Parliamentary Speeches
182 speeches by Ginette Petitpas Taylor — Page 4 of 4
Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my Bloc Québécois colleague for his speech this evening. We do agree on one thing: French is in decline in Canada, including in Québec. The federal government and all the provinces and territories have to help tackle this demographic decline. Bill C‑13 is how we are going to solve this problem. We are making sure we have the tools to support official language minority commun…
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Madam Speaker, I would also like to take a moment to thank my colleague from Yukon for his outstanding work. As a member of the official languages caucus, I always enjoy his speeches. I sincerely thank him. As an Acadian who lives in an official language minority community in New Brunswick, if I was able to attend elementary and secondary school in French and go to the Université de Moncton, it is…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague for the excellent work he does as chair of the official languages caucus and for his leadership throughout his career. During his speech earlier, my friend mentioned the court challenges program, which has been very important to the Acadian community in Atlantic Canada. I was wondering if my colleague could explain the importance of the court …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Halifax West for her speech and her support for Bill C-13. I would also like to congratulate her for her work as a member of the official languages caucus and for what she achieved while she was the minister responsible for immigration and other portfolios in Nova Scotia. She is very familiar with the bill and understands full well the importa…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech this evening and for his comments. I was wondering if my hon. colleague could comment on the importance of including the court challenges program in the new Bill C‑13, since that program was abolished by the previous government. We recognized the importance of ensuring access to this program, especially for official language minority commu…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, whom I very much like, for his speech this evening. Over the past few months, I had the privilege of meeting many stakeholders who told me what they wanted to see in the new version of Bill C-13. One suggestion I heard many times was to create a central agency. I believe my colleague mentioned exactly that tonight. I do have to say, however, that I am a bit los…
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Madam Speaker, through the course of the past six months, I have had the privilege and the opportunity to meet with many stakeholders who work in the field of official languages. They provided us with some feedback, so we made some improvements with Bill C-13. Would the member be able to speak about the difference that Bill C-13 would make, in the communities that he represents, for the official m…
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Madam Speaker, over the past few months, I have had the privilege of meeting with a number of stakeholders who have shared the improvements they want to see in this bill compared to the old Bill C‑32. I believe we have incorporated those improvements in Bill C‑13. I really appreciated the comments by the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, and I would like to know what recommendations she would make …
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to be here tonight. I would like to recognize that we are all gathered here tonight on the traditional unceded territories of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation. Before I officially begin my speech, I want to once again mention that I am an Acadian from New Brunswick. What I did not mention earlier is that I am the youngest of a family of 10 children. I was able to at…
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to answer the member's question. First, my speech at second reading has already been delivered. This evening I was here to listen to all the comments from all my colleagues because this bill is very important to the entire population. I am not afraid to stay here until midnight since I wanted to hear everyone's points of view. Again, to me, protecting and promoting…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Today, I was very pleased to welcome him to the reception with the secretary general of the Observatoire de l'éthique publique. I am very pleased that the member participated in that event with me today. I thank him for that. Once again, I think that we recognize that French is in decline in Quebec and across Canada. When we look at the numbers…
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Madam Speaker, congratulations to my hon. colleague for her unanimous consent motion this week in the House. That was well done. With respect to the issue of increasing our level of people who want to speak and learn French, what is very clear is that over the past number of years we have seen a real increase in Canadians who want to learn a second language. If we look at the investments that have…
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Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank my colleague from New Brunswick for her hard work and her support for our bill. We have been very clear in Bill C-13 and in many other instances. Through this legislation, we want to do everything we can to ensure that indigenous languages are promoted and protected. We recognize that in addition to our two official languages, Canada also has 70 indigenous…
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Madam Speaker, I am a bit confused. This evening I have been hearing many Conservative members talking about how we have not done much when it comes to official languages since 2015. Let me do a bit of recap. I am very proud of the work that has been done since we formed government. We have put in place an action plan, which we have backed up with investments of $2.7 billion, when it comes to offi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. Our two official languages are at the heart of our Canadian culture and identity. All Canadians deserve to be served in the official language of their choice, and that also applies to the private sector, which includes CN. The lack of francophone directors on CN's board of directors is completely unacceptable, and we expect the comp…
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Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for his question. The protection and promotion of French are top priorities for this government and for me, as Minister of Official Languages. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that has more teeth to ensure that all Canadians get the services they need. I hope that my colleague will support our modernization by passing Bill C‑13 as so…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. Protecting and promoting French is a top priority for this government. It is important that our leaders set an example, which is why Ms. Murphy is taking French classes. She recognizes the importance of being able to communicate and converse with New Brunswickers. Once again, with our bill to modernize the Official Languages Act, we will …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. Both official languages are central to our identity and our culture. All Canadians deserve to be served in the official language of their choice by federally regulated businesses. The lack of a francophone director at CN is completely unacceptable. We expect that this company will rectify the situation as soon as possible. That is w…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. One thing we observed during our discussions and consultations was that French is in decline not only in Canada, but also in Quebec. That is why the government is moving forward with an ambitious bill that will help us protect and promote French in Quebec and across Canada. Bill C‑13 specifically states that Quebeckers have the right to work in thei…
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moved that 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, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent of the House to share my time with the President of the Treasury Board.
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege for me to rise today to begin the second reading debate on Bill C‑13, an act for the substantive equality of Canada's official languages. I would first like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe. Our two official languages and 70 indigenous languages are central to our identity. They are a core part of our live…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his question and for his work on the Standing Committee on Official Languages. I want to be perfectly clear. Bill C-13 does have real teeth. Last year, the former minister of official languages introduced Bill C-32. In my conversations with stakeholders and colleagues, I heard suggestions on how certain aspects of the bill could be improved, and…
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Madam Speaker, the idea of having a central agency is absolutely key to ensuring compliance with the Official Languages Act. In Bill C‑13, we have established the Treasury Board as the central agency with monitoring, auditing and evaluating powers. We want to ensure that it will have more tools and resources to do its job.
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Madam Speaker, once again, as Minister of Official Languages, I was very pleased to have the opportunity on March 1 to reintroduce our bill to modernize the Official Languages Act. We drew up a bill with more teeth. As for the matter of money for post-secondary institutions in the 2021 budget, we promised $121 million over three years. The announcements will be made soon.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to thank my friend and colleague from Halifax West for her excellent question. As Atlantic Canada's main streets reopen, our government will be there to help them and to help locals and tourists discover the incredible things that they have to offer. Last week I was honoured to announce the “rediscover main streets” program, which is investing $10 million…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. Promoting and protecting the French language is a top priority for our government. Today, I had the great pleasure and honour of tabling our bill to modernize and strengthen official languages. This means that we recognize the decline of French in Canada and even in Quebec, and that is—
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moved for leave to introduce 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. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Vancouver Granville for his excellent question. Our government recognizes that providing students with the opportunity to learn French today means having more bilingual adults in the future. Budget 2021 includes investments to eliminate wait lists and to find ways to work with our provincial and territorial partners to continue to improve a…
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Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the information can be found using the following link: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/official-languages-bilingualism/publications.html. In response to (b), the requested information is not tracked in Canadian Heritage’s financial systems.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question. I was very pleased this week to have a conversation with my colleague about modernizing official languages legislation. As I told him, protecting and promoting the French language is a top priority for this government and for me as minister. I look forward to reintroducing the bill shortly.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to thank my colleague for his question. We have always said that both official languages are central to our identity, our culture and the future of our country. We will do all we can to reintroduce this bill as soon as possible. Once again, as a proud Acadian, I am aware of the importance of protecting and promoting our official languages, and I look forward to rein…
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Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for entrusting me with the official languages file, which is so important to me. Moreover, I just learned that I am the first Acadian minister to hold this office. As a francophone who lives in an official language minority community, I am very aware of these concerns and I recognize that the French language is in decline in Canada, incl…
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