Mr. Speaker, in a study made public yesterday, the Commissioner of Official Languages said that francophone and Acadian communities in Canada have good cause to complain.
Bilingualism in federal institutions has been a dismal failure, in spite of the Official Languages Act which was passed 25 years ago.
How can one explain that, in spite of the already very limited number of federal offices outside of Quebec which are designated bilingual, 28 per cent of them still do not provide services in French? In all other offices, even though they are designated bilingual, francophones have to kick up a fuss to be served in their language.
In view of the worrisome rate of assimilation of francophones outside Quebec, what precisely is the government waiting for to assume its responsibilities and to respect the most fundamental rights of the francophone minority?