Statement made on 10 June 2008 by Senator Claudette Tardif
Hon. Claudette Tardif (Deputy Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Graham Fraser, the Commissioner of Official Languages, was very harsh in his latest annual report, criticizing the government for its lack of leadership:
The government continues to support Canada's linguistic duality in principle; however, this support has not led to a global vision in terms of government policies and the public service. This lack of leadership has resulted in a plateau being reached and, in some cases, a deterioration in the application of the official languages policy.
When will the government show some leadership in protecting and promoting linguistic rights by creating an organizational culture of respect for the use of official languages in all federal departments and agencies, by reinstating the Court Challenges Program, and by agreeing to appoint bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada?
These are concrete examples. When will the government show the leadership illustrated by these examples?
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