Mr. Speaker, I am being told by members of the Bloc that what I am saying is not true. What I am saying is factual. There are textbooks that are required by the ministry of education of Quebec and those textbooks are only available in French. It is up to the ministry of education to ensure those textbooks are also available in a translated form. It has not done that and as a result the school boards are asking that the implementation of the pedagogical reform be delayed.
As a member of an official language minority, it never ceases to amaze me how the Bloc, which claims that it wishes to ensure le fait français in North America, so easily drops the interest, the protection and the defence of those protections of the French-speaking minority outside of Quebec. When it suits the Bloc's purpose, suddenly it is the defender of the French-speaking minority rights outside of Quebec. However, when it does not suit its purpose, it drops them as quick as a hot potato. It is shameful.
I would like to read a few statistics from the Official Language Commissioner's report of 2006-07. On page 26 it states:
Linguistic duality is strongly rooted in Canada’s historic and contemporary realities. It has been one of the core values of our country since its inception, and while it has been the subject of heated debates in the past, it is not as emotionally charged as it used to be...82% of Francophones and 74% of Anglophones believe that the two official language groups should enjoy the same quality of education and are willing to dedicate more resources to the minority in order to meet this objective.
That is quite different from what the Bloc is suggesting. It goes on to state:
Canadians now consider it to be at the centre of their country’s history, culture and values. In fact, bilingualism and respect for the rights of linguistic minorities currently enjoy unprecedented support in Canada. According to a recent poll carried out in early 2006, 72% of Canadians personally favour bilingualism in Canada, a 16% increase since 2003.
I talked about the fact that anglophones in the federal public service in Quebec are underrepresented. According to the Official Languages Commissioner's annual report 2006-07, it states that “on March 31, 2001 it sat at only 8%”. This is unacceptable.
The report goes on to state:
The Commissioner will closely monitor the action undertaken by federal institutions and the Quebec Federal Council to increase Anglophone representation in the federal public service there.
However, there is the report on Canada Post. Why? It is because Canada Post is a crown corporation that comes under federal law and, therefore, it has a legal duty to create a workplace that is conducive to the use of both official languages, promoting English and French. However, Canada Post has had serious problems in the past with regard to ensuring that English-speaking minority employees had their rights respected and there have been complaints.
However, the Official Languages Commissioners who have worked on that file, the previous one, Madam Dyane Adam, and now Mr. Graham Fraser, have seen a real effort on the part of management, particularly senior management in Canada Post, to ensure that Canada Post employees are not penalized if they happen to be members of the English-speaking minority and that their access to senior managerial posts, if they meet the requirement, is not hampered by the fact that they are members of the English-speaking minority, which was the case when I worked there. It also means that managers are able to communicate with each other and properly communicate with the employees.
I want to finish with one little quote from the NDP member for Outremont who was quoted in the Montreal Gazette newspaper on October 23, 2007. Apparently he was being interviewed about the piece of legislation that incarnates this particular motion and its relevance to Bill 101. This was his response:
There is absolutely no problem right now in Quebec with the language of work...Bill 101 has taken care of the problem and removed a lot of the tension and ill will that used to exist when people in a majority French province were forced to work in English in the past.
I would take from that then that the NDP will not be supporting the Bloc motion. I would take from that then that the NDP will be very careful about the position that it takes on this particular motion because this particular motion will put the rights of the English speaking minority in Quebec in jeopardy and the rights of the French speaking minority outside of Quebec in jeopardy.
If any of the members of the NDP are thinking about supporting the Bloc motion, I would ask them to think twice about it, and possibly if they need to, think three or four times. I would urge them not to support this motion.
The majority of the English speaking minority in Quebec will take it as an affront and a denial of our minority language rights being afforded and protected within Quebec.
I do not presume to speak for the French speaking minority outside of Quebec although my family members on my mother's side are all Francophone Manitobans. My sense is that they as well will take it as an affront and a denial by the NDP, should they support this motion, of their linguistic speaking rights outside of Quebec and opening the door to provinces outside of Quebec deciding that the only language of work will be French, and that they have no reason whatsoever to protect the linguistic--