Mr. Speaker, in his new guide “Discover Canada”, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism points out that Quebec is a nation and that the majority of its population is francophone. However, there is not a word to new immigrants about Bill 101 and the requirement to send their children to a French school.
This guide also completely omits the fact that new arrivals have to learn French first in order to settle in Quebec. A unanimous motion in this Parliament clearly indicates that is the case.
Instead, the guide goes on at length about the Queen, even describing her as “the focus of citizenship, ... guardian of Constitutional freedoms, reflection of our history and an encouragement for Canadians to give their best to their country”.
How shocking. Instead of promoting an obsolete institution to which Quebeckers have no allegiance, the minister should be reminding immigrants that in Quebec we live our lives in French.