Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is issuing a dissenting opinion to ensure that the draft proposed regulations require the government to comply with its own new language law, which stipulates that measures to promote French in Quebec must be implemented as part of official language support programs.
Since 2020, several ministers have acknowledged that French is in decline in Quebec and that measures must be taken not only to protect English but also to protect French in Quebec. The Official Languages Act was reformed in 2023, but no new measures for French have been implemented. There is a section that specifies that the purpose of the act is to “advance the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured”. Several other sections prescribe asymmetrical measures for French in Quebec.
It is therefore high time that the government stopped focusing solely on the anglicization of Quebec through its language law, at a time when French is under greater threat than ever. That is why the draft proposed regulations must make it very clear that positive measures to promote French in Quebec must be taken as soon as possible