Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Minister, you told a House of Commons committee on March 22 that your official languages bill gives the commissioner additional tools to impose decisions not only on Air Canada, but on all airlines. The very next day, you qualified your statement by saying that the French requirement will be regional and covered by regulations, not by the law itself. I look forward to reading those regulations, but I have the impression that you are talking out of both sides of your mouth when it comes to respect for French in this country.

Here is what I want to know. Why is respect for francophones, one of the two founding peoples recognized by the Constitution, not equal throughout Canada?

Aside from Quebec, where in Canada will your government enforce the use of French in the air transportation sector?

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Good afternoon, minister.

I find it hard to believe your government’s promises to ensure respect for the French language. Publicly, your Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport are up in arms about the fact that there are no francophones on CN’s board of directors, yet this is the same Prime Minister who appointed a Governor General who does not speak a word of French. This is also the same Prime Minister who appointed a unilingual anglophone Lieutenant-Governor in your own province, New Brunswick. He was just told by the Court of Queen’s Bench that his choice was unconstitutional, but he has not yet fixed it.

How can you possibly defend such political inconsistency regarding the constitutional rights of francophones in this country and your province?