Standing Committee on Official Languages

Comité permanent des langues officielles

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 15, 2021 -

Today, Emmanuel Dubourg, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages (the Committee), presented a report in the House of Commons entitled: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Government’s Ability to Deliver Information and Services in both Official Languages.

The committee notes that the health crisis caused by COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the ability of federal institutions to meet some of their obligations under the Official Languages Act. With a view to post-pandemic recovery and in preparation for future emergencies, the committee has made 13 recommendations to improve the government’s ability to deliver information and services in both official languages, ensure respect for the language-of-work rights of federal public servants working in designated bilingual regions, and improve support to official language minority communities.

This report is the result of a study in which the committee heard testimony from 36 witnesses representing: federal departments, a trade union, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, the French Language Services unit of the Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario, and official language minority community organizations, as well as academics appearing as individuals.

The report can be consulted on the committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website at http://www.parl.gc.ca/LANG-e. Anyone unable to access an electronic copy of the report can obtain a paper copy by contacting the committee clerk.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages is composed of 12 MPs. The Chair is Emmanuel Dubourg (Bourassa) and the Vice-Chairs are the Honourable Steven Blaney (Bellechasse— Les Etchemins—Lévis) and Mario Beaulieu (La Pointe-de-l’Île). The other members are: René Arseneault (Madawaska—Restigouche), Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie), Marc Dalton (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge), Paul Lefebvre (Sudbury), Joël Godin (Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier), Marie-France Lalonde (Orléans), Patricia Lattanzio (Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel), Soraya Martinez Ferrada (Hochelaga) and John Williamson (New Brunswick Southwest).