44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 12, 2023 10:00AM
- May/12/23 10:21:02 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight: The Bloc Québécois is not saying that this is a good bill. The Bloc is going to support it because we feel that it will move things somewhat forward for now, but there are still a lot of unsatisfactory aspects.
The Government of Quebec asked to be in control of language planning within its territory. It also asked for recognition that French is the only minority official language. It requested a truly differentiated approach and asked that Quebec be the one to take positive measures, whether for French or English. It wants to have a say, it wanted a say in this.
The official languages plan was unveiled about a week and a half ago, and it is expected that $800 million will once again be spent primarily on English. The Quebec government has asked that it be used for French integration instead. Everyone in Quebec wondered why, when French is under threat, almost all the funding is going to English. I am actually pretty happy about that because usually this kind of thing would go unnoticed.
The minister said that part of that amount was for the teaching of French as a second language. That is generally a part of Canada-Quebec agreements, but only a small percentage, maybe 5% to 6%, is earmarked for French second-language teaching. Most of the funding goes to support the English school system. That is what we heard from a public servant who spoke anonymously.
My question for the minister is this. Is the government open to the possibility of increasing support for French in the positive measures and to adjusting its approach based on the requests of the Government of Quebec, taking into account the fact that French is in decline and that measures really do need to be taken? Furthermore, the federal measures that hasten the decline of French must be stopped.
326 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to thank my Bloc Québécois colleague for the work he has done on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
I think we share a common goal with the Bloc québécois. We recognize that French is the only one of Canada's official languages in decline and that we need to work together to address this decline. I must also mention that we are the first government to recognize that French is the only one of Canada's official languages that is in decline. To counter this decline, we introduced an ambitious and robust bill.
Also, last week, or two weeks ago, we announced an action plan containing unprecedented investments of $4.1 billion that will really make a difference. If we have any hope of ensuring that Canada's francophonie will thrive, we have to follow through with the necessary investments. As I often say, if the francophonie is thriving across Canada, it will surely thrive in Quebec as well.
I should also say that the Quebec government has publicly stated that Bill C-13 is a very good bill. This week, I even had the chance to talk with Minister Roberge. Quebec wants this bill to pass as quickly as possible.
I would like to once again thank my Bloc Québécois colleague, who openly and publicly stated that he will support the bill. This bill is really going to make a difference for our official language minority communities and it will also help us address the decline of French across the country, including in Quebec.
275 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend, as well as the NDP member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, for the work that she has done on Standing Committee on Official Languages. She has truly been a partner, and I appreciated working with her.
If this were an easy piece of legislation, governments in the past would have moved it forward a long time ago. We had the ambition, and we wanted to make it a priority. That is why we moved forward with many steps in modernizing our Official Languages Act, as well as making sure that, as a federal government, we did all that we could to protect and promote our official languages. My friend and colleague, the Minister of Global Affairs, started that work when she was the minister responsible. Now, I have been privileged to continue that work.
We tabled Bill C-13 last year. I took it as a priority to meet with stakeholders to make sure we had an appreciation of what they wanted to see. We have moved forward with presenting a robust piece of legislation that really meets the needs of the interveners from coast to coast to coast. It would make a real, tangible difference in making sure that we address the decline of French, all while supporting our official-language minority communities from across the country.
226 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, French is the language of love.
I want my message to anglophones in Quebec to be very clear. Bill C-13 in no way removes any rights from English-speaking Quebeckers.
With this legislation, the modernization of the Official Languages Act, we want to make sure that we do all we can to protect and to promote both our official languages. That Canada has two official languages is a comparative advantage to other countries. However, with this piece of robust legislation, we want to protect our communities and address the decline of French.
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues for their openness. I will therefore be sharing my time with the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.
As I rise in the House today, I cannot help but feel disappointed. All that, for this? The Liberals tabled a white paper in February 2021 that clearly stated in black and white that the Treasury Board was to become the central agency responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act, as I pointed out in my question earlier. A few months later, in June 2021, the official languages minister at the time, currently the Minister of Foreign Affairs, introduced Bill C-32. An election was called two months later. What a coincidence. A lot of time was wasted, and we had to start over at square one.
The new Minister of Official Languages introduced her bill, C-13, in March 2022. We were told that the bill solved all the problems and that it had to be passed as quickly as possible. The Liberals begged the opposition parties to co-operate and expedite the bill. It was referred to the Standing Committee on Official Languages, where we heard from witnesses so we could do our work effectively. All of a sudden, the Liberals moved a motion to cut off debate. We had to move so quickly that we wasted eight meetings discussing this problem that had been caused by the Liberals at committee.
They are talking out of both sides of their mouths. They want us to move quickly, but they muzzled us for eight meetings. The opposition parties worked together to take the time needed. We reached out to the Liberals several times to try to get them to listen to reason. They wanted four meetings and we wanted twelve, so we split the difference and decided on eight. I think that is a good compromise. It shows that the opposition parties were acting in good faith. As for the Liberals, that is another story.
The Conservative Party takes bilingualism in Canada very seriously. We worked hard in committee, as I mentioned. We took the time to listen to stakeholders across the country. We worked to respond to their concerns. I am talking about stakeholders like the Fédération des communautés francophone et acadienne du Canada, the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones, the Commissioner of Official Languages and many others. These people live with the reality of being a linguistic minority every day. The Liberals would have everyone living in these official language minority communities, particularly in New Brunswick, believe that they are responding to their demands.
451 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, first, I would simply like to say that, since 2015, our government has basically doubled the investments in all areas of official languages through our official languages action plan. We are making historic investments of $4.1 billion over the next five years.
Second, I listened attentively to my colleague's comments. He said that he listened to what the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, the Société nationale de l'Acadie and the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick had to say. I would like to know whether he really paid attention to what they were saying because, over the past six, seven or eight months, stakeholders across the country have been telling us that they are looking forward to the passage of Bill C-13. They openly and publicly told us that this is a good bill, an ambitious and robust bill.
All of the parties in the House have told us where they stand on this bill except the Conservative Party. Their position is a big mystery.
My question is this. Will the Conservative Party support the bill, yes or no? If my colleague wants to ensure that his grandchildren have the opportunity to talk and live in French, then I think it would be a good idea for the Conservative Party to support the bill.
238 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/12/23 12:12:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 21 petitions.
These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
35 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/12/23 12:38:34 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank our good friend, the Minister for Official Languages. I hope she will be as co-operative, so that the action plan for official languages supports this asymmetry that is recognized in the law on the use of French in federally regulated private businesses.
Even Quebec's minister of the French language was surprised that there were no measures for French in this bill. We were talking about $137.5 million allocated to projects already identified to support English in Quebec. That is more than $800 million over four years. I think it is unacceptable to continue funding English in Quebec when the government has recognized that it is the French language that is under threat. I hope the minister will be open to the idea of making the action plan and the principles set out in the bill more consistent. We are going to work very hard on that.
159 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/12/23 12:39:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we can see how much the Liberals care about the Official Languages Act. There are only three government members present to listen to our speeches. That is disappointing.
32 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/12/23 1:09:43 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her co-operation and work on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
I would like to know if she considers Quebec to be a nation with French as its official and common language, and if she recognizes Quebec's right to self-determination.
If so, does she think it is okay for the federal government to swoop in and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in areas of Quebec's jurisdiction to support English?
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
