Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for inviting me to be here with you today to give my view on amendment CPC‑1, which Mr. Godin has just moved.
I will speak slowly.
I will begin by saying that Bill C‑13 deals with a federal act that concerns the official languages of Canada, obviously. In my opinion, it is not appropriate to refer to Quebec's Charter of the French language in Bill C‑13, which falls under federal jurisdiction and deals with official languages in Canada.
By making this reference, we are de facto incorporating the Charter of the French language of Quebec in a federal statute.
Let me remind you that Quebec's Charter of the French language is not just simply Bill 101, which we have lived with for a very long time. It is now an amended charter by virtue of Bill 96. Yes, Bill 96 seeks to protect French in Quebec, which is a good thing, but it also discriminates against the anglophone minority.
What's more, Bill 96 also invokes the notwithstanding clause as a preventative measure, which creates many problems. It's as if we are saying that we will not entertain any argument or claim that calls into question, for whatever reason, the Charter of the French language or Bill 96.
I hope that we all recognize, as federal MPs sitting on a federal committee and considering a federal act, that it would be a huge error to give Quebec free rein to do what it wants in linguistic matters in Quebec.
As federal MPs, we have a duty towards linguistic minorities in Canada, including Quebec's anglophones.