Richard Nadeau

[Le Carrefour High School, May 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today it was my pleasure to welcome one hundred or so students and their teachers, Christian Laforest, André Dubé, Dominique Gosselin, Éric Noël-De Tilly, Gontran Venne and Réjean Morissette, from the international education program at Gatineau's Le Carrefour high school.

For the past 10 years, this program has been making its mark in the Outaouais with its dynamic teaching methods and humanist approach. The students are encouraged to integrate their knowledge, abilities and know-how through various enrichment activities developed by their dynamic and dedicated teachers.

The students in the international education program are also encouraged to develop a sense of cooperation to prepare them to take an active role in their community.

The Bloc Québécois and I would like to congratulate the Carrefour teachers and students and we wish them great success in all of their endeavours.

[May 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, that is a shame, because my question was for the Minister of National Defence, not the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. That said, I will go on.

I would also like to emphasize that the Bloc Québécois is asking the Minister of National Defence and the armed forces to respect the recommendations the Commissioner of Official Languages issued in response to the complaint submitted by the former Bloc Québécois member, Benoît Sauvageau. The complaint, which was well founded, was submitted on September 30, 2003. Steps were to be taken to ensure that in 2006, the Canadian Armed Forces would make many changes to honour official languages.

I would like to end with a statement by the Commissioner of Official Languages, who reported that over a period of about 20 years, the percentage of bilingual military positions filled by bilingual military personnel had not increased by much—

[May 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on April 26 I asked the Minister of National Defence a question regarding French in the armed forces. As you know, the previous federal government closed the only French-language military college, the one at Saint-Jean. The Liberals did that. The current Conservative government has changed the army's bilingualism policy to reduce the position of the French language.

Even more recently, at Vimy, France, the French on the panels that explained the battle of 90 years ago by the Canadian Forces was incomprehensible. The importance of the language school in Saint-Jean has been diminished by the military's new language policy. The criteria are being lowered and so there are fewer students. Consequently, are we headed towards the closure of another facility?

In view of these facts, I asked a question of the Minister of National Defence, who has a great deal of difficulty speaking French himself. Yet he was a high-ranking officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. I asked him if this did not demonstrate that for the Minister of National Defence of Canada—a bilingual country—French is the least of his concerns.

Given that it was question period and not answer period, the minister's reply was quite pathetic.

Having said that, I would like to quote something Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser said quite recently. On March 1, 2007, he said:

I should point out that the Official Languages Act does not confer special or preferred status on the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces. The act applies equally to all federal institutions.

In other words, the military is not a state within a state, where people can do as they please. Ours is a lawful society, and official languages have to be respected, even in the Canadian Forces.

The Bloc Québécois condemns the attitude of the Canadian Forces in failing to comply with the Official Languages Act ever since it was passed 38 years ago, in 1969. The least one can say is that it shows a blatant lack of respect for a reality across Canada, in terms of how we define ourselves, particularly in the francophone community, be it in Quebec, Acadia or other provinces or parts of Canada. Such attitude is contemptuous of the French fact in Canada.

We also condemn the new National Defence official languages program transformation model which, instead of ensuring compliance with the law, seeks to mitigate its impact. Under this model, the number of francophone units will be reduced from 62 to 55. Again, there is no respect.

I will let my colleague answer and continue later.

[French Language Education, May 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am outraged by the statement by Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau, who says he is in favour of abolishing separate French language and English language education systems.

His remarks show a lack of understanding of the history of francophones in Quebec and the rest of Canada and the battles they have fought. It is shameful to want to upset a balance as delicate as French language education, which owes its existence to struggles, hard work and a refusal to assimilate.

It is incomprehensible that Justin Trudeau should raise the possibility of merging the education systems to save money, especially when education is a provincial responsibility. The right of minority francophone and Acadian communities to be educated in French is worth a lot more than any potential savings.

Before he comes out in favour of trilingualism or quadrilingualism, the Liberal candidate should recognize that minority francophones are entitled to be educated in their own language, and he should learn what comes under federal jurisdiction and what does not.

[National Capital Commission, May 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, for far too long now, NCC investments have not reflected the demographic weight of Gatineau across from Ottawa. While the population of Gatineau accounts for more than 25% of the region, it received just 17% of NCC investments between 2001 and 2005.

Does the former Gatineau city councillor and current minister responsible for the NCC intend to tolerate this situation much longer?

[National Capital Commission, May 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this government's lack of concern toward francophones borders on contempt. After the billboards in Vimy littered with mistakes in French and the appointment of a unilingual anglophone ombudsman for victims of crime, now the minister responsible for the NCC is appointing a man who barely speaks French to head a federal agency responsible for administering the capital of a country that is supposedly bilingual.

My question is for the minister responsible for the National Capital Commission. Why appoint a unilingual anglophone to head up the NCC?

[Gatineau Cultural Centre, May 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on April 27, the Maison de la culture de Gatineau celebrated its 15th anniversary with a show called “15 years of ovations, 15 years of emotions”. Boom Desjardins, Ariane Gauthier, Luce Dufault, Marie-Élaine Thibert, France Maisonneuve and Ricky Paquette wowed the crowd. In the past 15 years, the cultural centre has showcased artists from all over Quebec and around the world.

To mark the anniversary, the lobby of the Salle Odyssée was adorned with a human-face mosaic made up of 6,500 photographs. Created by Jean René and Marie Hélène Giguère, the work includes the faces of audience members, employees, Quebec artists and foreign artists.

The Bloc Québécois and I would like to congratulate the Maison de la culture de Gatineau, its chair, Maurice Groulx, and its executive and artistic director, Julie Carrière.

[Maude Briand-Lemay and Pénélope Robinson, April 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate two outstanding young scientists, Maude Briand-Lemay and Pénélope Robinson, of the École Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau. Since September, they have won awards at a number of science fairs for their project called “one mirror, two suns”. They first won at their own school, then within the Des Draveurs school board, and went on to win first prize at the Expo-sciences Bell in the Outaouais, and the Hydro-Québec award at the Université de Sherbrooke. Maude and Pénélope will represent Quebec at the Canada-Wide Science Fair to be held in Nova Scotia in May.

The genius of their original invention doubles energy production by maximizing available space. “One mirror, two suns” causes solar radiation to reflect onto a surface that does not directly benefit from this energy. The radiation is captured by solar panels and produces enough heat and electricity for a home.

The Bloc Québécois would like to congratulate Maude and Pénélope, each a modern day Marie Curie. Long live science and way to go, girls!

[Rita Trépanier, April 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on April 17, 2007, the Outaouais lost a dedicated volunteer, Ms. Rita Trépanier, who passed away after several months of battling cancer.

Rita was a spirited woman, who was always there to help those around her and who was convinced that Quebec would one day be a country. Treasurer of the Bloc Québécois, member of the Société nationale des Québécois et des Québécoises de l'Outaouais, she was an active participant in election campaigns, in addition to volunteering for the hot air balloon festival, meals on wheels, the tax clinic and Operation Red Nose. In fact, that is where I saw her for the last time, last December. She was a woman of many talents.

I would like to tell her family and friends, and her sovereignist family, that our hearts are with them. A few days before her death, she said the first thing she would do in the afterlife would be to say hello to René Lévesque. Believe me, this woman of action will hasten to do so.

[Official Languages, April 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the previous federal government closed the only francophone military college, that of Saint-Jean. The Conservative government changed the army's bilingualism policy to reduce the position of the French language. At Vimy, the French on the panels was incomprehensible. The importance of the language school in Saint-Jean is diminishing because of the military's new language policy.

In light of those facts, does this not demonstrate that the Minister of National Defence views French as the least of his concerns?