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PQ Loses Motion to remove Maple Leaf Flag - Pushes Ahead with French Language Restrictions

Wetcoaster

By Wetcoaster
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Wetcoaster Canucks First-Line

Wetcoaster

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Quebec's national assembly voted to keep the Canadian flag in the legislative council room, known as the Red Room. The Parti Québécois motion to remove Canadian flag was rejected in 53-65 vote.

hi-national-assembly-red-room-cp-03622556-852-8col.jpg

After weeks of controversy surrounding the so-called flag flap, Quebec politicians have voted to keep the Maple Leaf in the provincial legislature.

The motion, put forward by the minority Parti Québécois government, asked for the removal of the flag from the Red Room, used for official ceremonies in Quebec's national assembly during all proceedings and debates.

The vote, held this afternoon at the legislature, saw the motion defeated by 12 votes.

The Liberals and the Coalition Avenir Québec voted against the removal of the flag, while the PQ and Québec Solidaire supported its departure.

CAQ leader François Legault had previously said that his party, created as an alliance of federalists and separatists, would favour the status quo.

The Liberals argued the flag should stay as long as Quebec remains a Canadian province.

In the past, the Maple Leaf only had a place in the legislature building when the Liberals were in power.

It was added to the committee chamber in the 1980s and '90s, and again by Jean Charest's government in 2003.

When the PQ came to power after the Sept. 4 election, the party moved to have the Maple Leaf removed.

However, the PQ's minority status and the CAQ's refusal to lend its support meant the motion generated an unusual amount of backlash.

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...l-assembly.html

And following through on campaign promises, the PQ has introduced legislation to further restrict the use of the English language.

New legislation introduced by Quebec's minority Parti Québécois government would add new restrictions on the use of English in the workplace and access to English schools.

The amendments to the province's language charter, often referred to as Bill 101, were introduced in the national assembly this morning. The bill also proposes amendments to the province's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Among the proposals in the new Bill 14 is the widening of the types of businesses required to comply with the rules set out in the French Language Charter. Currently, Bill 101 only applies to companies with 50 or more employees. The changes would mean it would apply to businesses with as few as 26 employees.

It requires companies to implement "francization measures" that include the use of French in meetings and internal communications, and training on any new software or other work tools that are changed to comply with the legislation.

Companies that provide goods or services would be required to implement further measures, including adjusting work schedules and evaluating an employee's level of French, to ensure customers are served in the province's official language.

Bill 14 also makes vague reference to closing a loophole that allows students who aren't otherwise eligible to attend English public schools to do so by first attending a private school.

"The same rule applies to instruction in English received as a result of trickery, deception or a temporary artificial situation the sole purpose of which is to circumvent the provisions of this Act," the bill reads.

When it comes to French in schools, the PQ wants to add a requirement that children attending public day care be "familiarized" with the French language.

In order to graduate from CEGEP, students will also need to demonstrate a knowledge of spoken and written French at a level deemed appropriate to function in French-speaking Quebec society.

Bill 14 highlights

Amendments to the Charter of the French Language:

  • Designation of a minister responsible for language matters, planning and policy.

  • Educational institutions must take reasonable steps to ensure that students receive sufficient training in French to prepare them to interact and flourish in Quebec society.

  • Businesses that employ 26 to 49 regular employees must make French the everyday language of the workplace.

  • Businesses that serve the public must communicate with customers in French.

Amendments to the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms:

  • French is defined as the official language of Quebec and a "fundamental factor of its social cohesion."

  • Every person has a right to live, receive an education and work in French in Quebec.

  • Immigrants to Quebec have a right to learn French and to benefit from reasonable measures to facilitate their integration.

Campaign promises

During the campaign for the September election, the PQ promised to widen the scope of Bill 101 to include smaller companies with the aim of further protecting the French language, originally pledging to require that all businesses that employ more than 10 employees to use French in all staff communications.

The proposal was met with opposition. In September, members of Montreal's anglophone community protested in front of Quebec's National Assembly to oppose the PQ's intentions to reinforce the language law.

Following the vocal opposition to its planned changes, the PQ has stepped back from the platform promise.

The Charter of the French Language was originally adopted in 1977 to reaffirm that Quebec's common language is French.

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...guage-bill.html

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ronthecivil Canucks First-Line

ronthecivil

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^ ROFL. Better move the Habs outta town then cuz dey ain't speakin' english in da office. Da 26 guys on da bench ain't speakin french when dey be on 'ome ice dats for sure.

Looks like Quebec will be fighting BC to lead the Canadian recession with those kinds of policies.

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Coda Abbotsford Star

Coda

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What's funny is that the Maple Leaf is a symbol of Quebec: Quebec has more Maple Trees than any other province. And Quebec's Sugar Maples produce about 3/4 of the world's Maple Syrup.

What's more it was largely French Canadians who advocated changing from the Red Ensign to our current National Flag...most English Canadians wouldn't have minded keeping the old one.

During the Second World War, the Red Ensign was the national flag Canadian troops carried into battle. A joint committee of the Senate and House of Commons was appointed on November 8, 1945, to recommend a national flag to officially adopt. By May 9 the following year, 2,695 designs were submitted and the committee reported back with a recommendation "that the national flag of Canada should be the Canadian red ensign with a maple leaf in autumn golden colours in a bordered background of white". The Legislative Assembly of Quebec, however, had urged the committee to not include any of what it deemed as "foreign symbols", including the Union Flag, and Mackenzie King, then still prime minister, declined to act on the report, leaving the order to fly the Canadian Red Ensign in place.[12][16][21]

By the 1960s, however, debate for an official Canadian flag intensified and became a subject of controversy, culminating in the Great Flag Debate of 1964.[22] In 1963, the minority Liberal government of Lester B. Pearson gained power and decided to adopt an official Canadian flag through parliamentary debate. The principal political proponent of the change was Prime Minister Lester Pearson. He had been a significant broker during the Suez Crisis of 1956, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[23] During the crisis, Pearson was disturbed when the Egyptian government objected to Canadian peacekeeping forces on the grounds that the Canadian flag (the Red Ensign) contained the same symbol (the Union Flag) also used as a flag by the United Kingdom, one of the belligerents.[23] Pearson's goal was for the Canadian flag to be distinctive and unmistakably Canadian. The main opponent to changing the flag was the leader of the opposition and former prime minister, John Diefenbaker, who eventually made the subject a personal crusade.[24]

Pearson was leader of a minority government and risked losing power over the issue; however, he knew the Red Ensign with the Union Jack was unpopular in Quebec, a base of support for his Liberal Party, but the Red Ensign was strongly favoured by English Canada. On May 27, 1964, Pearson's minority government introduced a motion to parliament for adoption of his favourite design of a "sea to sea" (Canada's motto) flag with blue borders and three conjoined red maple leaves on a white field. This motion led to weeks of acrimonious debate in the House of Commons and the design came to be known as the "Pearson Pennant".[25] Diefenbaker demanded a referendum be held on the flag issue, but Pearson instead formed a 15-member multi-party parliamentary committee to select a new design.

Through a period of study with political manoeuvring, the committee chose the current design, which was created by George Stanley and inspired by the flag of the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. The design was approved unanimously by the committee on October 29, 1964, and later passed by a majority vote in the House of Commons on December 15, 1964. The Senate added its approval two days later.[12]

Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, proclaimed the new flag on January 28, 1965.[12] It was inaugurated on February 15 of the same year at an official ceremony held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in the presence of Governor General Major-General Georges Vanier, the Prime Minister, the members of the Cabinet, and Canadian parliamentarians. The Canadian Red Ensign was lowered at the stroke of noon and the new Maple Leaf flag was raised. The crowd sang "O Canada" followed by "God Save the Queen".[26] Maurice Bourget, Speaker of the Senate, said "The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, for it, beyond any doubt, represents all the citizens of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief, or opinion."[26] For the nation's centennial celebrations in 1967, the Canadian government used a flag bearing the Royal Arms of Canada (whose shield was used on the Red Ensign) on a red field.[27]

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