SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 283

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24
Mr. Mario Beaulieu (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ)
  • Feb/15/24 2:40:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps French is in decline at the federal level because never before have the Liberals appointed so few francophones to decision-making positions. Francophones were appointed to only 21% of the key departmental positions that are supposed to be bilingual. That is the worst record since 2015. When Liberal ministers make political appointments, they appoint only unilingual anglophones. No wonder French is disappearing at the federal level. Will the Liberal ministers stop setting the example that it is okay to undermine French?
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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24
Hon. Pablo Rodriguez (Minister of Transport, Lib.)
  • Feb/15/24 2:40:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, defending and promoting French is a priority for all Liberal members from both inside and outside Quebec. When making appointments, we did a lot to ensure greater representation of women, under-represented communities and indigenous people, and we did even more to ensure French representation. We will do more to appoint francophones because that is important to us. While the Bloc Québécois is pouting, complaining and picking fights, we are doing what we need to do, and that is appointing more francophones.
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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24
Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)
  • Feb/15/24 6:21:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the NDP recognizes that Quebec is a distinct nation within Canada. We also recognize that it is the only predominantly French culture in North America. We know that if we want to protect this culture, we must also protect and promote the French language in Canada. Radio and television broadcasting are a key part of promoting the French language and francophone culture in the 21st century. That is why it is so important that the French language be well represented in the decisions made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, or CRTC. To ensure that francophones have a voice at the CRTC, there used to be a tradition of alternating between an anglophone and a francophone chairperson. The current government, however, has decided to put an end to that tradition. We think this proposal requiring the CRTC to consult the Quebec government makes sense. We also want the CRTC to be required to consult with francophone communities and organizations across Canada, not just in Quebec. Naturally, the Government of Quebec should play a special role in the CRTC's decisions in order to stand up for the interests of Quebec. It is a good idea to stop putting all our faith in the long-standing practice of alternating between francophone and anglophone chairpersons and to require the CRTC to consult the Government of Quebec, as well as other francophone organizations across Canada. For those reasons, we support this bill at second reading stage.
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