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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 322

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 31, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Mrs. Marilène Gill (Manicouagan, BQ)
  • May/31/24 11:26:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals have transformed the Standing Committee on Official Languages into an endless source of reasons to be concerned for the future of French. After the Liberal member for Saint-Laurent said that Bill 96 prevents anglophones from receiving care, and after the Liberal member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell insulted researchers who are worried about the decline of French, yesterday, the Liberal member for Alfred-Pellan added that Quebec should become bilingual in order to be, and I quote, strong, not just a unilingual francophone province. In his opinion, the French language is limiting us. Once again, is that the Liberals' position? If not, are they going to set their MPs straight?
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Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • May/31/24 11:26:42 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, if there is one thing that we could not be any clearer about, it is the dedication within the Liberal Party of Canada and the Government of Canada to respecting this country's two official languages. In every institution and at every moment of life in Canada, we are there to protect francophone minorities outside Quebec. We acknowledge that French is declining across the country, including in Quebec, and yes, we also acknowledge that there is a linguistic minority in Quebec.
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Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Mrs. Marilène Gill (Manicouagan, BQ)
  • May/31/24 11:27:22 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is indicative of a culture problem within the Liberal Party. The whole purpose of the Standing Committee on Official Languages is to promote French in Canada. All the Liberals need to do is choose five of their 156 members who speak French and who want to protect the French language. That is all. Those are the only two criteria, but they cannot even do that. Let us get back to the member for Alfred-Pellan, who is arguing in committee that English should become Quebec's official language. Why is he even there? Why is it so hard for the Liberals to send members who do not want to undermine French?
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Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Hon. Steven MacKinnon (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
  • May/31/24 11:27:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Alfred-Pellan is just as much a Quebecker as my colleague opposite. The Quebec Liberal caucus, with its 35 government members, is here to protect the French fact in Quebec, as well as official languages in general and francophone minorities across the country. In contrast, the Bloc Québécois exists to do just one thing, and that is to pit Quebeckers against one another, to create conflict and divide people. That is not why we are here. We are in favour of linguistic unity.
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Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)
  • May/31/24 12:01:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am shocked. The member for Alfred-Pellan, a member of the Liberal caucus from Quebec, denied the relevance of French as the only official language in Quebec. He told the Standing Committee on Official Languages that Quebec should be bilingual to be stronger and that it should not just be a unilingual francophone province. That is unacceptable. Not one member of the Liberal caucus from Quebec stood up to condemn his comments, not even the member for Papineau. When will a Liberal member finally really stand up to defend French in Quebec?
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Context: House Hansard - 322 - May/31/24
Mrs. Marie-France Lalonde (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Lib.)
  • May/31/24 12:01:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question because it gives me an opportunity to talk about how the Conservatives failed to take action for nine years on priorities related to the modernization of the Official Languages Act and the action plan. I would like to remind the House that we have made historic investments by almost doubling the investments in the action plan and that we will continue to be there for the French fact and for minority languages in Quebec and Canada.
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