(Québec) La présidente du Conseil du trésor, Sonia LeBel, estime que la gouverneure générale, Mary Simon, a déjà fait plus d’efforts que le PDG d’Air Canada, Michael Rousseau, en arrivant à prononcer des passages en français lors du discours du Trône, mardi.
« Je vais vous dire que ce n’était pas idéal, mais je vais dire une chose et je vais comparer [ceci] to what we said about Mr. Rousseau lately: I think we should salute the effort [de Mme Simon] ”, Launched the one who is also Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie.
“She made an effort, now I am aware that she has already learned several languages, that she is a woman who is intelligent and that she will definitely improve, but at this point I think he must underline the effort, effort that Mr. Rousseau had not even made, I would like to remind you, ”continued Mr.me LeBel, when asked about the French of Mme Simon, Tuesday.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel.
Earlier this month, the CEO of Air Canada delivered a speech entirely in English to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. He then admitted that he had never felt the need to learn French after having lived in Montreal for 14 years. These statements caused an uproar. The political class in particular vigorously denounced the situation.
Mary Simon gave her first Speech from the Throne on Tuesday. She did so by saying about one in five words in French. Her first words were in Inuktitut, her mother tongue. Mme Simon speaks English and Inuktitut, but not French. At the time of her appointment, which had provoked controversy on the subject, she made a public commitment to learn the language of Molière.
On Wednesday, certain French-speaking members of the Liberal Party of Canada applauded what they called a “good start”.
In defense of areas of jurisdiction
In addition, Minister Sonia LeBel said she was “disappointed” to note again Tuesday “the marked propensity of the federal government to encroach” on the powers of the provinces. She underlined the issue of housing, but obviously that of health. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notably promised to establish national standards in long-term care homes.
“We know what to do in health, we know what to do in housing. These are our skills, our expertise and what we are asking the federal government to do is to transfer to us the fair share of Quebeckers in terms of sums of money, without conditions. The provinces are asking for an increase in health transfers from 22% to 35%.
She also criticized the Trudeau government’s lack of commitment to better gun control at the Canada-US border. “I did not see in the Speech from the Throne, no line, unless I am corrected […] where it was said that the provinces must assume their own responsibilities and that the federal government will do so as well. What I read is that the federal government will support the provinces, but we do not want to be accompanied, we want to take our responsibility, assume it and let them take theirs, ”she said.