OTTAWA – Despite shrugging off the rights of French-speaking Canadians since becoming Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has been awarded the highest distinction in the Ordre de la Pléiade, the rank of Grand-Croix, by the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. Ordinarily, distinguished figures in the francophone world are inducted into the order for their service to the ideals of the APF, whose mandate is to promote and defend democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, the international outreach of the French language, and cultural diversity.

New Democrat Official Languages Critic Yvon Godin (Acadie–Bathurst), who in 2003 received the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre de la Pléiade, was offended when he heard the news. “This government hasn’t done a thing to improve the experience of francophone Canadians, on the contrary,” said Godin.

Since 2006, the Harper government has, among other things:

• eliminated funding for the Court Challenges Program, which was essential to the development of communities in a minority situation and to the respect of the Official Languages act, and, after months of political pressure, replaced it with a much less efficient mediation program;
• dragged its feet on approvals and payouts for official languages organizations funded by Heritage Canada, thereby causing serious financial hardship for those organisations;
• neglected the importance of French at the Vancouver Olympic Games by not insisting that the Organizing Committee respect its official languages commitments;
• dishonoured Canada by mounting a French plaque, full of mistakes, on the monument commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, at Vimy, in France;
• appointed a unilingual anglophone as ombudsman for victims of crime;
• appointed a unilingual anglophone Justice to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, and opposed a law that would make bilingualism a requirement for appointment to the Supreme Court; and
• eliminated bilingualism in the senior ranks of the Army.

“When it comes to official languages, Stephen Harper is all talk and no action,” said Godin. “Since he became Prime Minister, Mr. Harper has shown a flagrant indifference for the Official Languages Act. I am extremely disappointed that Mr Harper has received the Ordre de la Pléiade. It’s disappointingly ironic!”