(Ottawa) “Available in English only. This is the warning that accompanies the invitation to a webinar from the Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) – a warning amounting to an “insult” that prompts the Bloc Québécois to file a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
Bloc Québécois MNA Mario Beaulieu was seized of the matter by political attachés from his party who were interested in the event on issues related to the protection of children’s rights in the clothing industry.
He was hardly surprised to see that everything took place only in the language of Shakespeare.
“What this shows is that there is an organizational culture that is deeply rooted in the federal government to the effect that French is a second-class language, despite the fact that cases are continually denounced” , laments the Bloc official languages critic.
SCREENSHOT FROM TWITTER
At the end of this tweet from the Office of the Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise, you can read that the seminar is offered in English only.
“The ombudsman, he is part of the Government of Canada, and he has a public mandate. It seems to me that it would be the least that there was a French translation, at the very least, ”he continues on the other end of the line, saying that an official complaint is being drafted. to denounce this “insult”.
A closely monitored bill
Even if he does not expect things to change overnight, Mr. Beaulieu will closely follow the tabling of the bill on the modernization of Official Languages Act. The Trudeau government presented it last June, and it promised to return to the charge within the first 100 days of its third mandate.
The initial version of this long-awaited language reform, Bill C-32, provided that the federal government undertake “to promote the use of French and English in the conduct of Canada’s external affairs and to promote French within the framework of Canada’s diplomatic relations”.
The predominance of English to the detriment of French within the federal apparatus, particularly at Global Affairs Canada, is not a new phenomenon. We must nevertheless “continue to denounce and take steps”, and test the “real political will” of the Liberals, argues Mario Beaulieu.
It took more than a day to get a reaction from OCRE, where we wanted to “provide an update” on the event to be held on February 21.
“While the webinar will be conducted primarily in English, given that the invited international experts speak English, OCRE will provide simultaneous French interpretation of the event via WebEx. The Ombudsman’s opening remarks will also be provided in English and French, along with a summary of the event,” it said.