44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2023 02:00PM
Mr. Speaker, I want begin by taking a few seconds to acknowledge the courage and resilience of the people of Baie‑Saint‑Paul and Saint‑Urbain, which have been hit by violent flooding. The beautiful Gouffre River overflowed its banks, washing away many houses, trailers and cottages and destroying roads in our community.
It has been a very difficult week in Charlevoix. I spent all last week there with the people, touring the area in my rubber boots. I saw the damage and the devastation, but I also saw the solidarity, the comradeship, the vitality and the generosity of the people of Charlevoix and the surrounding areas.
Since we are talking about the French language, I would like to quote Charles Aznavour, who sang, “Misfortune brings out the best in people”. I cling to that. I commend the mayors, municipal teams, firefighters, police officers, the Red Cross and the many volunteers, community organizations and donors. I admire them. They are dear to me and are always in my thoughts.
Speaking of Charles Aznavour, poetry, songs and literature, I have listened to all the speeches, the rhetoric, the multiple definitions, the amendments and the debates surrounding Bill C-13 on official languages.
The cultural aspect of our language, of our mother tongue, was all but forgotten. French is not a language. French is much more than that. French is a door that opens up to what defines us and brings us together. It is not a tool for talking about the weather, talking about a dream or arguing. It is much more than that. French defines us. French is part of our DNA, despite the different times in our history when attempts were made to burn it down along with our homes, to extinguish it by banning it from being spoken at school, a ban imposed by the conqueror. Despite all the efforts to crush it, French persists because it lies at the foundation of culture, and language and culture go hand in hand.
No federal legislation is going to determine whether Quebec, France or any other country or people in the world speaks French. No Canadian federal legislation is going to determine the survival of this language. Our love for our language will keep it alive. That is what will determine whether we survive and whether our language survives. Love for one's language is a vehicle for culture, which intrinsically becomes the primary power for protecting the French language.
I suggest that those listening to us start thinking very carefully. Putting the screws to the lovers of a language only strengthens their motivation. I would advise my colleagues not to try to stamp out the French language. Indeed, the more effort they put into doing just that, the more it will get back up again, the taller it will stand and the more we will love it.
This is what is happening right now in Quebec. I am happy because I know that when Quebeckers are provoked, they do not take it sitting down.
I would like to acknowledge a great poet, Yves Duteil. He wrote a magnificent song dedicated to his friend, Félix Leclerc.
It is a beautiful language with splendid wordsWhose history can be traced in its variationsWhere we feel the music and smell the herbsGoat's cheese and wheat bread... In this beautiful language tinted by the colours of ProvenceWhere the flavours can be tasted in the wordsWhere the party starts when people talkAnd we drink up the words like they are water... It's a beautiful language on the other side of the worldA bubble of France in the north of a continentHeld in a vice but still so fruitfulLocked in the ice at the top of a volcanoIt built bridges across the AtlanticIt left its home for another landAnd like a swallow transported by the springIt returns to sing of its sorrows and hopesIt tells us that in that far-off country of snowIt faced the winds blowing from all directionsTo impose its words even in the schoolsAnd that our own language is still spoken thereIt is a beautiful language to those who know how to defend itIt offers treasures of untold richnessThe words we lacked to be able to understand one anotherAnd the strength required to live in harmonyAnd from Île d'Orléans to ContrescarpeListening to the people of this country singIt sounds like the wind moving over a harpAnd composing a whole symphony
I love French. I love the French language, and Bill C‑13 will not snuff it out.
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Mr. Speaker, I have no idea what the Conservative leader thinks and I must admit that that is the least of my worries.
I would venture to say that the Bloc Québécois has always supported francophones outside Quebec. That is why we will support this bill. We are very reluctant to support it, but we are supporting it anyway, because we are very concerned about the fate of French outside Quebec and its chances of survival.
However, I remain extremely concerned that money in Quebec has been used to promote and support English when French is the language that is in danger, both in Quebec and throughout Canada, not English. That is a glaring issue in this bill. It is very worrisome for the future. However, at the same time, we see that people in Quebec are rising up. That is poetic justice.
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Mr. Speaker, just as I am not privy to what the Conservative leader is thinking, I am not privy to what the leader of the government is thinking, either. Honestly, I have no explanation, but I hope that there will be enough understanding between them to bring around some of the MPs who seem reluctant to support the initiatives the government has undertaken.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that Quebec has always been open and friendly. It has always made an effort to reach out. Furthermore, that is what the leader of the Bloc Québécois often does. He has met with a great many francophones outside Quebec. This is constantly on our minds. I have no concern about Quebec being in harmony with the rest of francophone Canada.
The issue is that we cannot just protect French outside Quebec. We also need to protect French in Quebec. That is what is missing from Bill C‑13, which is absolutely worrisome and disappointing.
We will see what Quebec does.
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- May/10/23 5:02:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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- May/10/23 5:05:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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