Madam Chair, I am very pleased to rise to speak this evening.
I would like to start along the same lines as the Leader of the Government and the leader of the official opposition and point out that there are 78 members of Parliament from Quebec, and each one of these members is as legitimate as the others. The NDP represents 454,000 Quebeckers, which is not insignificant and must be respected in our discussions in the House.
No one has a monopoly over Quebec or over defending the interests of Quebec or the French language. I think this is something we all care about.
I am so proud to participate virtually in this evening's debate because the French language is something I hold very dear. I was fortunate to grow up and live in a home filled with French books, songs, movies and music. The songs of Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault filled my childhood and teenage years. I was immersed in the music of Pauline Julien, Gérald Godin, Claude Gauthier, Robert Charlebois and Diane Dufresne. I could not get enough of Quebec comedians like Yvon Deschamps, Les Cyniques and Sol, and of French comedians Pierre Desproges and Raymond Devos. They were all so unbelievably talented at eloquently using the language, making us laugh and also making us think, all of which made me want to understand and learn more about the beautiful French language.
That is why debates like the one we are having tonight are so important, because this is not simply about a bill or a motion. For many Quebeckers, as well as Acadians and francophones outside Quebec, I am sure, it is a vital and fundamental issue that goes to the core of who we are collectively and individually. Quebec's language and culture are inextricably intertwined. I think this debate is extremely important and needs to take place.
I heard a lot of partisan attacks in the previous interventions. I am not saying I will shy away from those completely, but I will try to refocus the debate on verifiable, objective facts that will help us assess the situation, and on constructive suggestions for improving the defence and promotion of French.
Last week, I was proud to be the member moving a motion calling for the French language to be defended and promoted in Quebec and across Canada. That motion was passed unanimously by the House.
Let me point out that, according to 2018 stats, 94.5% of people in Quebec are able to have a conversation in French. We can agree that it is not necessarily a very sophisticated or complex conversation, but it shows that all the hard work of past years is bearing fruit. Michel C. Auger mentioned that percentage when he was on Tout le monde en parle two years ago.
There are four indicators for the French language: mother tongue, language spoken at home, language used in public, and language of work. Personally, I do not feel they are all equal because I think language of work and language used in public are the most important indicators.
There has been a slight decline in the use of French at home. From 1996 to 2016, 82% of households spoke French regularly, but not exclusively, at home. That percentage dropped to 79% in 2016, a slight decline of 3%.
The numbers for spoken language at home by immigrants, by newcomers, are interesting. Before 1981, only 30% of them adopted French, nearly 33% opted for English and 37% used a language other than French or English. Between 2011 and 2016, more than 41% of newcomers adopted French, 49% chose a language other than French or English and only 9% chose English. In 30 years, we have seen an increase in the use of French at home by newcomers. A 2011 report by the Office québécois de la langue française found that a growing number of immigrants chose French over English as the language of use at home.
The real problem, and this is why it is important to have this discussion, is the language of work. According to a 2019 report by the Office québécois de la langue française, French is in decline in retail businesses. People are more often welcomed in English or in a bilingual manner than before. The same report also noted that once the desire to be served in French was expressed, the person received the service in French in Montreal more than 85% of the time.
There is a problem of perception and hospitality, but it is no catastrophe. We must be vigilant and we need to do more, but we also need to make decisions based on objective facts and the reality on the ground. Efforts do need to be made to help businesses, especially those with 25 to 50 employees, report more to the Quebec government on the linguistic quality of the services offered by their employees.
I want to commend the work being done in this area by the Quebec labour movement, especially the FTQ and the CSN, which work mainly in the private sector. They have good programs and work a great deal on French integration.
French integration is key. Bill 101 must apply to companies under federal jurisdiction. That has been part of our platform since the days of Jack Layton. It was taken up by Nycole Turmel and Thomas Mulcair, as well as our current leader, the member for Burnaby South. It is also a question of equal rights for workers. They must have access to documents in French in the workplace.
The matter of French integration is a major issue. I think that considerable efforts must be made to improve access to French language courses by making them free for newcomers. Right now, they face obstacles, such as the requirement to get a study permit. These obstacles may have been put there by the Government of Quebec or to the Government of Canada.
Some members of my staff teach French to newcomers. They tell me that people who do not yet have permanent status have a hard time accessing French classes. This is a major problem.
When the leader of the NDP and I met with the Premier of Quebec before the last federal election, we made it clear that there must be sufficient federal resources to help Quebec teach newcomers French.
There are other things that can and must be done as well. I think that has already been said tonight.
The bill to renew the Broadcasting Act was tabled recently. It is vital to establish very clear goals, principles, approaches and directives for the CRTC, but also for the Canada Media Fund and the Canadian Television Fund, in order to have the necessary resources to create original French-language content, as opposed to translated content. We must secure the means to do it, whether through CRTC regulations, general policy or directives to the CRTC.
In my view, the Bloc Québécois bill requiring French tests for refugees and family reunification applicants is inappropriate and would be hard to implement in reality. It is kind of a bogus solution, not a real solution to a real problem. That is why we in the NDP are quite critical of the idea at this time.
I see that my time is up, and I will allow my colleagues to ask me questions.