As you know, the language causes are tricky. Those of us in the Conservative Party are especially aware of how important it is to respect provincial and territorial jurisdiction.
I'd like to hear what you think of an idea of mine. It's a way the language clauses could be amended.
Would it be possible to implement the language clauses using additional funding, in order to negotiate with the provinces and territories?
I'll give you an example. If $100 million were available for joint projects between Canada and the provinces, an additional $10 million, say, could be provided to the provinces looking for funding to implement the language clauses and build specific infrastructure. Something like that would not infringe on provincial jurisdiction, while giving official language minority communities some breathing room.
How does that idea sound to you?