Trudeau says Ottawa watching Quebec's proposed changes to language law 'carefully'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is watching “carefully” how Quebec’s Bill 96 is playing out provincially and respects the freedom of members of Parliament to protest it.
Heading into the House of Commons on Wednesday, Trudeau said in French that the Liberal Party will always protect minorities across the country, whether Francophone linguistic minorities outside of Quebec or Anglophone linguistic minorities within the province.
His comments come after members of the Bloc Quebecois argued it was “unacceptable” that a “large contingent” of Liberal MPs went to Montreal over the weekend to demonstrate against Bill 96.
"As a provocation in Quebec's jurisdiction, we can't imagine anything worse than that," said Bloc Québécois House Leader Alain Therrien on Monday. "Don't get involved in this.”
Mount Royal’s Anthony Housefather, Vaudreuil—Soulanges’s Peter Schiefke, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel’s Patricia Lattanzio, Vimy’s Annie Koutrakis, Saint-Laurent’s Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Lac-Saint-Louis’ Francis Scarpaleggia, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle’s Anju Dhillon and Pierrefonds—Dollard’s Sameer Zuberi were all in attendance at Saturday’s event.
“I attended in support of my community and electors. We are legitimately concerned about a law that takes away historical rights of English speaking Quebecers and removes the bill from the scope of the Quebec Charter and which preemptively and in an omnibus way uses the notwithstanding clause under the federal charter,” reads a statement to CTVNews.ca from Housefather.
The proposed legislation seeks to affirm that the only official and common language of Quebec is French and to that end would make several amendments to the Charter of the French Language, or Bill 101. The central aim would be to ensure that French is used exclusively in workplaces and municipalities.
But many argue it infringes on the rights of Anglophones and Indigenous Peoples and will make accessing essential services difficult, including health care.
Quebec Premier François Legault sought to address what he called “disinformation” swirling around the bill on Tuesday.
"I want to reassure everybody speaking English, even if their fathers went to an English school or not... [providers] will not refuse to treat a patient in English if it's needed," he said.
"I want to be very clear, there is no change at all in the actual situation of services given to Anglophones and immigrants in English in our health-care system -- that's clear.”
Legal experts argue it’s not so simple and are skeptical of the bill’s overreach.
The dean of McGill’s law school, Robert Leckey wrote on Twitter that while there is a provision allowing the civil administration to use another language in addition to French where “health, public safety, or the principles of natural justice so require,” it doesn’t read as a blanket exemption.
“To me, it looks much more like a narrow, case-by-case exception, perhaps with a high threshold,” he said. “Read alongside the exceptions for public safety and natural justice, the exception for health may be interpreted narrowly – even limited to situations of life and death.”
Several Liberal ministers were also asked about Bill 96 on Wednesday and their colleagues’ decision to attend the Saturday protest.
“MPs have the right to represent whatever the points of view of their constituents there,” Canadian Heritage Minister and Quebec Lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez said in French.
He went on to add that there is a general consensus the French language is under threat across the country but it’s also reasonable to have questions about the proposed legislation.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne echoed a similar sentiment that there must be substantial debate on the issue.
“There are elements of this law which I think do not correspond to the will of many Quebecers and that will be up to the National Assembly to do this work,” he said in French.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV News Montreal’s Selena Ross.
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
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Local Spotlight
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
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.
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.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.