Madam Speaker, 25 years ago today, Ontario's legislative assembly passed the French Language Services Act, known in French as Loi 8. It guarantees an individual's right to receive services in French from Government of Ontario ministries and agencies in 25 designated areas throughout the province.
It would be impossible to mention this important anniversary without paying tribute to the work of Bernard Grandmaître, a good friend of mine, who was the Ontario government's minister responsible for francophone affairs at the time.
We should be thankful for the Peterson government's leadership and the influence this event had on other parts of the country with francophone minorities. In fact, since that time, other provinces such as Nova Scotia and Manitoba have passed laws or adopted policies similar to Ontario's French Language Services Act.
Today we are celebrating this turning point in our country's francophone history. The French Language Services Act was a very important step in the positive evolution of Canada's linguistic duality.