Official Languages Act: MPs reject Quebec's first 2 requested amendments
CTV
The Quebec government suffered a setback Tuesday when two amendments to Bill C-13 to modernize the federal Official Languages Act were rejected after heated debate in parliamentary committee.
The Quebec government suffered a setback Tuesday when two amendments to Bill C-13 to modernize the federal Official Languages Act were rejected after heated debate in parliamentary committee.
Anthony Housefather, a Liberal MP from Montreal, went to the mat when the Bloc Québécois tabled an amendment aimed primarily at recognizing the language planning that Quebec has provided for in its Charter of the French Language.
"To mention the Charter of the French Language in this bill is essentially to say that we accept that only certain English-speaking Quebecers should be served in English: only those who have access to English schools," he said in English. "It's also to say we accept using the notwithstanding clause preemptively."
Housefather later proposed that any reference to the Charter of the French Language be removed from the bill sponsored by his party's official languages minister.
In response to concerns about being subject to provincial legislation, Conservative Bernard Généreux said his party is not giving the Quebec government "carte blanche" since C-13 already provides for regular review of the law.
The New Democratic Party (NDP) once again held the deciding vote. In a very brief speech, MP Niki Ashton said she was concerned about "the order of priority between the two laws," namely the Official Languages Act and the Charter of the French Language as amended in June by Bill 96. She then voted against the Bloc amendment.
In a press scrum, Ashton tried to explain her decision by saying that the vote was on an aspect of the preamble to the law.
