Minister, yesterday on Sans réserve, a program broadcast on 98.5 FM radio, commentator Meeker Guerrier, who attended the Qatar World Cup Soccer event, reported that the Canadian team players were introduced in English only, whereas those of the Belgian and other teams were introduced in both of their official languages, French and Flemish.
In addition, the word "welcome" was inscribed, in each team's language, on plaques that were mounted on the pedestals bearing each team's flag. For Switzerland, for example, the inscription was in French, German and Italian, even though only 1% of the Swiss population speaks that last language. In Canada, French is spoken by a much larger percentage of the population, and yet the Canadian plaque read only Welcome.
These things are unacceptable, and we've been seeing this in Canada for 50 years as a result of the present act. Minister, you are responsible for Canadian Heritage. If the new version of the bill that's on the table is passed, will we still see this kind of thing happening?