NDP Bill on language skills of officers of Parliament moves forward

OTTAWA – MP Alexandrine Latendresse (Louis-Saint-Laurent) is pleased that her bill, C-419, is progressing to 3rd reading in Parliament after being studied by the Official Languages Committee this week.

“Although the Conservatives made some questionable changes, for example deleting the preamble which reiterated already established principles like the equal status of French and English in Parliament, the spirit of the bill remains intact. New Democrats are proud of it,” said Latendresse.

Official Languages critic, Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst), was shocked that the Conservatives went against the opinion of the Official Languages Commissioner, who recognized the merits of the sections of the bill that were repealed.

“It’s hard to understand their motivations, but in the end what matters is that the bill continues to move forward,” said Godin.

“The NDP is firmly committed to protecting Canadians’ linguistic rights and we hope that all parliamentarians will give their stamp of approval to C-419,” concluded the MPs.