Hon. Claude Carignan: Honourable senators, my question is for the Representative of the Government in the Senate. Three Liberal MPs from New Brunswick have spoken out over the past few days. Serge Cormier, René Arseneault and Jenica Atwin have publicly condemned the government’s decision to appeal the court ruling on the bilingualism of New Brunswick’s Lieutenant-Governor.

If the government won’t listen to members of the opposition, will it listen to members of its own party and review the decision to appeal the ruling?

Hon. Claude Carignan: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. I want to revisit your answer to my question yesterday about the place of francophones in the senior ranks of the public service.

In 1962, the president of CN, Donald Gordon, justified the absence of francophones among the 17 vice-presidents of the company he led by stating that they did not necessarily have the skills required to fill these positions. That statement came to epitomize the contempt some anglophones have for francophones, who supposedly are simply not sufficiently qualified.

Senator Gold, your answer yesterday was strangely reminiscent of Mr. Gordon’s in 1962. Do you maintain that your government appoints unilingual anglophones to positions that require bilingualism because there are no francophones competent enough to fill those positions? Are you the Donald Gordon of 2022?