How a Liberal MP’s outburst reignited tensions between francophones

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OTTAWA — Franco-Ontarian Liberal MP Francis Drouin’s scatological reference against two Quebec nationalist witnesses in committee on Monday made Quebec media headlines this week — and the drama is still ongoing.

On Thursday, Drouin apologized unreservedly for his comments but the Conservative party and the Bloc Québécois want him to step down or force him of from his prestigious position as chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie.

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It all started when the House of Commons committee on official languages invited Frédéric Lacroix, author of the book “Why Bill 101 is a failure,” and Nicolas Bourdon, a CEGEP professor who is part of a advocacy group to extend Bill 101 to CEGEPs, as part of a study on federal funding for minority-language post-secondary institutions.

Both witnesses argued that English post-secondary institutions are overfunded comparatively to the English population in the province, and that francophone and allophone students who study in those institutions are more likely to work, consume cultural products and overall live their life in English.

They cited among other things a 2022 study from Statistics Canada that found that Quebecers whose mother tongue is French are nearly six times more likely to use predominantly English at work if they graduated from an English-language institution, and said that it is one of the factors contributing to the decline of French in the province.

Drouin, who represents a mostly francophone riding in Eastern Ontario, took offence to their remarks, calling them “pretty extremist.” He said that McGill University or Dawson College are not to blame for the decline of French in Quebec, but that it is an international phenomenon happening even in France and in parts of Africa.

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“Is ‘extremist’ parliamentary language? Is it acceptable to characterize me that way?” asked Lacroix, adding that maybe Drouin also considers Statistics Canada to be “extremist” as well.

Drouin said that he had been hearing those same arguments about English post-secondary institutions being blamed for the anglicization of Quebec his entire life and that they are not representative of reality: “Sorry, but you’re full of s–t (“plein de marde”),” he told the witnesses. “I will withdraw my comment. But you are way off base,” he added.

Bloc MP Mario Beaulieu intervened, saying that Drouin was bullying the witnesses and engaging in “Quebec bashing.” Drouin shot back that the Bloc has “never defended francophones in a minority situation.”

On Wednesday, Drouin told reporters that he would apologize to Lacroix and Bourdon if they felt offended by his comments, but he had not heard from either of them.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said that Drouin had managed to draw attention to what he called the “m-word.” “Now, the entire planet knows that human feces, in a vulgar French Canadian and Quebecois jargon, takes an ‘a’ and not an ‘e’,” he said. (“Marde” is indeed a common deviation of the French word “merde” which means “s–t.”)

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Blanchet continued by saying that Drouin’s injurious exchange had disqualified him from being not only the chair of the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie, but its international chair as well. Francophone parliamentary associations from around the world are set to meet in Montreal this summer.

But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not seem keen on forcing his MP to step down when asked by Blanchet to do so during Wednesday’s question period, and downplayed the events, saying that Drouin had withdrawn his comments immediately.

“It should surprise no one that the Bloc Québécois’ latest battle horse is to attack a Franco-Ontarian. They do not like francophones who speak French outside of Quebec,” said Trudeau.

Minister of Employment and Alberta MP Randy Boissonnault also attempted a rebuttal of Lacroix’s and Bourdon’s testimony, saying that he had studied in French at Campus St. Jean in Alberta and that it had not made his home province more French.

Blanchet said that Boissonnault, who is also minister of official languages, demonstrated Canada’s “abysmal ignorance” of Quebec’s unique situation with his comments.

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“No one thinks that studying in French in Alberta will make those graduates work in French,” he said. “Nobody is working in French in Alberta, except French teachers.”

Those comments in turn earned Blanchet a rebuttal from the director general of ACFA, an organization promoting Alberta’s francophone population.

“Excuse me (Mr. Blanchet), but we are 25,440 working in French in Alberta in a variety of areas according to the 2021 census. I myself work in French and I’m not working in the education field. Check your facts,” wrote Amy Vachon-Chabot on X.

On Thursday, Drouin used the first few minutes of the committee on official languages to issue a formal apology to the witnesses, despite multiple interruptions by the Bloc and Conservative members who were tabling a motion to force him to apologize.

Conservative MP Joël Godin even suggested that Drouin’s apology be scrubbed from the record since he should not have used a point of order to do it. Godin still went on to table his motion asking Drouin to apologize for his comments during Monday’s meeting.

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His colleague, Bernard Généreux, issued an amendment to ask for Drouin’s expulsion as chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie, whereas the Bloc’s Mario Beaulieu added a subamendment to force Drouin to write a written apology.

NDP MP Niki Ashton noted that it was unfortunate that this had dragged on for nearly four days, and said he was worried for Canada’s international reputation in la francophonie.

In the end, Liberal MP Darrell Samson filibustered to stop members from voting on the motion, but it seems likely that it will be on the agenda at the next meeting.

On Friday, Bloc MP René Villemure, who is vice-chair of the Canadian branch of Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie, convened a special meeting of the association on May 23 to hold a secret vote on Drouin’s chairmanship after the “full of s–t” incident.

If he loses the vote, Drouin will lose his position as chair of the Canadian branch as well as the international branch of the association.

National Post
calevesque@postmedia.com

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