Prime Minister announces Bernard Lord will lead Cross-Canada Official Languages consultations

Thank you all for joining us here today. As any young Canadian student knows, two great European powers, France and Britain, fought for control of our country. These nations competed with each other for centuries in Europe and brought their ancient conflict to the new world.  But something quite extraordinary happened to these old combatants in Canada. Thanks to the vision of the fathers of confederation, especially our first Prime Minister sir John A. Macdonald and his French-Canadian lieutenant George-Etienne Cartier, the French and English achieved unprecedented reconciliation in Canada. They built a new relationship, based on mutual respect and appreciation for their linguistic and cultural differences, and on their understanding that by working together, they could build a unique and united country.

No part of Canada has embraced the vision of the fathers of confederation with more success than New Brunswick. In fact, it is the only province that is officially bilingual under the constitution. So it is fitting that we are making today’s important announcement about the future of official languages policy here in New Brunswick.

In the 2007 Speech From the Throne, our government affirmed its commitment to the principle of linguistic duality and expressed our determination to promote the vitality of Canada’s two official languages.  That’s why I am pleased to announce that former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord has agreed to be our government’s special advisor for consultations on official languages. Mr. Lord will conduct these consultations in seven cities across Canada during the first two weeks of December. He will meet with community representatives and experts and find out what more can be done to ensure that Ottawa is meeting the needs of our minority language communities and he will deliver his findings to minister Verner in January.

It is hard to imagine anyone better qualified for this assignment. As premier of New Brunswick, Mr. Lord worked hard to modernize the province’s language laws to make them more effective for New Brunswickers.  Mr. Lord is a proven leader, experienced consensus-builder and, through his experiences and his actions, the very model of a bilingual and bicultural Canadian. His findings will help the government and minister Verner provide language programs and services that serve the unique needs of minority communities. This will help us to develop our strategy for the next phase of the action plan on official languages.

We’re making sure that minority language communities here in New Brunswick and across Canada are getting the benefits they deserve. This is how we’re building more and stronger bridges between our minority and majority language communities, so we can move forward together in a strong and united Canada.

On behalf of all Canadians, I want to thank Bernard Lord for taking on this important job. We all look forward to hearing his findings in January.

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