I, too, have greatly appreciated Ms. Ashton's work and her collaboration over the years that we have served together on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
The FCFA is the organization that, according to the federal government, represents francophones outside Quebec. However, it's also important to note that 90% of francophones are in Quebec. All of the witnesses from Quebec and the groups defending the French language in Quebec that have appeared before us have always been excluded by the Official Languages Act, which has created a rift between francophones in Quebec and francophones outside Quebec. They are completely opposed to Bill C‑13.
Yesterday I attended the launch of a book entitled Le Piège des langues officielles, or “The Official Language Trap”, by Éric Poirier. I encourage everyone to read it; it's very interesting. He's a very important author from Quebec. He wrote that significant changes are needed to ensure that francophones in Quebec maintain their demographic weight, given that, until now, the Official Languages Act has served only to promote English as an official language in Quebec.
We were hopeful following the Speech from the Throne. Today, Antoine Robitaille published a very important article. He reviewed the whole process that's been followed since the throne speech. The more time passes, the more vague things become and the less the federal government appears to defend French in Quebec.
I think this is very important, and I hope Ms. Ashton will continue to support francophones and the French language in Quebec.
Until now, the NDP has been in favour of applying Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. At the Standing Committee on Science and Research, the NDP once again formed an alliance with the Liberals to rule out a study that had just begun on scientific publication in French. They simply stopped the study. That is troubling. I hope the NDP will maintain the positions that it has held until now on the French language.