OTTAWA — Opposition parties have changed the Liberal government's official languages bill so much, a Quebec Liberal MP said he's not sure he can still vote for it.
Anthony Housefather, who represents the Montreal riding of Mount Royal, said he hopes he can still vote for Bill C-13 but the changes made by Conservatives and Bloc Québécois MPs at a House of Commons committee will reduce English services in Quebec.
The bill was introduced by the Liberals last March to help preserve the French language across Canada and within federal services, like the courts, post offices and Service Canada offices.
As the bill works its way through the House of Commons official languages committee, several amendments have been passed by the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois that Housefather believes will reduce the rights of Quebec's English-speaking communities because they make reference to the province's Bill 96.
The Quebec law was adopted in May, after the federal bill was drafted, and requires all provincial businesses to operate in French. It was passed using the notwithstanding clause, which temporarily overrides powers of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"I hope I am able to support it, but right now there are references to the Charter of French Language and ones that the Bloc and Conservatives passed by amendment that would serve to reduce the rights of the English speaking minorities in Quebec," Housefather said Wednesday.
Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos, who represents the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent has taken a similar stance. She previously told the committee that if the Official Languages Act references Quebec's language law, she wouldn't be able to support it's passing.
A spokeswoman for Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said there are still "many amendments to the bill" that need to be considered, but the Liberal government's priority is seeing the bill passed.
"We expect all parliamentarians to support this ambitious bill," Marianne Blondin said in a statement Wednesday.
The Bloc Québécois have made it clear during the committee that they want the bill to be asymmetrical so that it benefits French-speaking people more than it does English-speaking people.
"Perfectly equal bilingualism contributes to the decline of minority languages such as French," Bloc Québécois MP Mario Beaulieu said in French during a previous committee meeting.
The Bloc has introduced several amendments at the request of the Quebec government. Some have passed with the support of the Conservative committee members and NDP MP Niki Ashton.
One enshrines into the federal bill that "the Charter of the French Language is to protect, strengthen and promote that language", and another ensures the existence of a majority-French society in Quebec where the future of French is secured.
Julie Boyer, an assistant deputy minister at Canadian Heritage, told the committee the latter amendment could lead to a focus on just the French language.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller, who also represents a Montreal riding, said he supported his government's law when it was put in front of the committee.
"We have 100 amendments that are there essentially to sack the spirit of the law, and we're pretty confident that we can get a bill through committee that all members of the Liberal party can lift their heads high, and vote for," Miller said Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2023.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press
