Like his colleague Emmanuella Lambropoulos before him, Liberal MP for Westmount Marc Garneau continued his crusade against the Official Languages Act by falling into the trap of misinformation.
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Accused on both sides of undermining his own government’s draft law to protect the French, Mr Garneau gave a lengthy update on his Facebook page in the middle of the night on Wednesday.
He asserts in his text that “in the event of a conflict of interpretation between C-13 and the French Language Charter of Quebec, Law 96 prevails, a law which, moreover, cannot be challenged under the ‘preventive invocation of the derogation’ clause’.
A proposal already rejected
The problem is that the idea of giving the Quebec Charter precedence over federal law, stemming from an amendment to the Bloc Québécois, was deemed inadmissible by the committee chairman on February 7 because it went beyond the scope of the bill.
In other words, he was kicked out of C-13, the Bloc Québécois appealed the decision, and the other parties voted to end the proposal.
“Liberals are literally telling lies: they are now using misinformation to stoke fear among English-speaking voters,” complained Mario Beaulieu, Bloc spokesman for official languages.
Emmanuella Lambropoulos was angered when she recently claimed that a constituent in her equestrian sport was denied English language services by her doctor because of Bill 96, while Quebec law clearly states that it is forbidden to provide services to a patient in his official language refuse selection.
“Is there just one person in Quebec who thinks thousands of Anglophones will lose access to health care? All of this is getting pathetic,” added Mr Beaulieu.
In a notable outing last week, Liberal Francis Drouin denounced the “smoke show” of his “Montreal Island” colleagues who were spreading “misinformation.”
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Doubts about the future of C-13
It’s unclear if Marc Garneau – who couldn’t speak to us due to his “schedule” – will vote against C-13 as he opposes more generally any mention of the French language charter in C-13.
One thing is certain, some of his colleagues have already shown their colors. Ms. Lambropoulos announced on CJAD that she would be voting against C-13 “in its current form.” Mont-Royal elected Anthony Housefather pledged to do the same.
Even Minister Marc Miller, who nonetheless denounced his colleagues’ stance last week, cast doubt on his position on Wednesday, ruling that amendments from the bloc and Conservatives are undermining “the spirit” of C-13.
This position earned him strong condemnation from Alexandre Cédric Doucet, President of the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB), who stamped his foot while waiting for the official language reform to be passed.
“If Bill C-13 is approved by Cabinet, Marc Miller should resign as Minister. Commitment to ministerial solidarity,” he wrote on Twitter.
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