Mr. Speaker, last week, a Reform Party member tabled a motion to amend the Official Languages Act so as to reflect the principle of territorial bilingualism, which consists in providing federal services essentially in French in Quebec, and essentially in English in the rest of Canada.
This concept of territorial bilingualism is an aberration which reflects a profound ignorance of the history of our country. Such an idea does not take into account our Canadian national identity, and it more or less promotes intolerance.
There can be no doubt that, after being in effect for over a quarter of a century, the federal official languages policy is an integral part of the Canadian identity.
According to an Angus Reid poll conducted in May 1993, close to 70 per cent of Canadians approve the federal government's promotion of official language minority rights.
It is inconceivable that anyone would suggest taking a step backward!