Higgs’ description of official languages commissioner as ‘negative’ off base: expert

Premier Blaine Higgs’ description of the official languages commissioner as a “negative” office shows a lack of understanding of the commissioner’s role, according to a constitutional languages expert.

Higgs made the comments while defending his decision to appoint Kris Austin to a committee responsible for studying the mandatory 10-year review of the Official Languages Act. 

“It is a very negative office, you know, usually finding fault with one person or another and you wonder to what extent has it provided a meaningful way to move forward,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Abolishing the office of the official languages commissioner is something Austin advocated for as leader of the People’s Alliance Party, along with the loosening of bilingual hiring requirements for paramedics and the civil service and the merging of the province’s two health authorities. Austin’s inclusion on the committee has greatly angered francophone groups in the province.

According to Érik Labelle Eastaugh, the director of the International Observatory on Language Rights at l’Université de Moncton, Higgs’ comments on the official languages commissioner demonstrate a lack of understanding of the purpose of the commissioner and, by extension, the act.

“On its face, it’s absurd to criticize that office on the basis that it’s quote-unquote negative. I mean, the primary function of the commissioner is to investigate complaints about violations of the law,” he said.

“The premier appears to be criticizing the very nature of the function of the commissioner, which suggests that he doesn’t fully understand or care why that office was created in the first place.”

The Official Languages Act ensures equality of access to government services in the official language of one’s choice. The commissioner is there to investigate complaints and ensure the government is held accountable for lapses.

“If you eliminate the position … you just make it trivially easy for the government to violate people’s rights and I think that’s clearly the wrong way to be going,” Labelle Eastaugh said.

It’s not the first time Higgs has been accused of not understanding the act. The premier frequently veers into discussions of French immersion and French second-language education when asked about the act by reporters. Education is explicitly not included in the act.

Higgs frequently laments the failure of the anglophone school system to graduate more bilingual students, but those societal and political issues have nothing to do with the Official Languages Act, which is purely about ensuring the protection of a constitutional right.

“The goal of that act isn’t to solve all the problems with respect to language in New Brunswick society, the purpose of that act is to ensure that the government, specifically, respects its fundamental constitutional obligation to provide services to both francophones and anglophones on an equal basis,” Labelle Eastaugh said.

“Given that specific purpose, education isn’t really relevant. Education is kind of off in its own silo within the constitution and within the legal framework here in New Brunswick so talking about education when discussing the official languages act is a non-sequitur.”

Higgs has also faced criticism from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Austin’s involvement in the government’s response to the recommended improvements to the act. The premier has said he wanted a diversity of opinions on the 10-member committee, but Trudeau said it’s inappropriate to have someone with the views Austin has expressed in a decision-making position.

“You don’t put someone who has spent his entire career attacking official bilingualism and questioning the need to protect French in New Brunswick and elsewhere on a panel designed to strengthen bilingualism,” he said.

The appointment came up at a meeting between Higgs and Trudeau on Tuesday afternoon, which Higgs said he found surprising.

“How many prime ministers get involved with cabinet ministers and caucus committees, only if they want to deflect the issue to something to cause people to talk about as opposed to the issues that are really affecting New Brunswickers,” he said.

The mandatory 10-year review of the Official Languages Act was released in December of 2021. It recommended that nursing homes be phased into the purview of the act and the creation of a standalone department of official languages as well as a standing committee of the legislature. Higgs has promised a response to the report by the end of the year.