Madam Speaker, the latest Speech from the Throne continues to commit to the equality of both official languages, French and English. However, since the coming into force of the Official Languages Act, we know the opposite has been achieved, namely, there has been a growing assimilation of francophone and Acadian communities. In Quebec, there is a decline in French.
The action the federal government is taking in Quebec under the Official Languages Act primarily seeks to strengthen English, but this cannot go on, as we have seen in recent examples involving CN and Air Canada. The Official Languages Act does not ensure that French is respected in Quebec and does not ensure that it is the common language. What is more, we see that the official languages modernization legislation will prevent Quebec from applying Bill 101 to all federally regulated businesses.
Does my colleague not think it is time to overhaul the Official Languages Act and allow Quebec to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses?