well as give an organization or department responsibility for its horizontal implementation. It could also formalize the mechanisms for consulting official language minority communities (OLMCs) and accountability processes. Such responsibility goes beyond the coordination role set out in section 42, currently the responsibility of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not against the FCFA’s proposal, supported by the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB), to specifically give responsibility for the Act’s implementation to Treasury Board. However, it is important to remember that Treasury Board is already responsible for parts IV, V and VI, and it would be possible to do so through a regulatory approach with respect to Part VII. Perhaps the current problems stem more from a lack of political commitment by successive governments to recognize the importance of this statutory framework for developing official language minority communities. The Act’s provisions, as forward-looking and detailed as they may be, will never be able to replace the strong leadership needed from the Privy Council Office, Treasury Board and all government departments in achieving the Act’s objectives. New Brunswick’s unique character As stated in the brief they submitted to your committee last week, the Société de l’Acadie du N.-B. highlighted the anomaly of having a federal Official Languages Act that provides weaker protections for the francophone minority than those in New Brunswick’s Official Languages Act. Without specifying whether the tool to use should be to amend the Act or codify this unique character in regulations, we 3 believe that it is crucial to effectively recognize the unique character of New Brunswick’s Acadian and francophone community. Several factors warrant such recognition, and it would be redundant to repeat the exhaustive list and the arguments provided in the SANB’s brief. However, one of them was glossed over, one that adds significant weight to the argument about New Brunswick’s unique character: local control. Specifically, because of the way the Acadian and francophone community is geographically spread out throughout New Brunswick, it makes up the majority in 46 of the province’s 104 municipalities (Appendix A). This francophone homogeneity that asserts control over such a large number of local governments is unique in Canada. This allows the community to control the policy levers essential to its development in order to develop and deliver services tailored to its needs, while also contributing to its development. Given how the role of municipalities has evolved considerably over the past 50 years, how their responsibilities have greatly expanded, and how New Brunswick’s new Local Governance Act now recognizes them as a level of government, it has become vitally important to give municipalities a central role in any federal measures or programs implemented in New Brunswick. Whether it involves economic development, infrastructure, environment, arts and culture, public safety or immigration, just to name a few full or shared responsibilities, municipalities are instrumental in implementing public policy and initiatives. Immigration One obvious example of the need to recognize the unique character of New Brunswick and the leading role of municipalities has to do with francophone immigration. Facing significant demographic decline, mainly due to outmigration 4 and an aging population, 80% of our member municipalities have seen their populations shrink by as much as 20% in some cases since the 2001 census (see Appendix B). Unfortunately, federal policies and programs, including those of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), do not consider the unique needs and realities of Acadian New Brunswick. Our francophone immigration targets should not just be between 4% and 5%, as they are elsewhere in Canada— they should be at a minimum between 30% and 40% if we are to see the Acadian and francophone community maintain its demographic weight. The very survival of some communities depends on it. There are various possible ways to tackle the problem. One way is to come up with specific responsibilities involving IRCC if we fill the void left by the lack of a clear definition of the positive measures referred to in Part VII of the Official Languages Act. Another possibility would be to create a form of duality within that department, again under Part VII. Given the strategic role played by municipalities at certain critical stages of the immigration process, municipal governments need access to adequate assistance and support. Conclusion In closing, I wish to point out that New Brunswick’s francophone and bilingual municipalities are invaluable partners for achieving several objectives of the Official Languages Act. The Act’s foundations are still relevant. However, changes are needed for it to be fully implemented and to ensure that all federal institutions can adequately support the development of official language minority communities. For NB’s Acadian and francophone community, these changes require recognition of its unique character and the strategic role played by municipalities. 5 Thank you! 6 Appendix A RépartitionAFMNB Member de la populationMunicipalit ies:des Officialmunicipalités Language membres Populations de l'AFMNB (Mother par Tongue) langue officielle (langue maternelle) MunicipalityMunicipalités Population (2016) FrançaisFrench AnglaisEnglish Atholville 3 570 87,30% 11,46% Balmoral 1 674 92,69% 6,87% Bas-Caraquet 1 305 96,93% 1,92% Bathurst 11 897 47,95% 45,72% Beaubassin Est 6 376 78,26% 19,98% Beresford 4 288 81,90% 16,62% Bertrand 1 166 96,63% 2,79% Bouctouche 2 361 88,31% 8,58% Campbellton 6 883 50,15% 41,26% Cap Pelé 2