Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, what truly concerns me is that the Conservative Party is trying to derail this bill. Last Thursday, the opposition criticized me for being here until midnight talking about this. Canadians expect us to be in the House to do our work as MPs, whether that is Monday

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for the question. I have a great deal of regard for him as well. Our government is firmly committed to doing everything it can to promote and protect both our beautiful official languages in Canada. That is a priority. I have als

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, once again, our government is the first to recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including Quebec. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill. We also must recognize that the Bloc Québécois does not represent all of Canada's francophones. As

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I said, this is the fourth day of debate. At midnight on May 12, I was still in the House, and I was quite disappointed to see the Conservative Party move an amendment and a subamendment that could have killed this bill. B

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, I want my colleague to know that he is absolutely right. Official language minority communities have been waiting a long time for the modernization of the Official Languages Act that Bill C‑13 offers them. Our new version of the former bill has more teeth. As I h

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, all members of the House share the objective of protecting our two official languages and ensuring that we do everything possible to protect the French language, given that we recognize that French is in decline in Canada, including in Quebec. That is why we have

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, let us get one thing straight right off the bat. This is day four of debate on Bill C‑13. There have been 63 speeches in the House about this bill: 19 by the Conservative Party, 18 by the Liberal Party, 13 by the NDP and 12 by the Bloc Québécois. Let us not forget

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, first and foremost, it is just the opposite. Over the past number of weeks, we have seen many tactics being used by this opposition party. The reason we are moving forward with this today is that we really want to make sure we can move forward with this important p

Official Languages Act  Madam Speaker, just the opposite is true. Our government is firmly committed to protecting and promoting French across the country, including in Quebec. We recognize that there has been a decline in the use of French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are mo

Official Languages Act  moved: That, in relation to Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, our government is firmly committed to protecting and promoting Canada's beautiful official languages. That is why, on March 1, I was so pleased to be able to introduce Bill C-13, which seeks to modernize the Official Languages Act. We will do our job. I hope that the

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. Our government remains firmly committed to protecting and promoting French across the country. The decision to appeal the ruling of the Court of Queen's Bench does not in any way compromise our commitment to pro

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, I have said this many times. As the Minister of Official Languages, promoting and protecting French is a top priority. That is why I was so pleased when we reintroduced our bill to modernize the Official Languages Act on March 1. This bill has teeth and will make a

Regional Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche for highlighting how our government creates jobs and supports economic growth in New Brunswick. Through the jobs and growth fund, we are investing in businesses that create jobs and ensuring that communities

Official Languages  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question. Our government remains firmly committed to protecting and promoting French across the country. The decision to appeal the ruling of the Court of Queen's Bench does not in any way compromise our commitment to prote