Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. I don’t accept the premise of the last part of your question.

I absolutely share your disappointment, because for so long, there’s always been a gap between what we want as a country and the reality on the ground. You cited several examples. With Bill C-13, colleague, the government has introduced changes and improvements, a modernization, even, of our official languages regime. These changes mean that the government has a greater obligation to ensure that the substantive equality of the two languages is respected.

We hope that once this bill receives Royal Assent, there will be improvements on the ground in terms of respect for both official languages in all areas of federal jurisdiction.