Senator Gerba: Welcome and congratulations on your appointment, which will hopefully be confirmed, given your background, which our colleague highlighted.

You will be taking office at a pivotal moment for Canadian bilingualism, at a time when the country’s linguistic duality is facing significant structural challenges. Of these, two issues really stand out.

First of all, we are seeing a worrisome decline in the French language in Canada, including in Quebec, in terms of both the proportion of speakers and the use of French in public institutions. In this context, do you believe that the modernized version of the Official Languages Act is a sufficiently robust tool to halt this decline and strengthen the position of French? If so, how does your office intend to maximize its impact?

Ms. Burke: The decline is a concern across the country. The data from the 2021 census shows that there are also issues in Quebec. Communities need to be further encouraged to exercise their language rights, which could help stop the erosion of French across Canada.

What I’m seeing, however, is that the bilingualism rate has remained stable at 18% across the country. Although we would like to see it increase further, this is proof that progress can be made, thanks to immersion programs that continue to expand across the country. In Ontario, we have immersion programs that serve as a model for other provinces and territories, which also have immersion programs that partially address the issue of the decline of French.

Francophone immigration will help greatly. However, we know that newcomers to Canada do not necessarily follow a path that enables them to live and thrive in French. We must therefore encourage them with an education system, a legal system and an employment system that will enable them to work in French, but above all to live and thrive in French in their communities. This will help partially address the issue of the decline of French, among other things.

I didn’t catch the second part of the question. Could you repeat that?

Senator Gerba: How will your office maximize the impact of strengthening bilingualism in our country and prevent the decline of French?

Ms. Burke: We’ll have to spend more time on the ground to identify gaps. I aim for excellence in our offices, and we really need to be present on the ground, not only so we can be aware of what’s really happening, but also so we can listen to people and develop solutions to make communities even richer.

One important question we must constantly ask ourselves is this: Are there supports in place that enable communities to thrive? That’s where the Official Languages Act makes it possible to provide better services that will go some way toward addressing issues. I will have to work with the office to interpret the act in a way that enables communities to make significant progress.

Senator Gerba: The federal government is increasingly integrating artificial intelligence systems into the delivery of language services to citizens. How do you intend to ensure that these technologies fully comply with the obligations set out in the Official Languages Act? In addition, will your organization have or does it currently have the human and financial resources needed to effectively oversee this transition?

The Chair: Senator Gerba, your time has expired.