Parliamentary Speeches

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, what we need right now are partners in the opposition to help us move forward with our bill, which will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians. However, what are we seeing right now? Once again, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are playing political games. I do not understand why they do not want to move forward with Bill C-13, which will give francophones in Quebec …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, our government is the first government to recognize that French is in decline across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are implementing an ambitious bill with teeth to ensure that we can do our part to reverse the decline of French and support our official language minority communities. The Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party have been playing political games in c…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, what we are proud of is that we do have a plan to fight the climate. With respect to the comments that have been made on the other side, it is absolutely unbelievable that those members are still denying that climate change is real. We can look at Atlantic Canada, and my colleague will ask this question. In his province of Nova Scotia, we have seen the devas…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why they do not want to move forward with a bill that will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, as the minister responsible for ACOA, I have had the challenge of going to Atlantic Canada and meeting with some people who have really seen the destruction in their homes and in their businesses. I have to say it has been really difficult to hear these personal stories. Once again I am really confused with respect to the Conservatives. It is truly important to make sure that we have …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, what is clear on this side of the House is that my colleagues opposite are suffering from the ostrich syndrome, with their heads in the sand. We really have to recognize that climate change is real and we really have to take action. Once again, as the minister responsible for the ACOA, I have seen first-hand the devastation on the ground. What we do need right now in the province of N…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I have to say I am really quite stunned by the comments from the other side of the floor. With respect to what happened this year in Atlantic Canada with hurricane Fiona, I had the task of going to visit many provinces. I was in Prince Edward Island. The roof was actually blown off one of the schools completely. When I speak to Atlantic Canadians, they want the government to make sure…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Halifax West for her excellent question. Our government understands that we have an obligation to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are increasing support for French-language education across the country and why we introduced Bill C-13. We are working to ensure that francophones in Quebec and…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. Protecting and promoting French are top priorities for our government. That is why we are moving forward with Bill C-13. What is disappointing is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party are playing political games. We are debating a very important bill here. As my colleague said, stakeholders across the country want to see the …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear: We are the first government to recognize the decline in French in this country. That is why we are implementing an ambitious bill. We want to ensure that our government does everything in its power to protect our official language minority communities, and we want to ensure that we reverse the decline of the French language. Again, we have heard from many stakeholders…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, what is suspicious today is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are playing political games to prevent the bill from being passed as soon as possible. We introduced a bill to counter the decline of French in Canada and to meet the needs of official language minority communities. I do not understand why the Bloc and the Conservatives do not want to see us pass a bill that wil…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have been listening closely to the stakeholders, and they have told us that it is time to take the next step. Stakeholders want to see Bill C-13 passed because they recognize that it will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians. We introduced an ambitious bill to ensure that we can do everything in our power to support our official …

Madam Speaker, I am truly honoured to address the House of Commons today, on this historic occasion, in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. For the past seven decades, she has been a constant in our world and in our lives. Through good times and challenging times, a dozen prime ministers here in Canada and even more in the United Kingdom, and all of the rapid social and technological changes…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. We are the first government to recognize that French is declining in Canada, including here. I once again call on the opposition members, especially the Bloc Québécois, to work closely with us to get this bill passed as quickly as possible. If we are going to do everything we can to protect and promote the French language, we must work together to ensure that this amb…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. Again, let us be very clear: we have the same goals, but our visions for achieving those goals may differ slightly. We recognize that French is in decline in North America, including in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill to do our part to protect our beautiful language, French. I hope that the opposition members will…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I have said many times, we have the same goal. We want to do everything we can to protect and promote the beautiful French language all across Canada, including here. We recognize that French is in decline in North America, including in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. We want to do our part to protect our beau…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question. We recognize that French is in decline in North America and that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we went ahead with a much more robust version of the bill, to ensure that we can address this situation. I want to once again extend an invitation to the opposition members, especially the Bloc Québécois, to work with us because …

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, very briefly, it is clear that the member opposite has not read Bill C‑13, because the opposite is true. I really believe that the Bloc Québécois is misleading Canadians. We have moved forward with a new bill to ensure that all federally regulated private businesses are subject to this new law, that workers can work in French and that clients can be served in French, and also that t…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. We recognize that French is in decline in North America and, yes, we recognize that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we went ahead with a new, more robust version of the bill. We will ensure that the federal government does its fair share of the work and that we are doing everything we can to address this situation. I hope my Bloc Québ…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, either my hon. colleague is trying to mislead Canadians or he has not read Bill C-13. If we look at the new version of Bill C-13, what we have is special legislation for federally regulated private businesses to ensure that employees can work in French, and people can be served in French and live in French. I really hope that my colleagues from all opposition parties will work with us…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the serious mistake here is that the Bloc Québécois does not want to work with us on Bill C‑13. We designed this bill to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful language. Once again, we have a shared objective with the Bloc and the Government of Quebec. We want to do whatever we can to protect our beautiful language. I do not understand why the Bloc and the oppositio…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, French is in decline in North America, including in Canada. Yes, French is the only minority language in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. Like the Government of Quebec, we want to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful language. Again, I hope that the Bloc Québécois and all members of the opposition will work wit…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. We are the first government to recognize that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that will actually resolve this situation. Once again, I would really like it if the Bloc Québécois and all the opposition members would work with us and stop playing games. This is a very important bill for all Canadians. I hope …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. We agree that French is in decline in North America and, indeed, in Canada. We also agree that the French language is the only minority language in the country. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill to do everything we can to protect and promote our two beautiful languages. I hope that the Bloc Québécois and the opposition memb…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Etobicoke Centre for his important question and for all of the work he does on official languages. I was in Toronto last week for consultations on the action plan for official languages. Members of official language minority communities told us that reforms are urgently needed and spoke about how Bill C‑13 is the cornerstone of an action plan that …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Théberge, the Commissioner of Official Languages, for his work and his report. The House of Commons is still studying the bill to modernize the Official Languages Act. This is a very important bill because we want to do everything we can to protect and promote the beautiful French language…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear that protecting and promoting the French language is a priority. I am not here to pick a fight with the Bloc either. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want to work closely with the Bloc and ensure that Bill C‑13 gets adopted, because it will make a difference in the lives of Canadians. What we saw this week in committee was members wasting time. I hope that the Bl…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have been very clear that our government is the first federal party to recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including in Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill to address this situation. What is really disappointing is that yesterday, at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we saw time being wasted in the first hour of the co…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I have said many times, our government is the first to recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including in Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill, one with teeth, to ensure that we can do our part. The federal government wants to take responsibility and make sure that we are doing everything we can to address …

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I wanted my vote to be recorded as in favour of the motion.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. As I said, Bill C-13 is now before the House of Commons and committee. Committees have important work to do. Before the bill receives royal assent, we need to do all the work to ensure that it receives royal assent. Afterwards, we can implement the bill, absolutely.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I also want to thank the Parliamentary Budget Officer for his work. Our modernization of the Official Languages Act is still being debated in Parliament, and it is customary to wait until a bill is officially passed before drafting any accompanying regulations. That is particularly important in a minority Parliament. We look forward to passing th…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the answer is simple. We have absolutely nothing to hide on this side of the House. We want to do everything we can to protect and promote the beautiful French language. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that has more bite. I hope that my hon. colleague and all the parties in the House will work with us to get this bill passed as quickly as possible.

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker—

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Fredericton for her important question. I would also like to thank her for highlighting the importance of ensuring that our young people in official language minority communities have a career path that will allow them to continue to work in their language. Last week, I had the privilege of announcing a $6.6-million investment in projects a…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, just the opposite is true. Our government is firmly committed to protecting and promoting French across the country, including in Quebec. We recognize that there has been a decline in the use of French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with this new version of our bill. The former Bill C-32 was introduced last June. Since being appointed Mini…

Government Orders

moved: That, in relation to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, first and foremost, it is just the opposite. Over the past number of weeks, we have seen many tactics being used by this opposition party. The reason we are moving forward with this today is that we really want to make sure we can move forward with this important piece of legislation. Bill C-13 would make a real difference in the lives of Canadians, and I am now looking forward to s…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I want my colleague to know that he is absolutely right. Official language minority communities have been waiting a long time for the modernization of the Official Languages Act that Bill C‑13 offers them. Our new version of the former bill has more teeth. As I have said it many times, Bill C‑13 will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, incl…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, all members of the House share the objective of protecting our two official languages and ensuring that we do everything possible to protect the French language, given that we recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including in Quebec. That is why we have worked tirelessly with our partners and stakeholders from across the country, who wanted to improve former Bill C‑32. Tha…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, let us get one thing straight right off the bat. This is day four of debate on Bill C‑13. There have been 63 speeches in the House about this bill: 19 by the Conservative Party, 18 by the Liberal Party, 13 by the NDP and 12 by the Bloc Québécois. Let us not forget that, even though a big part of the work is done in the House, a lot is done in committee as well. Committee work is ver…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, once again, our government is the first to recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. We also must recognize that the Bloc Québécois does not represent all of Canada's francophones. As Minister of Official Languages, I want to ensure that I am putting in place a bill that will respect official language m…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I said, this is the fourth day of debate. At midnight on May 12, I was still in the House, and I was quite disappointed to see the Conservative Party move an amendment and an amendment to the amendment that could have killed this bill. Believe it or not, people watch CPAC at midnight, and several people called me to say they were worried abo…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche for his hard work on this file. I know he has spent a good part of his life working to advance the cause of official languages. He is doing an excellent job as chair of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Since I was appointed minister, I have had the privilege of meeting stakeholders from coast to coast to…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, what truly concerns me is that the Conservative Party is trying to derail this bill. Last Thursday, the opposition criticized me for being here until midnight talking about this. Canadians expect us to be in the House to do our work as MPs, whether that is Monday morning or Friday afternoon. That is exactly what we are doing by debating this bill. This is an ambitious bill, since we…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for the question. I have a great deal of regard for him as well. Our government is firmly committed to doing everything it can to promote and protect both our beautiful official languages in Canada. That is a priority. I have also stated many times that we agree with the principle that the lieutenant governors of New Brunswick must be bilingual. Al…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, we have to recognize that, yes, important debate happens in the House, but important debate and work also happens at the committee level. That is exactly where we are hoping this work is going to go. We want the committee members to look at this legislation with a fine-tooth comb, because we want to have the best legislation possible. We recognize the Official Languages Act has not …

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I would like to once again thank my colleague who has been working in this field for several decades. I am extremely grateful to him for that and for the work that he does here in Ottawa as the chair of the official languages caucus. Positive measures are indeed a very important part of Bill C-13. The stakeholders we spoke to really wanted to see improvements in the definition and h…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, I think we share the same goal of improving the bill and ultimately protecting and promoting our official languages. This debate will continue in committee, which is exactly what we want. We want to have a constructive debate with the members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages so we can produce the best version of the bill. The Official Languages Act has not been review…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, if we look at the components of Bill C-32, our action plan and Bill C-13, it is clear that the common thread is the desire to achieve substantive equality. That is why we are going further with our bill. We want to ensure that we make our contribution to achieving substantive equality. It will not happen overnight. We recognize that French is in decline in this country. French is in…