Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Finally! A Quebec politician speaks the truth - for once

Conservative MP Maxime Bernier has issued a lengthy statement explaining his opposition to Quebec's language laws, saying he won't be silenced by insults and mockery.

The former federal cabinet minister has been excoriated by Quebec politicians and pundits since telling a Halifax radio station on Friday that Quebecers don't need Bill 101, the province's landmark language legislation.

But Bernier has responded by going even further -- today, on his personal blog, he published a long note in French and English explaining his opposition to a law that, in Quebec, has been considered sacrosanct by the political class for more than three decades.

Bernier says it's important for Quebec to remain a predominantly French-language society, but that shouldn't be achieved by restricting people's rights and freedom of choice.

The 1977 legislation, which limited English on street signs and access to English public schools, is often credited with saving the French language from decline in the province.

The Harper government has refused to wade into the debate, saying that it "respects provincial jurisdiction."

Brian,

i wish and dream they re more politicians of those in Quebec.

I agree with Harper on this one, it is up to the province what they do or don't do around language. If we want to speak Swahili hear in BC, that is our business, not Ottawa's.

In a FREE country - people should be able to speak whatever they want. And, send their kids to schools to learn any language they want,and to put up signs in any language they want, and operate their business in any language they want.

Quebec is not free - it's a travesty.

Quebec has decided that French is the language they want in Quebec, don't like, vote them out and put in the government that does what you want, that is what you do in a free country. None of my business what they do in Quebec with their language, if you feel so strongly about it, move to Quebec and change it.

Think this will help out the Alberta GOVT stuck paying a lawyer's / court costs of $120-140 000 for the guy that fought a $54 dollar traffic ticket saying the ticket should of been written in French.

I THINK NOT !!

If this happened in Quebec there would be no way in hell. Quebec laws are different than the REST of CANADA.

Be care full of what you wish for you just might get it and
then the trouble starts and disintegration sets in. Just
look at countries in Africa were many languages are spoken. I
don't think anyone wants that. But YMMV Cheers NC

I guess you are right.

I hope the business exodus out of Quebec continues. It just pains me that Quebec has been the recipient of Canadian taxpayer dollars (over what they contribute) for what seems like forever.

It's time they sank (or at least payed their own bills) - for writing up laws that would make most sensible people want to leave and quit living there.

As long as I have to pay them with my taxpayer dollars - I'm going to complain about having to put up with them.

Don't complain to the campfire, complain to your buddy Steve, he is the one who continues with equalization payments, but we both know he won't do that as it is more important for him to get votes in Quebec so he can get that majority he so covets.

Don't tell me I should vote for Mikey...

They will both do the same thing when it concerns Quebec so if that is your issue then it doesn't matter.

I've been on a couple business trips to Quebec. Fun place, nice people. I had pictured them to be rude, like a stereotypical Frenchman, but the people I met were nothing of the sort.

True enough.

But I can't think of one reason why I'd vote Liberal - over the Conservatives.

Well - maybe I do have ONE reason - to vote Liberal. The Conservatives are totally clueless - on this one.


The Conservative government's controversial bill that would impose mandatory jail time for offenders caught growing a handful of marijuana plants appears headed to the trash can.

The Liberals announced Wednesday they will not support Bill S-10, which has already been passed by the Senate.

"I'm very disappointed that they have had this complete flip-flop," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told Postmedia News.

The Liberals, who supported previous versions of the bill, now say it would excessively punish some people for minor offences and would cost too much to implement because it will jam prisons that are already filled to the brink. The Conservatives have said they will spend $2 billion over the next five years to expand prisons.

"We just think this is bad criminal justice policy," Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters Wednesday. "It's going to cost this country billions of dollars. We think it's the wrong way to go."

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois have always been against the bill, first introduced in 2008, but the Liberals helped the Tories pass it through the House of Commons and onto the Senate in December 2009. Liberals in the upper chamber watered the bill down and it was in its final stages when Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament, killing the legislation.

A new bill � closer to the original version that ignored the Liberal amendment � was introduced in the Senate in May 2010.

The Liberal senators tried again to amend the bill at the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee but failed after losing their majority in the upper chamber. The bill passed on Dec. 13, 2010.

It's now in the hands of MPs and on Wednesday the government put S-10 on notice, meaning it could be raised for debate in the next few days. That move prompted the Liberals to announce their new position, which effectively seals the fate of the bill and will force the Tories to start from scratch, again.

Nicholson, however, isn't prepared to accept that the bill is headed for defeat.

He's hoping enough Liberals will break party ranks and defy Ignatieff, siding instead with the government. "I'm hoping that they will lean on him to get this bill passed. So I'm not giving up."

While the Liberals say the bill could unfairly target young people, Nicholson said the proposed changes to the existing laws are aimed squarely at drug traffickers and organized crime.

The bill would impose a mandatory minimum sentence of six months in jail for an offender convicted of growing between five and 201 marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking. The more plants that are grown, the longer the minimum sentence.

The bill also proposes a series of other changes to current drug laws, including mandatory sentences for drug crimes committed near schools.

"This bill sends out the right message and the idea that we shouldn't be jailing people who are selling drugs around schools or people who are bringing drugs into Canada is something I completely disagree with," said Nicholson. "And I think most Canadians agree would agree with me."

Critics of automatic sentencing say the measures will flood prisons that are already overcrowded, will strip judges of their discretion to impose sentences as they see fit and are ineffective in reducing drug use and improving public safety.

"It's going to add huge amounts of money to Canadian prison costs, it's going to target young people, a guy who gets messed up with Tylenol 3 or has six marijuana plants," Ignatieff said. "We just think this is not the right way to go for Canadian justice policy. It follows a failed American model so we're going to vote against it."

Read the book Harperland: Politics of Control by Lawerence Martin.

Having spent a lot of time in Canada and in Quebec, over the last 40 years... the way the rest of Canada caters to Quebec, it is definitely the tail wagging the rest of the dog...

Quebec could never stand financially on its own two feet..

Lot of great folks in Quebec... but also a lot of fruitcakes..

Quebec City is my favorite city in North America...even over Victoria..