AMBM President and Deputy Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau, issued the following statement regarding Bill C-13 unveiled on March 1st, 2022:
I welcome Bill C-13 introduced by the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor and congratulate the Minister for the important work she has done.
This bill represents significant progress over its predecessor, the Official Languages Act. Its mechanisms for the promotion and protection of French at the national level will have a direct impact on the sustainability of Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs).
Nevertheless, the fundamental role that the country’s municipalities are prepared to play in contributing to the vitality of these same communities, as the order of government closest to its citizens and on an equal footing with the other two orders of government, continues to be ignored.
The AMBM’s position with the federal government has been the same since 2018. All three orders of government must work together to promote and protect our official languages, according to the principle of subsidiarity in Canadian federalism. This principle implies that lawmaking and implementation are often best achieved at an order of government that is not only effective, but also closest to the citizens affected and thus most responsive to their needs, to local distinctiveness, and to population diversity.
Several partners support this vision: the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) and several other Francophone and bilingual municipal associations.
In his most recent report (February 2022), the Commissioner of Official Languages stated that public support “must be backed by robust policies and initiatives from all orders of government to promote the importance of our official languages across the country.”
After two years of the pandemic, Francophone minorities are more fragile than ever and threatened with linguistic assimilation. In Manitoba, the AMBM wants to do more to support them by promoting dialogue with the federal and provincial governments.
In the coming weeks, I invite the federal government to consult effectively and rigorously with municipal and provincial/territorial governments as part of its cross-Canada tour, in advance of its next Action Plan for Official Languages (APOL).
For decades, AMBM members and many other local governments have been actively involved in supporting the vitality of OLMCs. However, their action is limited due to a lack of resources. In the next APOL, we recommend the creation of a program to strengthen the delivery of municipal services in both official languages. The AMBM would also like to see enforceable language clauses included in bilateral agreements between the federal government and the provinces/territories, particularly with respect to infrastructure.
As stated in Bill C-13, the federal government wishes to “promote the presence of strong institutions” to serve linguistic minorities. The AMBM and Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership are responding. We are ready for the next step.
For more information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, [email protected].
