That's what's proposed for the first part.
Next, we propose deleting lines 25 to 35 on page 2.
In these lines, we recognize the importance of supporting sectors that are essential to enhancing the vitality of francophone and anglophone minorities and of protecting and promoting the presence of strong institutions serving those communities.
We fully agree on supporting the sectors essential to enhancing the vitality of francophone minorities and respecting the rights of the anglophone community in Quebec. However, we don't believe they should not be put on an equal footing. The same thing comes up in the following paragraphs, so those paragraphs are deleted.
However, we're also proposing that the bill be amended by replacing lines 37 to 41. So we're back to Ms. Kayabaga's amendment, LIB‑1, which is roughly the same as Mr. Serré's amendment, LIB‑2 and Ms. Ashton's amendment, NDP‑1. These proposals are designed to recognize the importance of correcting the decline in the demographic weight of francophone minorities, in particular by ensuring the restoration and increase of their demographic weight, and the importance of francophone immigration in enhancing the vitality of francophone minorities, and by ensuring the restoration and increase of their demographic weight.
We didn't include Quebec. In our opinion, if Quebec's linguistic regime and the Quebec immigration agreements are respected, Quebec should be able to do the same. We certainly expect the federal government to contribute as well, because francophone immigration is crucial for Quebec as well.
We therefore propose that lines 34 and 35 be deleted, for the reasons I've just given. This puts francophone and anglophone minorities in each province on an equal footing, even though they have very different needs.
Then, by replacing line 5 on page 3 of the bill, where it says “Quebec's Charter of the French Language provides that French is the official language of Quebec”, we specify that it is the official “and common” language of Quebec. Our goal is to make French the common language, the language of integration for newcomers or the language used when people from other cultures want to communicate, as is the case for English everywhere else in Canada.
In the last part of BQ‑1, we propose replacing lines 16 to 29 on page 3 with the following:
AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes that English or French linguistic minority communities are present in every province and territory and that the English linguistic minority community in Quebec and the French linguistic minority communities in the other provinces and territories have different needs.
This seems obvious to me and difficult to deny. Anglophones in Quebec aren't at all in the same situation as francophones outside Quebec and francophone Acadian communities, who have difficulty getting a minimum of services in French. They are faced with that famous provision that certain services in French will be provided where the number of people justifies it. As a result, a large proportion of francophones outside Quebec don't have access to services in French because the Official Languages Act classifies them as not being in a territory where the number of francophones justifies it. This provision does not exist in Quebec. Anglophones receive services in English virtually everywhere in Quebec.
In this last part of BQ‑1, we're adding:
AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada recognizes that the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured is a legitimate objective and a fundamental principle of the Canadian official languages regime;
Indeed, if the federal government truly wants to achieve equality in official languages, it must ensure the future of French in Quebec. I think that's critical.