By Gordon Lambie
Local Journalism Initiative
David Lametti, Canada’s Justice Minister and Attorney General was in Lennoxville on Thursday alongside Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Brome-Missisquoi candidate Pascale St-Onge to meet with members of the local English community. In particular, the topic of the day was concerns about the rights of Quebec’s English-speaking minority in the context of conversations around Quebec’s proposed language law revisions, Bill 96, and the federal government’s proposed modernization of the Official Languages Act, Bill C-32.
“We’re hearing a strong sense of disquiet and even fear, particularly with regard to being able to get services like health and mental health services in English,” Lametti said, pointing out that these are areas that traditionally fall under provincial jurisdiction.
In general, Lametti said that what he was hearing was concerns about the possible impacts of Bill 96, to which his response was that the government will remain vigilant.
