Less than a week into his new role, the freshly appointed Minister of Official Languages, Marc Miller, has been called to testify before the Standing Committee on Official Languages regarding his stance on the decline of French in Canada.
The committee, in a unanimous decision on Thursday, has requested that Miller provide a two-hour testimony on the issue of French decline, particularly in Quebec, before Feb. 12.
This call to testify comes in response to remarks made by Miller earlier in the week, where he expressed his frustration with the ongoing public discourse around the decline of French, characterizing it as primarily rooted in identity politics and electioneering.
Although Miller was originally scheduled to appear before the committee to discuss Prime Minister Mark Carney’s study on French usage, he was notably absent from the meeting, leading to surprise and inquiries from Conservative MP Joël Godin.
Committee chair Yvan Baker, representing the Liberals, confirmed that while Miller declined to attend that day, he had shown willingness to participate in the future.
During the meeting, Godin redirected his questions to Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali, who refrained from commenting on the issue of French decline.
Keyphrase: French language decline
