Madam Chair, thanks to my colleague, the Conservative member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, this evening we will be debating the importance the French language in Canada.
Before beginning my speech, I want to address all francophones in Canada. I want to tell them that I am proud to live in a country that was born in French. French is not just an official language, it is a national language. It is part of the core identity of our country, our culture and our heritage. It is the flag of the Quebec nation, Acadians and many francophone communities across the country from Restigouche to St. Boniface and from Grande Prairie to Grand-Pré.
Many Canadians have personal stories about the French language. I was born in Quebec but moved to Ontario when I was only 18 months old. Unfortunately, I had not mastered French before turning two years old. I learned French in the Canadian Armed Forces when I was 18. I am proud to be bilingual. It was important as an officer in the air force and it is important to me now as a member of Parliament. Canada's English-speaking and French-speaking politicians have a responsibility to protect the French language in Canada.
Being the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada means being the leader of the party that united our country through an alliance between two founding peoples, a union that was always enriched by the contributions of first nations.
I often speak against the destruction of statues of John A. Macdonald, but I started to speak against the cancel culture three years ago by defending one of the French-speaking Fathers of Confederation, Hector Langevin. Quebec's true blue Tories played a central role in the creation of Canada.
Yes, being the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada means following in the footsteps of Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, monumental figures in our history who recognized that, together, we can do great things. It means leading the party that fought to include Quebec in our Constitution, with honour and enthusiasm.
It also means being the leader of the party that fought to recognize the Quebec nation, while the Liberals have done everything in their power over the last 60 years to suppress Quebec nationalism. The truth is that Quebeckers have always been better represented by the Conservative Party, and that still holds true today.
The Internet, Netflix, Instagram, Twitter, iPhones, none of that existed when the Official Languages Act was adopted. It needs to be updated. The Liberals refuse to do it quickly. They prefer to focus on other issues, they prefer discussion to action. However, what the Liberals do not want to discuss is the need for much stronger action in Quebec.
Montreal, the city where I was born, is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world, and it has to remain so. There are seven million francophones in Quebec in an ocean of 779 million people in North America. It is normal for Quebec to have laws in place to protect French. Not only are these laws necessary, they are desirable.
Between 1996 and 2016, the percentage of people whose first language is French dropped from 52% to 46%. For a long time, Liberals refused to protect French in Quebec because they did not want to harm linguistic minorities in Canada.
Some commentators suggested in bad faith that the anglophone minority in Quebec is the equivalent of the francophone minorities in other parts of the country. But that is a false equivalency. There is no comparison at all between the two groups in the North American context, where hundreds of millions of anglophones live. Among the two languages, only French is endangered. For Liberals, a francophone Quebec is not even a reality we have to live with.
For us Conservatives, a francophone Quebec is a source of pride. It is a part of a heritage we must fight for. The Conservative Party proposes to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses in Quebec. We will support the measures the Legault government will take to defend French. Protecting the existence of the only francophone nation in North America is a worthy project. It is a patriotic and Canadian endeavour.
The Conservative Party will take part in the fight to protect and promote French in Quebec and in other parts of the country. We will step up. They can count on me and my colleagues for French to remain the common language of Quebec, the language of work in Quebec and a source of pride for all.
The central place of French in Quebec makes Canada a strong country and a bilingual country. We cannot afford to lose that.