Mr. Speaker, as Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages, I am very proud of the many members here in this House who have gone to great lengths to try to learn our two official languages.
Today I would like to offer them some encouragement. I know that many of the Conservative members on this side of the House are doing their part to provide encouragement, promote both official languages, learn them and use them.
Today during question period, I was absolutely horrified to hear a Liberal member actually make fun of a member from this side who was trying to do his best to speak another language. I would encourage the Speaker to speak with the member.
The member for Vancouver Quadra, in her question, did make fun of one of our minister's attempts to use a different language. I think that is deplorable behaviour. We are actively encouraging all of our children across this country to learn both official languages. We know very well that knowing other languages opens doors to a world that is inconceivable.
I would encourage the Speaker to speak with the member for Vancouver Quadra and ask her to apologize, because it was just unacceptable, given that we are an officially bilingual country.