Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that our Conservative government practices open federalism that respects the historical fact of Quebec’s cultural and linguistic specificity and gives Quebec the flexibility and autonomy it needs to maintain its francophone identity within a strong and united Canada.
Linguistic duality is fundamental to Canadian society and enriches both the country and its citizens. According to a Decima poll taken in 2006 for the Department of Canadian Heritage, 69% of Canadians born abroad think that they are culturally enriched by Canada’s linguistic duality and 72% think that the Government of Canada should play a leading role in promoting and protecting the status and use of French in Canadian society.
The English and French languages and the official languages policy are at the heart of the Canadian identity. Knowledge of these languages helps Canadians participate socially, economically and culturally.
For these reasons, our government promised in the last throne speech to bring forward a strategy for implementing the next stage of the Action Plan for Official Languages. We appointed Bernard Lord to act as special advisor and conduct extensive consultations. He has submitted his report now and it was recently made public. The government will build on it to develop the next stage of the Action Plan for Official Languages.
The government has begun examining the initiatives that have been undertaken as part of its final evaluation of the action plan and it will ensure that the best practices are incorporated into the new official languages program.
We will continue the constant support we have shown for the official languages by bringing forward a strategy to give effect to the next stage of the Action Plan for Official Languages running from 2008 to 2013.
We are currently reviewing all the projects and the federal strategy. This will enable us to renew, modify as necessary and improve the government projects for promoting linguistic duality.
There are some bilateral and multilateral agreements among the Government of Canada and the provinces and territories regarding the official languages. Our support includes recognition of the key role that Quebec plays in the Canadian francophonie.
From a multilateral perspective, the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie is the main forum for intergovernmental collaboration. Established in 1974, the MCCF brings together the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for the Canadian Francophonie, francophone affairs, Acadian affairs, French-language services or similar matters, and the federal minister responsible for official languages.
The MCCF’s mandate is to promote intergovernmental cooperation, debate intergovernmental issues that involve the Canadian Francophonie, and sustain dialogue conducive to the development of public policies that strengthen the Canadian linguistic duality.
During the September 2007 annual MCCF meeting in Halifax, the ministers endorsed and agreed to proceed with implementation of the report titled Canadian Francophonie: Issues, Challenges and Future Directions, which summarizes consultations held across the country in the spring and summer of 2006.
It will also take into account results from community assemblies, such as the summit of francophone and Acadian communities, reports from standing parliamentary committees, the report of the Official Languages Commissioner, the results of the 2006 census published on December 4 and the important Post-Censal Survey on the Vitality of Official Language Minority Communities conducted by Statistics Canada.
Our government will continue to build on existing achievements, so that Canadians can benefit from all the advantages of being in a country with two official languages, a cultural treasure that is unique in North America.
Since our government came to power, open federalism has been our watchword, and our achievements reflect that approach.
While everyone agrees that bilingualism is valuable to an individual and an asset for our country; it is also true to say that better understanding between francophones and anglophones requires that the two language communities get to know and support each other.
Our young people are the key to that better understanding. Thanks in part to support from the Department of Canadian Heritage, more than half the students in our schools today are learning French or English as a second language throughout the country.
In the 2007 budget, we also announced an amount of $30 million over two years to promote increased use of minority languages, especially among young people, in the daily life of Canadians living in minority language communities.
We also want to create opportunities outside the classroom for young Canadians to enjoy linguistic and cultural experiences in their second language. We especially want all young Canadians to have an opportunity to appreciate the French language and culture and to understand what an asset they are for our country.
As the Speech from the Throne pointed out, our initiative takes account of the contributions made by other levels of government. One of the key objectives of our government is to strengthen our federation and to work more closely with each level of government, while respecting each other’s jurisdictions.
It is beneficial for everyone because the work we are doing, in cooperation with the provinces and territories, is producing solid results on the ground.
In addition to the agreements dealing with education and services in the minority language, we have made significant investments along with the provinces and territories to establish, enlarge or renew community infrastructure in francophone communities in the various regions of Canada.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages has met with the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for culture and heritage. They discussed measures for promoting and increasing awareness of francophone communities, in particular, through cultural tourism and festivals, for which we have announced the launch of a new support program.
Last fall, the minister also met with the ministers responsible for the Canadian francophonie in Halifax. This federal-provincial-territorial conference is an excellent platform for ensuring that the very diverse objectives and challenges of francophones all across the country are taken into account when developing our programs and our policies.
The members of the Bloc can continue to try, in vain, to justify their presence in Ottawa by inventing new squabbles but Quebeckers are not taken in. They support a government that offers them real, open federalism that promotes French everywhere in Canada.