Statement made on 30 September 2009 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. I do not understand how we came to be in the absurd position of recruiting an American firm to teach Canadian military personnel French.
We recently learned that National Defence gave a $285,000 contract to Colorado-based Globelink Foreign Language Center to teach French to Canadian military personnel. This is scandalous and unacceptable. Unfortunately, this government seems to tolerate and even encourage it.
Why, after 40 years of the Official Languages Act in Canada, can we not find anyone, not a single person, not a single company, to teach French to our military? Why are we paying Americans to teach one of Canada's official languages to Canadians?
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