Translation – more useless red tape for Canadian businesses. Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller recently announced that the federal Liberal government would be forcing businesses to provide services in French in many more regions than is currently the case. It is unknown where the impetus for this policy came from, as there certainly was not a groundswell of demand for services in French from consumers or the business community this policy will affect. Yet again, it seems the Liberals are devising a policy for which there is no demand.
The rules around this legislation state that it will apply to businesses with 25 or more employees in Quebec. The province of Quebec already has very rigid French language requirements, so this federal addition won’t likely have much of an impact. The real potential damage will be seen in other parts of the country. Outside of Quebec, the legislation is to apply to federally-regulated businesses with more than 100 employees who are “operating in regions with a strong Francophone presence,” however that is to be determined. Those businesses will be required to guarantee consumers the right to receive services in French and ensure employees can work in French. These requirements are slated to take effect first in Quebec, then be rolled out two years later in other provinces.
This means that more medium-sized businesses in the affected industries will be burdened with even more red tape than they have already been subjected to by this Liberal government. Additional costs will be imposed, such as ensuring that contracts, purchase orders, brochures, and sales literature, among others, will be bilingual or in French-language formats. Employees must be guaranteed the right to work in French and ensured they will not face any adverse treatment or reduced career opportunities for not using English. This seems to imply that unilingual francophones must be guaranteed these rights in businesses that do the vast majority if not all of their business in English. Non-compliance with these regulations can attract fines up to $25,000.
Although many of the industries affected are mostly comprised of large businesses such as banks, telecommunications companies and ports, many medium-sized firms also stand to be affected. Many businesses in the transportation, financial services, grain elevators and other industries will probably fall under this legislation. Even for the large businesses affected, they will have to spend more money to comply with the legislation. This cost increase will undoubtedly be passed on to consumers at a time when inflation is already a serious problem in Canada.
The impact on employment is also going to be negative. If an affected business does not already have a French-speaking employee, will they be required to lay other people off so they can hire replacements that speak French? If so, the business will need to spend more funds to train new employees and as the legislation seems to protect people that speak only French, the business may be saddled with an employee that is only required in very few situations, or none at all.
Businesses generally know their business or they’re not in business for very long. If market conditions require a business to provide services in French to satisfy customer requirements, they will already be doing that. There is no need for heavy-handed government to force this requirement on business via legislation that will increase red tape and costs that will further fuel inflation and make businesses less competitive. At a time when businesses across Canada are struggling and looking to governments at all levels to making things easier, not more difficult, to do business in Canada, it is truly incomprehensible why Miller has decided that this is the right time to introduce more intrusive and unnecessary federal legislation.
It’s also worth noting that policies that start off only affecting a certain proportion of the business community very often expand to encompass more businesses over time. The only possible rationale for this ridiculous legislation is that the Liberals want to shore up their political support in Quebec. Businesses should not be punished to satisfy Liberal partisan interests. The small- and medium-sized business community has already taken plenty of abuse from this Liberal government and it has had a serious negative impact on our economy. More costly red tape will never be the answer. The fact Miller has decided to introduce this pointless and punitive legislation at this difficult time just shows how out of touch these Liberals are with the state of average businesses and citizens in Canada. We already have plenty of “paperasserie inutile.” We don’t need more.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
