Mr. Speaker, yesterday, there was an incident in the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates that demonstrates just how hollow the Conservative Party's so-called commitment to official languages is.
Yesterday, a member of the Conservative Party was questioning a witness in English. The witness chose to respond in French. The Conservative member then asked him, βI understood you're fluently bilingual, sir, is there any reason that you're responding in French at this time?β The Conservative member then asked, βIs there any reason you're responding in French to my questions?β
At their recent congress, the Conservatives voted against a resolution in support of the advancement of francophone and anglophone minorities in Canada. They kept repeating that, at least, they support bilingualism in the Parliament of Canada and other federal institutions, this some 40 years after the bilingualism policy was implemented.
Even that commitment is not so sure anymore. This goes to show once again that old Reform-Alliance attitudes die hard.