These comments are direct quotations from the Hansard
documents.
Official Languages Act
Right Hon. Joe Clark
(Calgary Centre, PC): Mr. Speaker, I very much regret that position
and hope that when the Prime Minister comes back, it will be reconsidered.
Earlier this week, the supporting documentation on the long gun registry
report was published in English only. The government leader in the other
place said it is a legitimate position to ask that official documents be
published in both official languages. It is more than a legitimate
position; it is an obligation under the Official Languages Act.
Why did the Government of Canada abandon the spirit and perhaps the letter
of the Official Languages Act in this case? May we have a guarantee that
the government will begin again to respect both the spirit and the letter
of the Official Languages Act?
Hon. Don Boudria (Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the
House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the right hon. member has it
incorrect. In fact what happened was that all documents that were
available at the time were tabled in the House of Commons. A backgrounder
for the people that were working on the information had not been
translated at the time and therefore was not tabled. It is in the process
of being translated. I am informed that it could be tabled possibly as
early as next Monday.
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