Government Orders
Madam Chair, my colleague should celebrate that it is in the Speech from the Throne. It will be part of my mandate. We will be working to ensure that we assert our sovereignty. We also recently bought six ice breakers—
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Madam Chair, it is not because my colleague continues to read his lines that he necessarily is following what I am saying. I said we would be developing an Arctic strategy. I said we would be asserting Arctic sovereignty. As for NORAD, yes, we will proceed with NORAD modernization, and we have increased the budget.
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Madam Chair, my colleague raises a very important point. In my view and the government's view, we need to be able to talk to everybody, including Russia and including—
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Madam Chair, I have talked to Lavrov, who is my Russian counterpart, on this very issue. I think my colleague should stop reading his notes, because diplomacy is about talking to people and making sure that we reach out to others to really try to assert our different interests, including Arctic sovereignty.
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Madam Chair, as mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, obviously the Arctic is a priority. We will deepen our engagement. We will make sure that we have an Arctic strategy.
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Madam Chair, we know that the Canadian military is often in the Arctic. We also know that we have Canadians who are also living in the Arctic and—
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Madam Chair, when my colleague looks at the throne speech he will see there is a clear mention of the importance of the Arctic as one of the key regions we want to make sure we invest in for different reasons, not only because there is the growing influence of China, but also because we know we have to work with the Scandinavian countries, as well as like-minded countries to ensure that we protect…
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Madam Chair, I will ensure, along with my colleague, the Minister of International Trade, that we raise this issue through chapter 10 of CUSMA, which is the chapter that—
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Madam Chair, the plight of children is always close to my heart, but I am particularly concerned about the children who are in this Syrian detention camp. It goes without saying that this is a priority, but I remind my colleague that their parents decided to leave Canada to join a terrorist organization.
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Madam Chair, I share my colleague's concerns about the Winter Olympics. We were informed yesterday of the United States' intention not to send diplomatic personnel to Beijing for the Winter Olympics. Naturally, I share my colleagues' concerns about allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang. I have been discussing these issues with several colleagues around the world.
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Madam Chair, since this is a consular case, I cannot speak about it in detail in the House. I know that Ms. Morin has authorized my colleague to speak to me directly, and I would be happy to discuss her case with him in private. I do want to say that I brought this matter up with Bob Rae, our ambassador to the United Nations. It is obviously important for us to be able to speak to our Saudi Arabia…
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Madam Chair, it goes without saying that I am deeply concerned about Nathalie Morin. That is why I had the opportunity to speak directly with her mother and with my colleague on this matter. This is obviously a priority for the government. It goes without saying that Ms. Morin must be allowed to return to Canada. She is a Canadian citizen who is currently in Saudi Arabia. Her children are there as…
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Mr. Speaker, I was having technical problems, not with the vote we just had, but with the previous vote on the motion moved by the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. I would like to change my vote and vote in favour of the motion.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague can keep asking me questions, which I will always be pleased to answer because doing so gives me an opportunity to talk about the government's position. Basically, we want to protect the French language. We are recognizing new rights: the right to work in French and to be served in French in federally regulated businesses. My colleague should be happy about that. For year…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is fearmongering once again. Basically, if my colleague read the bill we introduced very carefully, she would know that we are willing to recognize the application of the Charter of the French Language to federally regulated businesses that have already signed up and to those who wish to do so and be subject to it. Now, we want to fill the legal void. We do not want…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague must be wondering what place the Bloc Québécois has in the House of Commons. The Bloc Québécois has been calling for greater protection for French for decades. Our government keeps its promises and protects the French language. Obviously, the Bloc Québécois's objective is to always bicker with the federal government and find points of contention to advance its sovereignis…
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Mr. Speaker, I think that my colleague should read Bill C‑32. She would get a good answer to her question. Essentially, 55% of businesses that have already complied with Bill 101 in Quebec will have the right to continue under the same system, and those that have not can decide to do so at that time. Naturally, we want to protect the right to work in French, the right to be served in French and th…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his excellent question and his leadership at the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Our Bill C‑32, essentially a modernisation of the Official Languages Act, will protect and promote French in all areas of Canadian life, in our cultural institutions, in our public service and in international relations. Bill C‑32 guarantees that francophones hav…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his excellent question. He knows full well that we are a minority government and that every bill needs the support of the opposition parties. Given that the Conservative Party has been calling for the modernization of the Official Languages Act for years, and given that the government has now introduced a bill to modernize the Official Languages Act, m…
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Mr. Speaker, either my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois want to protect and promote French with the government or they want to push their plan for Quebec's independence and pick a fight with Ottawa. It is up to them, but Quebeckers and Canadians see right through their games.
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that we will continue, along with every Quebecker, every francophone in the country and every Canadian, to protect and promote the French language in Canada. Why? Because French is a minority language that needs more than just a helping hand; it needs our attention. With our new historic official languages bill, we will further protect the beautiful French langu…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure my colleague. Once he has read the bill, he will realize that the provisions for protecting the right of consumers to be served in French, the right to work in French and the right to not be discriminated against because one is francophone will achieve the same results in federal businesses as the linguistic regime in place in Quebec. Now, as the Minister of E…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my colleague that he is in the House of Commons, which is the legislative assembly of the federal parliament. As such, it is important for us to take care of Quebec and Quebeckers, francophones and anglophones and the French language, the official language of Quebec. However, it is also important to protect francophones outside Quebec and to give anglophones the oppor…
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Mr. Speaker, that is not for me to say. The Conseil du patronat du Québec, the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and all the unions that represent workers in Quebec are in favour of the bill. We can see that there is a very large consensus in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada to protect these rights. Therefore, I think the federal governme…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, and I can see that our objectives are aligned. We both want to protect the French language in Quebec. Now, we want to protect it across the country too, and we will. We also want to protect linguistic minorities, including francophones outside Quebec and anglophones in Quebec. My colleague should be happy. For the first time ever, the federal …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, but I wonder if she actually read the bill. The bill is clear: It covers the right to work in French, the right to be served in French and, of course, the right not to be discriminated against for being francophone in federally regulated businesses in Quebec and regions with a strong francophone presence. This is the first time the federal gov…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague made reference to a squabble with Quebec. That may be some wishful thinking on her part, but it is certainly not the case. The reality is that, once again this morning, I had a conversation with my colleague, Simon Jolin-Barrette, and yesterday with Sonia LeBel, and we will certainly come to an agreement. Why is that? It is because 55% of businesses in Quebec have already…
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Mr. Speaker, that is what the Bloc Québécois is all about, looking for a fight when our goal is still and always to protect French and to ensure that linguistic minorities across the country are protected. Indeed, our remarks involve the entire country. Why? Because that is important. That is how we strengthen our federalism and how we are able to ensure that it makes sense across the country, inc…
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that the government did not merely issue a statement of intent; it introduced a bill. We want to pass this bill, and we are asking all opposition parties, including the Bloc Québécois, if they intend to support it or not. Do they want better protection for French in Quebec and across the country? Do they want francophones to have access to linguistic security…
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Mr. Speaker, let us stop trying to scare people, as my colleague is doing. It is not complicated. Bill C-32, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, which we introduced yesterday, requires federally regulated businesses to recognize the right to work in French, the right to be served in French, and the right of francophones not be discriminated against. Basically, these are the same provisions…
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Mr. Speaker, I remember the debates I had with my colleague, where he kept asking me to strengthen the Official Languages Act, to recognize the specificity of French in Quebec, to recognize that federally regulated businesses have an obligation to work in French and to provide rights, as well as to serve consumers in French. He should be happy, because this has now been done. The bill has been int…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑32, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, I had the chance to talk with my counterpart in British Columbia last week. We got along very well and were both in favour of supporting even more francophones across the province, who are fighting for access to better public education systems across the beautiful province of British Columbia. That being said, we did increase support to British Columbia for French teachers' recruitmen…
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that I will be pleased to work with him and the organizations in northern Ontario. These organizations ensure that the francophone community is strong and vital and can continue to develop. During the pandemic, we provided different support measures including the wage subsidy. We provided help to the cultural sector. We also want to be there during the recove…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I mentioned, it goes without saying that we want to further protect and promote French in Quebec and across the country because we want to achieve real equality for our two official languages. The federal government has its official languages policy. There is the Official Languages Act. There will also be a new official languages act if the op…
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be able to rise virtually in the House today. First of all, I would like to inform you that I will be splitting my time with the member for Orléans. I would like to begin by acknowledging that the lands on which we are gathered today are part of the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation. I am pleased to join my colleagues to discuss the motion of the membe…
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What Quebeckers want is for their concerns about the state of French to be addressed and that this be done in federally regulated businesses and in the federal government and with respect for linguistic minorities. That is what francophones in Quebec and across the country are asking of us and it is what all Canadians are asking of us. We are introducing an ambitious, robust and important bill, a …
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Mr. Speaker, this is the first time that we are going to recognize in the Official Languages Act the right to work in French, the right to be served in French and the right not to be discriminated against for being a francophone in federally regulated businesses in Quebec and regions with a strong francophone presence. I had the opportunity today to speak with my counterpart, Sonia LeBel, to ensur…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question and his hard work as a proud Franco-Ontarian. Today is a big day for official languages in Canada. Through a new bill on official languages, the federal government is fulfilling its responsibility to do more to protect and promote French in Canada while continuing to defend the rights of official language minority communities, of course. The …
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Mr. Speaker, we took office six years ago. For six years, I have been responsible for official languages in the government. As such, I take an interest in the rights of francophones across the country and of all the linguistic minorities of Canada. Today is a historic day. My colleague should be happy. We introduced an important bill that seeks to better protect the French language and all linguis…
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that we recognize the importance of French in Quebec and across the country. Why? Because the French fact is eroding and in decline. We are going to take action. We are going to act on our responsibilities. As my colleague knows very well, in February we proposed a reform whereby, in some federally regulated businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong fran…
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that, as the protector of both official languages, the federal government will always take action in its jurisdictions, because it is important to respect not just the Constitution, but also the country's unity. That said, French requires more protection because it is being eroded and is in decline. Therefore, we are committed to doing more and we will do more. …
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Mr. Speaker, obviously I do not agree with my colleague, because we have been there since the beginning of the pandemic to help our different regions, and in particular northern Ontario, to make sure that businesses have access to different measures to survive the pandemic, particularly our tourism operators. They have had access to the wage subsidy, the CEBA account, and support through FedNor. W…
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that we need to do more to protect the French language and institutional bilingualism within our government. That is why, in our reform document, we said that the Commissioner of Official Languages should have more power. We also need to make sure that a central agency within our public service ensures compliance with the Official Languages Act. Ultimately, we m…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that the use of French is in decline in Quebec and Canada. Naturally, we must do more to protect our beautiful French language. Under the circumstances, we also want to recognize that Quebeckers and francophones living in regions with a strong francophone presence across the country have the right to work in French, to be served in French and to be protected …
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned and as my colleague reiterated, it goes without saying that the Government of Canada wants to protect French because the use of French is declining across the country. We will protect it and we are the first government in our history to do so. That is why we will be introducing a bill on the Official Languages Act to ensure that we can do so.
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that what is happening at Laurentian University is completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable that a francophone university, or any university in Canada, has to resort to using the creditors arrangement act to deal with its problem of being underfunded by the province. What are we doing? We are working on solutions. We are putting $5 million on the table to ens…
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Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that we want the right to work and be served in French without discrimination for being francophone to be protected in federally regulated businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong francophone presence across the country. That is our commitment, and that is what we will do. I look forward to working with my colleague on this issue.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure my colleague. It goes without saying that, for us, protecting the French fact in Quebec and across Canada is extremely important. In 2006, under a former Conservative government, the House also recognized that Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada. Of course, we respect the will of the Quebec government in this matter. At the same time, we will act i…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to see my colleague in the Bloc Québécois recognize that the Canadian Constitution exists. I would like to thank her for saying so in the House. Of course, we will work together to protect the French fact in Quebec, because French is Quebec’s common and official language, as well as the fact that Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada. That is a fact. …
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