(Ottawa) Franco-Ontarian MP Francis Drouin finally apologized Thursday for having described witnesses three days earlier as “extremists” and “full of crap.”
“Any witness who comes before this committee should feel free to have a conversation in a respectful environment. I did not do that on Monday so I apologize once again to Mr. Bourdon and Mr. Lacroix,” Mr. Drouin declared during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
During the previous meeting, Monday, the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell vulgarly opposed the comments of researcher Frédéric Lacroix and CEGEP professor Nicolas Bourdon.
The member withdrew his words immediately after uttering them in committee. He has since repeated that he would “of course” agree to apologize “if the two witnesses feel offended”.
The two witnesses explained, based on Statistics Canada data, that when a Francophone or allophone attends an English-speaking university or CEGEP, this significantly increases the probability that they will then lead their life in English.
During the committee meeting, members of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Bloc Québécois attempted to pass a motion to ask Mr. Drouin to resign from his position as president of the Canadian section of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie , but also of this function that he occupies on an international scale.
They also wanted to request his “immediate expulsion” of the MP from their committee, that the elected official apologize in writing to the witnesses and that he recognize that the data presented by the witnesses is based on science.
The chair of the committee, René Arseneault, explained to them that the motion, the amendment and the subamendment are inadmissible given that they exceed the authority of the committee. However, his decision was successfully challenged. Only Liberal MPs – with the exception of Mr. Drouin who abstained – spoke in favor.
Mr. Drouin is “the face of Canada internationally” in terms of the Francophonie, insisted the spokesperson for the New Democratic Party, Niki Ashton, during the deliberations. She also argued that the comments used were “insulting, a blatant lack of respect” and that they send a “signal” to future witnesses that they will not be able to share the point of view in a “safe” manner.
His Bloc counterpart, Mario Beaulieu, whose party is enjoying this controversy, also criticized Mr. Drouin for having also “distorted” the remarks of the witnesses given that they explained that school attendance is is “one of the factors” and not “the only one” of anglicization.
The Liberals explained at length that Mr. Drouin apologized and deplored that the opposition at the committee is “playing politics” given that the Conservatives regularly attack witnesses and that even the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, treated the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “crazy” in the House of Commons as recently as last week.
The Conservative spokesperson for Official Languages, Joël Godin, expressed regret that the Liberals “ridiculed” and “trivialized” the actions of their colleague in an attempt at parliamentary obstruction to avoid a vote being held.
His Bloc colleague, Mario Beaulieu, added that this “systematic obstruction” demonstrates that the Liberals “don’t take the situation seriously”. He also denounced the “instrumentalization of Francophones outside Quebec” by Prime Minister Trudeau who, the day before in the House, criticized them for attacking a Franco-Ontarian.
The meeting was suspended without a vote on the motion. It should resume in two weeks.
Upon leaving the committee, MP Drouin declared that “I said everything I had to say” when journalists asked him if he intended to resign from his position as president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie .
The witnesses were invited to discuss with parliamentarians as part of a study on the financing of English-speaking post-secondary institutions in Quebec and French-speaking ones elsewhere in the country.
reference: www.lapresse.ca