Enough is enough, says the NDP

NDP Official Languages Critic Niki Ashton issued the following statement:

"In Quebec, as everywhere else in the country, people are very concerned about the decline of the French language. For years, Justin Trudeau's Liberals have failed Quebecers, Acadians and Francophone minority communities across Canada.

The pandemic revealed that for the current government, operating in French was an obstacle to overcome, not an essential tool for communicating with the public. In fact, the government appointed a unilingual anglophone Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, when immigration is a key issue for the survival of francophone communities in Quebec and the rest of Canada. The Liberals have also appointed a unilingual anglophone lieutenant-governor to represent the only bilingual province in Canada, New Brunswick. This is absurd.

This phenomenon is copied in large corporations that serve the population across the country. After the disrespectful behaviour of the CEO of Air Canada, people are getting angrier and angrier at the contemptuous actions of the rich executives of CN towards francophones.

The Liberals pretend to be concerned about the decline of French, but the Commissioner of Official Languages has sounded the alarm that there is a systemic crisis in protecting the French language, and francophone workers are paying the price. Enough is enough.

The NDP will continue to fight for Francophones and pressure the Liberals to protect the French language and culture in Quebec and across Canada by fighting for better access to services in French. The NDP will also pressure CN's leadership to ensure that Francophones in Quebec, and across the country, are respected."