With internal debates over abortion and pension benefits just behind them, the solidarity of the Conservative caucus is about to be put to the test again, this time over language rights.
Within weeks, the House of Commons is expected to vote on an NDP bill that would make fluency in French and English a prerequisite for all future officers of Parliament.
The measure would apply to a list of 10 officials ranging from the auditor general and the chief electoral officer to the privacy commissioner.
With help from the Conservatives, it seems that the bill, or at least a variation of it, will be adopted.
According to government sources, a move is afoot to take over the New Democrat bill and turn it into Conservative legislation.
That would amount to a significant change of tack for the current government.
In the previous Parliament, the minority Conservatives fought hard against another NDP bill designed to ensure that future Supreme Court justices be able to function in both official languages. It died in the Senate.
Just last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a unilingual auditor general. The current bill was drafted in reaction to that appointment.
The choice of Michael Ferguson as auditor general certainly touched a nerve in Quebec and his undertaking to quickly become proficient in French did little to appease critics.
For weeks last fall, Conservative ministers who set foot in Quebec risked getting an earful over the pick to succeed the impeccably bilingual (and very able) Sheila Fraser.
The issue has been a recurring theme in the consultations Heritage Minister James Moore has been conducting with French-language minority groups across the country, all of which support the NDP bill.
For a variety of contrary reasons, a vote count on the government’s commitments to official bilingualism comes at a sensitive time for the Conservatives.
Since the House returned, feathers in the government caucus have already been ruffled over abortion rights, pension benefits and an ongoing rapprochement with China.
The issue of language rights has traditionally been a contentious one for the Conservatives. But on this bill, neither position offers Harper the guarantee of a united caucus. It boils down to choosing the least divisive option.
Quebec minister Maxime Bernier came out in support of the NDP bill early on and on this at least, it seems that he was speaking for his Quebec colleagues.
Since the bill was drafted, the Parti Québécois has been returned to power.
It is hard to think of a move more tailored to bolster the sovereigntist narrative than a federal rejection of the notion that the officers of the Parliament of a country that professes to put French and English on an equal institutional footing should be able to function in both languages.
The publication Wednesday of the language-related statistics of the 2011 census have injected an extra dose of urgency in the upcoming debate. They show that the proportion of Canadians whose first language is neither French nor English has just about caught up to that of those whose mother tongue is French.
The day when French is no longer the second-most spoken language in Canada is hardly upon the country.
Canada is not undergoing the kind of language shift that is putting a Hispanic face on many regions of the United States these days.
According to the census-takers, the third-most spoken language after English and French in Canada is Punjabi. It was identified as their mother tongue by 460,000 respondents. By comparison 7.3 million claim French as their first spoken language.
But while the absolute number of Canadians who master French and English is up, their proportion has declined outside Quebec.
There is no point in preaching the virtues of becoming fluent in both official languages to non-francophone Canadians if their Parliament has less and less practical use for it.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Chantal Hébert
Within weeks, the House of Commons is expected to vote on an NDP bill that would make fluency in French and English a prerequisite for all future officers of Parliament.
The measure would apply to a list of 10 officials ranging from the auditor general and the chief electoral officer to the privacy commissioner.
With help from the Conservatives, it seems that the bill, or at least a variation of it, will be adopted.
According to government sources, a move is afoot to take over the New Democrat bill and turn it into Conservative legislation.
That would amount to a significant change of tack for the current government.
In the previous Parliament, the minority Conservatives fought hard against another NDP bill designed to ensure that future Supreme Court justices be able to function in both official languages. It died in the Senate.
Just last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a unilingual auditor general. The current bill was drafted in reaction to that appointment.
The choice of Michael Ferguson as auditor general certainly touched a nerve in Quebec and his undertaking to quickly become proficient in French did little to appease critics.
For weeks last fall, Conservative ministers who set foot in Quebec risked getting an earful over the pick to succeed the impeccably bilingual (and very able) Sheila Fraser.
The issue has been a recurring theme in the consultations Heritage Minister James Moore has been conducting with French-language minority groups across the country, all of which support the NDP bill.
For a variety of contrary reasons, a vote count on the government’s commitments to official bilingualism comes at a sensitive time for the Conservatives.
Since the House returned, feathers in the government caucus have already been ruffled over abortion rights, pension benefits and an ongoing rapprochement with China.
The issue of language rights has traditionally been a contentious one for the Conservatives. But on this bill, neither position offers Harper the guarantee of a united caucus. It boils down to choosing the least divisive option.
Quebec minister Maxime Bernier came out in support of the NDP bill early on and on this at least, it seems that he was speaking for his Quebec colleagues.
Since the bill was drafted, the Parti Québécois has been returned to power.
It is hard to think of a move more tailored to bolster the sovereigntist narrative than a federal rejection of the notion that the officers of the Parliament of a country that professes to put French and English on an equal institutional footing should be able to function in both languages.
The publication Wednesday of the language-related statistics of the 2011 census have injected an extra dose of urgency in the upcoming debate. They show that the proportion of Canadians whose first language is neither French nor English has just about caught up to that of those whose mother tongue is French.
The day when French is no longer the second-most spoken language in Canada is hardly upon the country.
Canada is not undergoing the kind of language shift that is putting a Hispanic face on many regions of the United States these days.
According to the census-takers, the third-most spoken language after English and French in Canada is Punjabi. It was identified as their mother tongue by 460,000 respondents. By comparison 7.3 million claim French as their first spoken language.
But while the absolute number of Canadians who master French and English is up, their proportion has declined outside Quebec.
There is no point in preaching the virtues of becoming fluent in both official languages to non-francophone Canadians if their Parliament has less and less practical use for it.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Chantal Hébert
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