Achi news desk-
Ottawa –
Angered by the comments of two witnesses who traveled to protect the French in Quebec, Franco-Ontarian Liberal MP Francis Drouin made clear what he thought of them, saying they were “full of —-“.
“Your comments are quite extreme,” he began, addressing the Standing Committee on Official Languages ​​late Monday afternoon during a study on funding for English-language post-secondary institutions in Quebec and French-language institutions elsewhere in the country.
Frédéric Lacroix, an independent researcher, and Nicolas Bourdon, a professor in the coalition group Regroupement pour le cégep français, explained to the committee that studying at a university in the English language or CEGEP significantly increases the likelihood of leading one’s life in English.
Lacroix’s response to Drouin’s question whether “extremist” constitutes “parliamentary language” provoked him more.
“Mr. Lacroix, if you go to the bulls—I am here, I have no patience for your talk,” said Drouin.
This led the bloc’s official language auditor to intervene.
“This is unacceptable,” said Mario Beaulieu. “To start calling them extremists. We can call you extremists. This is not the kind of language that leads to a logical and rational discussion.”
Drouin, who describes himself as “a staunch Ontario defender” of Quebec’s French-language charter, explained at the time that, as president of the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly, he sees even France becoming English.
“Do you really think that the big problem of Anglicization in Quebec is McGill and Dawson College?” He then asked. “What we see is that Statistics Canada, an organization that is probably extreme in your eyes, has demonstrated that bilingual institutions have a very, very strong effect on the anglicization of francophones and allophones in Quebec,” the researcher replied. “All the data points in this direction.”
This discourse is “insulting”, and it “lacks intellectual respect for reality, for what is happening in the world”, replied Draon, who was clearly trying to restrain himself.
“Sorry, but you’re full of s—. I’ll take it back, but you’re way off base,” he continued, before being interrupted by the chairman of the committee, who tried to call him to order.
“wear Quebec”
“This is witness intimidation,” Beaulieu protested. “Raising his voice, calling guests full of s—: it’s ‘Quebec bashing,’ which he does. And that’s exactly what we often see from the Liberals. If you want fair funding, you attack or you’re an extremist.”
The vice chairman of the committee explained that his party is not calling for the withdrawal of funding from English-language universities, but for equal funding.
Lecroix pointed out that a study he conducted found that the share of federal funding received by Quebec’s English-language universities – McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s – was four times greater than their demographic weight, and that, by contrast, French-language institutions received “significantly” less.
The second witness, Bourdon, stung by Drouin’s comments, noted that English is taught “from the first year of elementary school to CEGEP” as a second language in all French-language institutions in Quebec.
“It doesn’t mean we’re saying something radical: no, it’s not true,” he said.
Both Conservative official languages ​​critic Joel Godin and NDP counterpart Nicky Ashton criticized Drouin’s questions and stressed the importance of MPs listening to all points of view, even when they disagree.
In an attempt to calm tempers, the liberal René Arsenault, who chairs the committee, asked the elected officials to adopt “a little more civilized approach”. According to him, “he has never seen anything like this” since he started sitting on the committee in 2016.
Drouin quickly left the room after his outburst. His liberal colleague Annie Koutrakis, although she thought that there was no way to express herself, explained that sometimes “the temperature rises”.
Although Drouin did not apologize, he took back his words, she noted in a brief exchange with the Canadian press.
– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 7, 2024.
