Questions

Debates of the Senate - QUESTION PERIOD—  Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and concerns the closure of 98 of the 120 Service Canada offices over the next three years. You will remember, honourable senators, that I have been closely following the reorganization of Service Canada centres since February 2011. I have never shied away from extolling the merits of Service Canada, especially the provision of services to official language ...

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Debates of the Senate - QUESTION PERIOD—  Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. The government, as Senator Tardif just mentioned, justified its decision to abolish the second-language training program by saying that it had become too expensive, but that bilingualism remains a priority. Since bilingualism remains a priority for the government, can the Leader of the Government in the Senate explain what directives have been sent to ...

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DEBATE OF THE SENATE - QUESTION PERIOD Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government and concerns the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. Last week, in Calgary, the Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty, announced in his economic update . . . Let me be clear: we will not be bound by ideology when it comes to making decisions to keep our economy strong and protect Canadians, their financial security and their jobs. He also said: We ...

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Debates of the Senate – ORDERS OF THE DAY—  Senator Chaput: You posted the notice of vacancy, which stated that proficiency in both official languages was essential. Everyone agrees on that. Then, the selection committee used a recruiting firm to help it during the hiring process. Was this recruiting firm informed that proficiency in both official languages was essential? Were employees of this firm informed in advance that it was very important for candidates to be proficient in both ...

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Debates of the Senate - QUESTION PERIOD—  Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. The health research initiative in official language minority communities has been cancelled. It was being managed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This initiative is key to the development of official language minority communities because it provides data on the health of these groups and such data are often requested when communities apply ...

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Debates of the Senate - Question Period Hon. Maria Chaput: When we talk about the roadmap, I think it would be important for the communities to receive an evaluation of what has been done so far and to then look at what is planned for the next two years before renewing the roadmap. This would allow for consultation between the government and the communities. Since that is the government's intention, does the leader not believe that it would be a ...

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Debates of the Senate - Question Period Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and has to do with how the likely budget cuts could affect official language minority communities. We have learned that senior officials have been instructed to reduce spending in their respective departments by anywhere from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. I am not criticizing the decision, for it is necessary because of the current fragile economic ...

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Debates of the Senate - Question Period Hon. Maria Chaput: The Leader of the Government in the Senate said that her government is showing leadership and I agree. She said, however, that an increased number of federal institutions now have to report on how they are meeting their obligations under Part VII of the Official Languages Act. Is it fair to say that leadership has to go further than simply obliging the institutions to report on their activities? Should leadership ...

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Debates of the Senate - Question Period   Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.   Last week, I raised serious concerns about the fact that Mr. Persichilli, a man who until recently wrote anti-French comments in his newspaper column, is now the Prime Minister's director of communications.   Now, this week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has decided to have business cards printed in English only. I would like ...

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Debates from the Senate - Question Period Hon. Maria Chaput: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and concerns the Prime Minister's new director of communications. The gentleman in question wrote an incendiary column about Quebec and Canada's two official languages. This summer, columnist Angelo Persichilli spoke about Canadian bilingualism as an enormous waste defended by crusaders for French. Yet he was hired by the Prime Minister to be his director of communications. ...

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