Dissent within the Liberal caucus over Bill C-13 was exposed Tuesday morning when a French-speaking member of the committee studying the piece of legislation in question accused “some” of his colleagues of leading “a smoke show […] ashamed “.
“The Montreal ‘island’ does not have a monopoly on Canada’s language policy. Misinformation has no place in this debate, ”said Franco-Ontarian MP Francis Drouin in a Twitter post.
The one who is a permanent member of the committee studying the bill to modernize the Official Languages Act is probably against the actions of a handful of Liberal MPs from the Montreal region.
The latter – in particular Anthony Housefather and Marc Garneau – do not usually sit on the committee, but tried in vain on Friday to remove any reference to the Charter of the French language from the bill of their own political formation.
Saint-Laurent MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos also found herself in trouble for misleading statements.
Quebec Lt. for the Liberals, Pablo Rodriguez, appeared to call on his colleagues to rally behind the government’s position. “There are people who have concerns about the bill and that’s fine, but ultimately it’s the government’s project,” he said on his way to the weekly cabinet meeting. .
He said he considers it “normal that it arouses passions on both sides”, adding nevertheless in the same breath that he wants Ottawa to go ahead with the legislative piece.
“This is a bill that […] comes to protect (and) promote French in Quebec and outside (the province). I expect it to be discussed, debated, fine, but ultimately moving forward,” he said.
Questioned about the attempts to amend Bill C-13 by some of his MPs, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau avoided criticizing them.
“As a government, we have always put forward a recognition that we must not only protect the two official languages across the country, but also that we must particularly protect French in Quebec. […] We are moving forward with (Bill) C-13,” he said.
Last Friday, Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather implored the Conservatives and New Democrats to preserve the “historic vision” of the federalist parties by defending all official language minority communities rather than supporting the Bloc Québécois’ vision that “the English-speaking minority in Quebec is not really a minority”.
Following the vote on his amendment — which was defeated with a majority of MPs from the Conservative Party, Bloc Québécois and New Democratic Party — Mr. Housefather and the Minister’s Parliamentary Affairs Director, Matthew Pollesel were seen having a heated exchange outside the committee room.
Ms Lambropoulos, who represents the riding of Saint-Laurent, testified that a grandmother would have been refused service in English at the doctor’s office after the adoption of Bill 96, when health services in the official language of their choice are guaranteed in Quebec.
During question period on Monday, the Bloc Québécois official languages critic, Mario Beaulieu, accused “the West Island Liberals” of attacking the Charter of the French language, of “raising the scarecrows and to “promote the anglicization of Quebec”.
The Trudeau government did not respond directly to any of Mr. Beaulieu’s questions and instead accused the Bloc Québécois of opposing the bill “because it does not want things to work, because it is looking for quibble, because he doesn’t want Parliament to work”.
Bill C-13 enshrines a new right to work and be served in French in Quebec and in “regions with a strong French presence” in other provinces in private enterprises under federal jurisdiction, such as banks, airlines or railway. However, the Charter of the French language of Quebec does not give the choice of language. It’s French, period.
With information from Michel Saba