44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 20, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, roughly eight months ago, we had a federal election. That was not very long ago. It is not a stretch to think that we could take more time to study Bill C‑13.
That said, francophone communities outside Quebec have been waiting for the modernization of the Official Languages Act for 30 years, not eight months. Let us not forget how critical this file is for them and their vitality, as well as for cultural institutions, positive measures and francophone immigration.
What does the minister think about the fact that these people cannot wait any longer for things to improve?
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Madam Speaker, I want my colleague to know that he is absolutely right.
Official language minority communities have been waiting a long time for the modernization of the Official Languages Act that Bill C‑13 offers them.
Our new version of the former bill has more teeth. As I have said it many times, Bill C‑13 will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, including official language minority communities.
As a francophone living in one such community, it is partly thanks to the Official Languages Act that I had the privilege or the right to live in French, attend university in French and work in French. However, we want to make sure we go further by clarifying the definition of part VII in order to achieve substantive equality. We will continue to work on advancing our language rights.
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Madam Speaker, as a francophone from Quebec, I concur with the government that Bill C‑13 is extremely important. It is not a question of debating the timing of its introduction, because I do not believe there is a right or wrong time. As my colleague stated earlier, I believe that today, the time has come to move forward.
However, I do have a question for the minister. At what point in this process do we need the support of the other parties to demonstrate to Canadians that we have two official languages and that it is important to protect French in a minority context?
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. The Liberal government is preaching, not practising. Worse still, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, who is a francophone and a Quebecker, does all his communication in English. They have sunk pretty low.
I also agree with my colleague that Bill C‑13 is a step in the right direction and that it could go much further. I would like to know what improvements he would like to see to Bill C‑13 for francophones.
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Madam Speaker, I believe it is so important that we protect and promote francophone language and culture in our country. I am proud to represent a very large Franco-Albertan riding with towns like Morinville, Legal and Rivière Qui Barre.
We had a tragedy happen last summer, where the iconic St. Jean Baptiste Church burned to the ground. It was about a year ago. This was really an icon for the Franco-Albertan community. I just want to hear the member's comments on how the government needs to do better to defend not only the French language, but also francophone culture across our country.
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Madam Speaker, yes, the francophone community is strong. We are fortunate that this is part of Canada's history, because it means that French is still spoken here in our country and we have a bilingual country. Yes, we must invest in and support our linguistic communities, especially in minority settings.
I strongly suggest that as part of our committee study, we ensure that communities all across the country have the appropriate tools.
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