Statement made on 30 September 2009 by Senator Joan Fraser
Hon. Joan Fraser:
Honourable senators, I suggest to the leader that she may want to check the blues in her response to Senator Tardif's first question. I think I heard the leader refer to the college at Lac Saint-Jean, and there is a gap of several hundred kilometres between Lac Saint-Jean and Saint-Jean; I am sure it was a slip of the tongue.
On the matter of official languages, some days ago, I asked the leader about the future of the veterans' hospital at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue in Quebec. I asked whether we were to expect a transfer of that hospital to provincial jurisdiction.
We learn now in the newspapers that we apparently are to expect such a transfer and that those negotiations are underway. Many questions can be raised about that situation. Will the leader tell me if we can expect a commitment from the Government of Canada that no such transfer will occur without a permanent guarantee that the Official Languages Act of Canada will continue to be observed at the hospital?
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