Harper draws line on French
Not all federal officials need to be bilingual: PM
OTTAWA – When it comes to bilingualism, Stephen Harper has drawn the line at officers of Parliament, the prime minister and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
In a year-end interview with the French-language television station TVA, the prime minister said he favours “institutional” bilingualism over “individual” bilingualism and believes only certain jobs should require proficiency in both official languages.
“I think for someone who is at the head of an organization in our system, they must be bilingual, but it’s not the case with all the members of an institution,” he said. “For example, I seriously think that the prime minister needs to be bilingual, but does every cabinet minister need to be bilingual? I think that’s too much. Does the chief justice of the Supreme Court need to be bilingual? Absolutely. Is it important for each judge, I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s not fair.”
While he doesn’t regret appointing unilingual Auditor General Michael Ferguson, noting he was most qualified at the time — before the NDP tabled a bill requiring all officers of Parliament to be bilingual, which the Conservatives eventually agreed to support — Harper confessed it’s his “responsibility” to “avoid this type of situation in the future.”
He also appealed to francophones and Quebecers not to “doubt” his commitment to the French language.
“As I’ve said many times, the origin of the Canadian state is with (Samuel de) Champlain, his arrival in Quebec, and we have this heritage and it’s my duty to respect it and to protect it,” he said in an interview with TVA host Pierre Bruneau.
Asked about the Parti Québécois’ plan to toughen French-language laws, Harper refused to weigh in, noting it’s a matter of provincial jurisdiction, but once again underlined his devotion to the language of love: “As prime minister, I think I’ve given more space to French than any prime minister in the history of the country,” he proclaimed.
Harper also dismissed rumours of an imminent cabinet shuffle and plan to prorogue Parliament and begin 2013 with a new throne speech.