I believe that it's always better to ensure compliance through discussions and agreements.
Binding agreements aren't necessarily coercive. The agreement is made between two parties, and it has a time frame and certain conditions. However, it remains an agreement.
Administrative monetary penalties are already being imposed as part of the Environmental Damages Fund. A fund was created to protect the environment. We could do the same thing by establishing a fund for linguistic duality, which would include fines, in order to advance the concept of linguistic duality.
This year, one approach that I'll use with federal institutions consists of meeting one-on-one with senior officials. I'll meet individually with each deputy minister, for instance, to obtain their commitment to official languages. That's also a way of doing things.
In some cases, such as the travelling public issue, many key players are involved. Why not simply hold discussions to resolve the issue? In my view, this aspect goes well beyond the authority of the act in its current form.