- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Veterans Affairs
Associate Minister of National Defence
- Liberal
- Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $101,260.44
- Government Page
- Mar/6/23 3:03:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City for his important question. I also wish him a happy Francophonie Month.
I was very pleased to be in the Vancouver area last week where we announced an investment of nearly $13.5 million, in partnership with the Government of British Columbia, to support a series of projects to recruit, train and retain more francophone teachers.
The federal government will always be there to support our francophone communities across the country.
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- Feb/16/23 3:04:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her question and for her hard work.
I was very pleased to be at the University of Ottawa yesterday with the President of the Treasury Board to announce a federal contribution of $20.4 million to support French-language programs at the University of Ottawa.
This funding will be used to develop new courses entirely in French and to hire faculty in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as to create a new centre of excellence for French-language education.
This is another example of how this government is supporting official language minority communities and post-secondary institutions in those communities.
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Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear, my priority as Minister of Official Languages is to make sure that we are doing everything we can to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec. We also have a responsibility to protect official language minority communities.
I think this is a goal we share. It is what we all want. We want to make a fair contribution so that we can bring solutions to this decline problem. I hope that, eventually, this bill will get passed, since implementing this legislation is going to make a real difference. Our stakeholders are eager, they want to see the bill passed, and I hope that happens as soon as possible.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. We are the first government to recognize the decline of French in the country and that is precisely why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill.
As an Acadian who lives in New Brunswick in an official language minority community, I know the importance of protecting and promoting French across the country, including in Quebec.
However, we also have to ensure that we are there to protect official language minority communities. Like stakeholders from one end of the country to another, I look forward to the passage of the bill. Bill C‑13 will really change things in the lives of Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear: Our commitment has not changed. Our government stands firm. We will do everything to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec, and protect our official language minority communities.
I am following the work of the committee closely. Our bill will expand the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages. It will ensure that employees will be able to work and obtain service in French in federally regulated private companies in Quebec as well as outside the province in regions with a strong francophone presence.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear about our commitment to do our fair share to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec, and to protect and promote our official language minority communities.
I want to take a moment to thank the committee members who are working to advance this file.
With the passage of Bill C‑13, we will be able to give the Commissioner of Official Languages the tools he needs to do his work, which is essential. We will also be seeing changes for federally regulated private businesses to make sure that people can work and get service in French.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's comments are not true. We are the first government to recognize the decline of French across the country, including in Quebec. Yes, the language at risk in Canada is French. That is why we need to do our part to remedy this situation.
I would hope that the Bloc Québécois would like to see the federal government take responsibility, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We are putting forward an ambitious bill to ensure that the commissioner has more tools to do his job. With this legislation, we will also ensure that francophones inside and outside Quebec can work and be served in French.
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- Dec/13/22 3:01:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, we are the first government to recognize the decline of French, and that is why we are moving forward with Bill C‑13. It is an ambitious bill that will make changes in federally regulated private businesses throughout Quebec and in regions with a strong francophone presence outside Quebec.
I think that when we look at the Commissioner of Official Languages' recommendations, it is important to give him more tools to do his job. He must do his job, and that is why we have really improved his work tools. We look forward to seeing the bill passed.
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Mr. Speaker, what is hypocritical in the House is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are actually blocking our bill.
We have heard from stakeholders across the country, who are telling us that now is the time to take the next step. Stakeholders are telling us that they want to see Bill C‑13 passed so we can start working on the regulations.
Nevertheless, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives continue to play political games. This is completely unacceptable.
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Mr. Speaker, what we need right now are partners in the opposition to help us move forward with our bill, which will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.
However, what are we seeing right now? Once again, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are playing political games. I do not understand why they do not want to move forward with Bill C-13, which will give francophones in Quebec the opportunity to work in French at federally regulated private businesses. That will also be the case in regions outside of Quebec with a strong francophone presence.
I am at a complete loss for words, and I do not understand them.
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- Nov/22/22 2:58:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is the first government to recognize that French is in decline across the country, including in Quebec.
That is why we are implementing an ambitious bill with teeth to ensure that we can do our part to reverse the decline of French and support our official language minority communities. The Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party have been playing political games in committee for the past few weeks.
Mr. Joël Godin: That is not true.
Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor: Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why they do not want to move forward with a bill that will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Halifax West for her excellent question.
Our government understands that we have an obligation to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are increasing support for French-language education across the country and why we introduced Bill C-13. We are working to ensure that francophones in Quebec and other regions with a strong francophone presence can live, work and be served in French.
As a proud Acadian, I am very happy with the work our government is doing in that regard.
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- Jun/20/22 2:59:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. We are the first government to recognize that French is declining in Canada, including here.
I once again call on the opposition members, especially the Bloc Québécois, to work closely with us to get this bill passed as quickly as possible. If we are going to do everything we can to protect and promote the French language, we must work together to ensure that this ambitious bill is passed sooner rather than later.
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- Jun/20/22 2:57:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I have said many times, we have the same goal.
We want to do everything we can to protect and promote the beautiful French language all across Canada, including here. We recognize that French is in decline in North America, including in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. We want to do our part to protect our beautiful language, French, across the country.
I hope the opposition members will work with us to ensure that we can move forward with Bill C‑13 as quickly as possible.
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- Jun/20/22 2:57:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.
Again, let us be very clear: we have the same goals, but our visions for achieving those goals may differ slightly.
We recognize that French is in decline in North America, including in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill to do our part to protect our beautiful language, French. I hope that the opposition members will work with us—
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Madam Speaker, very briefly, it is clear that the member opposite has not read Bill C‑13, because the opposite is true.
I really believe that the Bloc Québécois is misleading Canadians. We have moved forward with a new bill to ensure that all federally regulated private businesses are subject to this new law, that workers can work in French and that clients can be served in French, and also that they live in French in their community.
Once again, I would like to make sure that the members of the opposition will work with the government to pass this bill as quickly as possible.
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- Jun/17/22 11:28:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question.
We recognize that French is in decline in North America and that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we went ahead with a much more robust version of the bill, to ensure that we can address this situation.
I want to once again extend an invitation to the opposition members, especially the Bloc Québécois, to work with us because we do share a common objective, which is to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect the beautiful French language.
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Mr. Speaker, either my hon. colleague is trying to mislead Canadians, or he has not read Bill C-13.
If we look at the new version of Bill C-13, what we have is special legislation for federally regulated private businesses to ensure that employees can work in French, and people can be served in French and live in French.
I really hope that my colleagues from all opposition parties will work with us, because this bill is very important. It is currently before a parliamentary committee, and I hope that the opposition members will stop playing politics.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
We recognize that French is in decline in North America and, yes, we recognize that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we went ahead with a new, more robust version of the bill. We will ensure that the federal government does its fair share of the work and that we are doing everything we can to address this situation.
I hope my Bloc Québécois colleague will work with us so we can get this bill passed as quickly as possible.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, French is in decline in North America, including in Canada.
Yes, French is the only minority language in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. Like the Government of Quebec, we want to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful language.
Again, I hope that the Bloc Québécois and all members of the opposition will work with us and stop playing political games. This bill will make a real difference. This new version of the bill has more teeth. I hope they will work with us to get it passed as soon as possible.
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