Tom Mulcair: National unity is on the table as Parliament discusses Bill C-13
Does bilingualism cause hemorrhoids?
That was the, dare I say, cheeky question from one of my colleagues in the French media. He was joking, of course, but his irony was in response to an article that affirmed that the requirement for bilingual labels on medication is contributing to the shortage of children's Tylenol in Canada!
Historically there’s been no evidence that the long-standing requirement for bilingual labelling has ever caused a shortage of medication.
This harkens back to the old 1960s’ bilingual cornflakes box rant.
To begin with, the French labelling doesn’t need to be translated because it already exists here and is also used in dozens of francophone countries. In addition, there are detailed and complex Canadian regulatory requirements for labelling that must be respected by pharmaceutical manufacturers. You can’t just import from an English-speaking country, you’d have to meet all those other Canadian requirements on top of the bilingualism obligation. There’d have to be a distinctive Canadian label anyway.
It’s a classic red herring, but to what purpose?
This comes at a time when official bilingualism is hard-pressed on all sides. Some senators recently opined that they don’t see why ambassadors of our officially bilingual country should even have to speak French!
Every time there’s a new appointment to be made, there’s a hue and cry that bilingualism is a requirement to be named to the Supreme Court. Anyone seeking to become a Supreme Court Justice today has known since law school that Canada has two official languages. A lawyer at that top level therefore also knows that they’ll have to have both languages to get named. There’s no surprise but it hits the fan every time.
'A BILINGUAL OWNER'S MANUAL'
When I was leader of the opposition I remember meeting with representatives of the automobile industry. At the time, there was a big issue involving the high prices Canadians were paying compared to Americans for the same car. When I asked one of the lobbyists what could possibly justify the enormous difference, he pulled this gem out of thin air: “Well, you know, here in Canada we have to produce a bilingual owner’s manual.”
The incredulous looks of his colleagues led me to understand that I wasn’t the only one who realized he was making it up as he went along. When I asked if it was the official position of their association that a bilingual manual somehow added thousands of dollars to the price of a car, everyone wanted to move on to another topic.
Right now in Ottawa there’s a seminal piece of legislation, Bill C-13, going through the adoption process and anyone who’s concerned about the future of the country should be paying attention.
C-13 is a modernization of the Official Languages Act and an attempt to bring in new rules for federally regulated businesses. It’s complicated. It’s also being filibustered by the Bloc and by the Conservatives but for very different reasons.
The minister tasked with stickhandling it through committee is Ginette Petitpas Taylor. She has been having a particularly hard time and because the Liberals are a minority government, she needs a legislative partner to restrict debate and move on to the next step in the process.
The NDP is already in the sack with the Liberals thanks to their deal to always support confidence measures. There’s nothing in that deal that would require the NDP to back closure, which would be very unusual for any opposition party.
Francophones outside Quebec, who really do deserve a break and who need some legislative tools to protect their precarious status, are pushing hard for adoption. There is disappointment that a key promise by previous minister Melanie Joly, to extend Air Canada’s bilingual requirements to all airlines, has been abandoned but “half a loaf is better than none”, seems to be the byword.
At the same time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly failed to walk the talk when it comes to official bilingualism.
He named a unilingual Lieutenant-Governor in Canada’s only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick, and when the courts banged him out for disobeying the constitution, he decided to appeal.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs recently saw his education minister resign because his Conservative government had decided to scrap French immersion programs. To add insult to injury, Higgs named a recent floor-crosser, from an anti-francophone party, to the committee looking into bilingualism in the province. Trudeau lectured Higgs against tax cuts instead of fighting him on the language issue. All talk, no action.
Trudeau was prompt to upbraid Doug Ford for the notwithstanding clause but Québec’s Bill 96 also uses the notwithstanding clause to remove the equality of French and English before the courts. So far Trudeau hasn’t raised his little finger to fight Legault on the issue.
English-language school boards in Quebec are Constitutionally protected, but for how long? Quebec Premier Francois Legault wants to dismantle them and anglophone parents are rightly worried about the future of their kids’ school system. C-13 could actually make it easier for Legault to remove English boards. Trudeau’s reaction: crickets.
WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER?
Francophone media spend a lot of time parsing the anti-French feelings and actions in Ottawa and in some provinces. Hardly a day goes by without an article detailing the lack of French services or the inability to even use French in key ministries such as Global Affairs.
Anglophones in Quebec, often the staunchest supporters of the Liberals, are starting to realize that Trudeau and his hapless justice minister have hung them out to dry.
I’ve spent the last 45 years with one foot in each language community. Decades in Quebec City and in Ottawa have taught me to always try to be patient and understanding in the face of what is clearly discrimination, if not worse, and it exists on both sides.
Problem is, bilingualism really is a fundamental characteristic of Canada that is being whittled away by the characterization of it as not just a cost but…even as a threat to our children’s health!
It would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous and sad. If we continue down that road, where two official languages become too much to bear, I know how the message will be decoded in the only province with a French majority.
It may be old hat, but national unity is on the table as Parliament discusses Bill C-13. It’s tragic, but Trudeau’s consistent failure to defend minority language rights (French outside Quebec and English in Quebec) could have devastating long-term consequences for Canada.
Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
MPs agree Canadian gov't should improve new disability benefit
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
Katy Perry's mom was fooled by AI images of the singer at the Met Gala
Katy Perry did not attend the Met Gala on Monday, but some of the singer’s fans – and even her mom – thought she did.
Local Spotlight
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.