Franco-Ontarian Liberal MP Francis Drouin, who on Monday described two witnesses who campaign for the protection of French in Quebec as “full of crap” and “extremists”, refuses to apologize and does not agree to be taken “for an idiot” by being served “an argument that doesn’t hold water”.
“No, I’m not apologizing,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday, the day after his comments to the standing committee on official languages which earned him reproaches from all political parties, including the his.
Mr. Drouin, who withdrew his remarks immediately after making them and who admits to having “got a little too involved yesterday, I’m not perfect”, would nevertheless agree to apologize “if the person feels hurt” .
“But at the same time, I must not be taken for an idiot when we come to the committee,” he said. Anglicization, we have to be honest, it’s not McGill then Dawson, the fault of the big bad English-speaking people of Montreal that this is happening. It’s an international phenomenon, it’s happening in France too. »
In turn, Frédéric Lacroix and Nicolas Bourdon, respectively independent researcher and professor member of the Regroupement pour le cégep français, explained to the committee that attending an English-speaking university or CEGEP significantly increases the probability of leading one’s life in English.
MM. Lacroix and Bourdon, two witnesses suggested by the Bloc Québécois, were invited to discuss with elected officials during a study on the financing of English-speaking post-secondary institutions in Quebec and French-speaking ones elsewhere in the country.
“You have comments that are quite extremist,” MP Drouin had first sent them. The kick-off was then given for what the president of the session, the liberal René Arsenault, would later describe as “unheard of” since he sat on the usually much more collegial committee in 2016.
Researcher Lacroix replied that Statistics Canada, “a probably extremist organization in your eyes”, demonstrated that “bilingual institutions had a very, very strong impact on the anglicization of French-speakers and allophones in Quebec”.
Mr. Lacroix also pointed out that a study he conducted concluded that the share of federal funding for Quebec’s English-speaking universities – McGill, Concordia and Bishop – is approximately four times greater than their demographic weight and that conversely , French-speaking institutions receive “significantly” less.
“Full of… contempt” for the Liberals, says the Bloc
The controversy moved to the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, when the Bloc Québécois devoted almost all of its questions to it.
First on the ice, leader Yves-François Blanchet demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggest that his MP, who allows himself “such a vulgar insult”, leave the international and Canadian presidency of the Assembly of Parliamentarians of the Francophonie.
“I understand that the Bloc continues to try to pick out squabbles. Sometimes, they manage to get them,” Mr. Trudeau replied, not without mentioning that his government will always defend the French language.
Straight away, the Bloc leader said that “he really does not understand the political price” of such a response, while “for him [M. Drouin]protecting French is an extremist position.”
“It is an endorsement by the Prime Minister himself and personally of the contempt expressed,” sent Mr. Blanchet.
The Bloc’s official languages spokesperson, Mario Beaulieu, later returned to the charge, three times rather than once.
“For the Liberals, if you are worried about the future of French in Quebec, you are extremists and you deserve the worst insults,” he said. So, the people who care about French in Quebec, they are full of one thing: full of common sense. What is the liberals’ problem with the future of French? »
Among the ministers – all French-speaking – called to the rescue, Mélanie Joly (Foreign Affairs) asked to “stop messing around” on the question of French. She judged that elected officials can be “very proud” to have a Canadian president at the head of the association.
Pablo Rodriguez, Mr. Trudeau’s lieutenant for Quebec, added that his colleague Drouin is “a proud francophone who stands up for […] French everywhere, while the Bloc Québécois doesn’t care at all.”
Upon his arrival in parliament, the Conservative spokesperson for official languages, Joël Godin, deplored Mr. Drouin’s “unacceptable” comments.
“It is not our place to berate the witnesses who very generously came to offer us their knowledge,” he said. I think he’s a civilized man. Then I hope he will apologize, that he will accept the call for apologies. »
The day before, his counterpart from the New Democratic Party, Niki Ashton, like others, insisted on the importance of parliamentarians listening to all points of view, including when they disagree.
Mr. Drouin, who describes himself as an “ardent Ontario defender” of the Charter of the French Language of Quebec, affirmed Tuesday that the remarks of the two witnesses are not “unanimously” within the research community and that the latter present statistics which have no causal link.
“You have your family, you have your wife, you fall in love with someone. There are several factors in life which mean that you may lead a life in English or a life in French. It’s a statistic. That doesn’t mean there’s a correlation between that,” he argued.
