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Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Providers and Procurement Anthony Housefather rises throughout Query Interval in Ottawa on Oct. 7, 2022.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
Opposition events have modified the Liberal authorities’s official languages invoice a lot, a Quebec Liberal MP mentioned he’s unsure he can nonetheless vote for it.
Anthony Housefather, who represents the Montreal using of Mount Royal, mentioned he hopes he can nonetheless vote for Invoice C-13 however the modifications made by Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois MPs at a Home of Commons committee will scale back English companies in Quebec.
The invoice was launched by the Liberals final March to assist defend French by recognizing its standing as minority language in Canada.
Because the invoice works its means by way of the Home of Commons official languages committee, a number of amendments have been handed by the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois that Housefather believes will scale back the rights of Quebec’s English-speaking communities as a result of they make reference to the province’s Invoice 96.
The Quebec legislation was adopted in Might and requires all provincial companies to function in French.
“I hope I’m able to help it, however proper now there are references to the Constitution of French Language and ones that the Bloc and Conservatives handed by modification that may serve to scale back the rights of the English talking minorities in Quebec,” Housefather mentioned Wednesday.
The Bloc Quebecois have made it clear throughout the committee that they need the invoice to be asymmetrical in order that it advantages French-speaking individuals greater than it does English-speaking individuals.
“Completely equal bilingualism contributes to the decline of minority languages similar to French,” Bloc Quebecois MP Mario Beaulieu mentioned in French throughout a earlier committee assembly.
The Bloc have launched a number of amendments on the request of the Quebec authorities.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller, who additionally represents a Montreal using, mentioned he supported his authorities’s legislation when it was put in entrance of the committee.
“We’ve got 100 amendments which can be there primarily to sack the spirit of the legislation, and we’re fairly assured that we are able to get a invoice by way of committee that every one members of the Liberal get together can elevate their heads excessive, and vote for,” Miller mentioned Wednesday.
