OTTAWA - Former Ontario cabinet minister Madeleine Meilleur has formally been nominated as the country's official languages commissioner.

Both the House of Commons and the Senate will have to approve Meilleur's nomination by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Meilleur is a longtime Ontario Liberal and francophone rights advocate who retired from politics last June after 13 years representing the riding of Ottawa-Vanier.

She is a former attorney general and former minister for francophone affairs.

Meilleur would replace Graham Fraser, whose mandate ended in December.

Opposition parties labelled Meilleur's appointment partisan when her name surfaced in reports last week.