Madam Speaker, first I want to thank the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell for sponsoring this bill by Senator Jean-Robert Gauthier, a man who sets great store in the recognition and respect of linguistic rights, particularly those of minorities in Canada.
It is a pleasure to debate Bill S-4 on the official languages and the promotion of French and English. First, I would like to congratulate the members of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages and the members of that other place for having adopted Bill S-4 unanimously and without amendments. I also want to congratulate Senator Gauthier for his dedication and hard work to promote linguistic duality in Canada.
The bill before us today is without a doubt a step in the right direction, in promoting the official languages in Canada. Since the Official Languages Act came into force in 1988, the government has always had good intentions, but it has never took the next step and recognized the enforceable nature of section 41, part VII, of the Official Languages Act.
Earlier, the sponsor of the bill said that this was true even before 1988. It is still unclear if this section is enforceable or not. After fifteen years, the same question remains. It is time to clarify this legislation.
Not recognizing the enforceable nature of section 41 would mean that the government never intended to assume the obligation under this act of ensuring that French and English progress toward equality of status and use in Canadian society.
What does this mean for the official languages in our country? It means that this government lacks commitment—it is not serious—and has failed to ensure linguistic duality in Canada.
Take for example the Dion action plan on official languages. This highly ambitious plan commits the federal government to a $751 million investment over five years in order to improve the status of both official languages and to protect linguistic minorities.
Incidentally, I must say that I sometimes get the feeling that this $751 million is being used for appealing decisions each time the francophones or anglophones—most of the time the francophones—win a court case. This is why I talk about lack of seriousness.
I am not faulting the official languages action plan, full of good intentions as it is, but there is no mechanism in place to back it up on the legislative level for the development of official language communities.
Lack of seriousness and counterproductivity is evident when a government commits to encouraging the development of French- and English-speaking minorities in Canada by investing more than $750 million, but the language minorities cannot even go before the courts to ensure their rights are respected. If we cannot defend ourrights before the courts, we are at a disadvantage in manyregions.
Since section 41 of part VII of the Official Languages Act came into effect, it has remained a kind of paper tiger, weak and toothless, unable to defend itself against the power of the majority over the country's French- and English-speaking minorities.
Bill S-4 is well received by the NDP, because its purpose is to strengthen and give some teeth to an act that currently is totally unenforceable. The rate of assimilation is increasing, and constitutes a serious problem, even a critical one, throughout the country. The government therefore has to provide linguistic minorities with all the necessary tools to ensure their survival and development.
I find it most regrettable that Bill S-4 is the third to be presented to the government, following on S-32 in 2001, and S-11 in 2003, and all were aimed at giving some teeth to the Official Languages Act.
The Liberals' position with respect to these bills has always been that recognition of the enforceable character of the Official Languages Act would bring too many official language minority cases before the courts.
This is a facile argument and one that is readily challenged. I do not believe that the minorities would abuse their right to legal recourse, but if that were the case, it would be an important sign of the government's shortcomings as far as protecting official language minorities, and of the ground that is being lost by the official language minority communities.
We need strong legislation in order to protect linguistic minorities and to reverse the assimilation that is happening in this country. The federal government must assume its responsibilities and strengthen its commitment to these minorities.
Government investments to support linguistic minorities must go hand in hand with the right to court challenges under section 41 of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, if these investments are to have any weight and meaning.
A right that cannot be defended is not a right, but a mere statement of good intent, one that remains vulnerable and open to encroachment. I am not questioning the good will of the majority, but the statistics do indicate that the rights of the francophone and anglophone minorities in this country are being increasingly ignored.
The NDP is in favour of linguistic and cultural diversity as an important value in this country. It is therefore in favour of Bill S-4 as a means of protecting linguistic minorities and ensuring their vitality. I hope to have the opportunity to examine the bill in depth in committee.
The only way the committee can do that is for Parliament to vote in favour of the bill, and then it will go to committee. I side with my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois on this; he has just said that it might be a better bill with some amendments. With amendments, some things might be changed and would respect provincial areas of jurisdiction. The only place this can be done is in committee. So, if we get this to committee successfully, we will propose amendments there.
This is why I am asking my colleagues to support this bill, so that it may be referred to a committee and then get back to the House. We would therefore have the opportunity to vote on this bill twice. So give us the opportunity to be able to examine it in committee, to make any necessary amendments, but let us not take a backward step by saying no.
I think this is important. We could invite knowledgeable people to appear before the committee and help us. I recommend Professor Michel Doucet from Université de Moncton. He is very qualified in constitutional and linguistic matters. We could invite people of his calibre and I am certain my colleagues in this House know other people who could inform us.
For these reasons, we must not reject this bill at this time, because it is so important. It would be like asking people to obey speed limits, but not having a law to stop them when they drive too fast. It is no different to me.
I want to congratulate the government, which, in 1988, passed official languages legislation. Nonetheless, having a law without teeth is like not having a law at all.
Let us look at an example that I already talked about here in the House of Commons. It had to do with food inspectors. A case was won in New Brunswick courts and the Liberal government appealed the decision.
The issue is whether the law has teeth. We will find out. However, with a bill like this, we would know for certain. That is why I am calling on the hon. members of this House to truly support minorities in our country and provide legislation to help us ensure that minorities will be protected.