Mr. Speaker, as my colleague said last week and as my colleagues have reiterated this evening, the Official Languages Act fosters the use of French and English within Canadian society.
The Government of Canada considers the reality of francophone Quebec in all of its actions, particularly in the implementation of the Official Languages Act. It fully takes into account Canadian linguistic duality, which it is committed to promoting in Quebec, as in the other provinces and territories.
This is evidenced by the current development of the renewal strategy for the official languages action plan, and by the numerous measures that have been taken. An important component of the Official Languages Act and the approach that will be taken is based on the principle of linguistic duality.The Government of Canada reiterated its support for linguistic duality and for the next phase of the action plan for official languages in the last throne speech.
Our government is a responsible government. We take the necessary actions in order to ensure that we make decisions that are in the best interests of our communities, as well as decisions that ensure that vitality of both French and English languages in our Canadian society.
Last December the Prime Minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages announced the appointment of a special adviser on linguistic duality and official languages. Bernard Lord will report the results of his discussions that he has had with Canadians from coast to coast. Our government made a promise and we are keeping it.
The findings of regional and online consultations were used by Mr. Lord to facilitate discussions with the national office language stakeholders at the wrap-up event held on January 24.
The Government of Canada is a dynamic partner that supports the French language and Quebec culture.