44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/9/23 11:48:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think my colleague really listened to my speech. I said right off the bat that I think using the notwithstanding clause to support the Charter of the French Language and Quebeckers' right to live in French is appropriate. I want to reiterate that.
I am kind of surprised to hear my Bloc Québécois colleague say that we cannot stand for a government of judges, because that is essentially the argument that Stephen Harper's Conservatives used and that the Republican Party often uses. Anyone who supports the rights of Quebeckers must also support their right to freedom of association and free collective bargaining. I find it passing strange that the former president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec has no problem with the idea of using the notwithstanding clause to attack unions.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister refused to challenge the misinformation on the Charter of the French Language at the Standing Committee on Official Languages. He even refused to correct this misinformation to reassure anglophone Quebeckers about the real effects of Bill C-13 and Bill 96. He is not challenging the misinformation and he is not correcting it. If he is not denouncing and correcting it, then he must be condoning it.
At the end of the day, is the position held by the members for Saint-Laurent, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount and Mount Royal on French in Quebec also shared by the Prime Minister? Is that it?
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Mr. Speaker, we made ourselves very clear. Ours was the first government to recognize the decline of French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with Bill C‑13.
We were clear about this in the throne speech. The Prime Minister also made it clear that we are moving forward with a bill to ensure we will help protect and promote the French language across the country and protect our official language minority communities.
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Mr. Speaker, as a proud Acadian who lives in an official language minority community, I know the importance of protecting and promoting French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that will make a difference for our official language minority communities.
Once again, I hope that we will have the support of all colleagues in the House to ensure the passage of this bill, since stakeholders across the country have been telling us that they want it passed as soon as possible.
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- Feb/9/23 4:26:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the protection of the French language is fundamentally important, both for Quebec as a language minority within the country of Canada and for language minorities, especially francophone minorities, in other parts of the country. However, I would again point to the notwithstanding clause acknowledgement of a law that is not reasonably and demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
They are the words of the legislation; they are the words of the Constitution. That is something we really should take note of and be aware of when we are standing up to support that.
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- Feb/9/23 4:40:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is proving me right, because he is using the exact pretext I was talking about earlier.
Let us talk about what the notwithstanding clause is really for. In 1977, when Bill 101 came into force, everyone in Canada was complaining that it was disgusting and terrible and that the act needed to be repealed. Today, no one would go against what Bill 101 stands for. We know full well that it helped protect the French language.
In 20 or 30 years, maybe other governments will follow Quebec's example and pass secularism laws, just like they did 20 years later with child care. That being said, the notwithstanding clause helped the French fact survive. I would like people to stop deflecting the debate by saying that Doug Ford used the notwithstanding clause to hassle the unions.
What we want in the future is to have this tool available so that a nation, the only francophone nation in North America, can ensure its survival.
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