The Trudeau government tabled an amended version of its reform of the Official Languages Act on Tuesday morning, a bill with “more teeth” that would allow some companies to pay fines for violating language requirements.
More specifically, Ottawa wants to grant the Commissioner of Official Languages the power to distribute fines of up to $25,000 to a limited number of transport companies subject to the federal charter, such as Air Canada or Via Rail.
The commissioner would obtain a power of mediation as well as the power to issue orders to private sector actors. However, the right to work and be served in French in businesses under federal jurisdiction will be relegated to a separate bill.
Developed by Minister of Official Languages Ginette Petitpas Taylor, in consultation with linguistic minorities, this new version of the bill retains the outline of the old bill, which died on the order paper when the election was called last summer.
“The situation of French is worrying. Its protection deserves special and immediate attention,” said Minister Petitpas Taylor, herself an Acadian, during a press briefing in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, a “place that reminds us of the fragility of our community. “.
Bill C-13 still proposes to recognize French as the official language of Quebec, to require the appointment of bilingual judges to the Supreme Court or to recognize the minority status of French in North America.
The weight of Quebec in question
However, the federal government is not clearly committed to maintaining Quebec’s weight within the federation, while the proposed redistricting would remove one Quebec seat in the Commons and add five in other provinces, including three in Alberta.
A motion by the Bloc Québécois asking the government to prevent “any scenario of redrawing the federal electoral map which would have the effect of causing the loss of one or more electoral districts in Quebec or of reducing the political weight of Quebec in the House of Commons must be rejected’ will be voted on tomorrow.
The Liberal government has not indicated whether or not it will support the motion and the Conservatives are due to debate it in caucus on Wednesday morning. Only the NDP has already said it would support the process. The party had also tabled a similar bill in 2012.
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Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com