We note that the Government of Canada's proposal represents a fundamental shift in the federal commitment to official languages, and the interpretive effects of this shift on Canadian's official language rights is unclear. This is new ground and, at first blush, could imperil the rights of English-speaking Quebeckers down the road.
QCGM and the English-speaking community of Quebec are bitterly disappointed that Minister Joly's proposal document did not address the serious problems facing the members of the English-speaking community of Quebec. Our unemployment rate is chronically higher than that of the majority. We have significantly lower median incomes than French Quebeckers and the lowest median income of any of Canada's official language communities. Almost one in five English-speaking Quebeckers lives below the poverty line.
The federal government can play a positive role in addressing these realities. We desperately want your committee to recommend to the federal government that they address these issues with the modernization of the Official Languages Act. To not do so would be to tell English-speaking Quebeckers, “We're going to let you on the bus, but you gotta sit in the back.”
Thank you.