I’ve promised to start posting my Spin Doctors pieces that are appear in The Hill Times each week. This week’s question was about the appointment of a unilingual Auditor General.
“The Liberal caucus walked out on a House of Commons and a Senate vote, on Nov. 3 to protest the appointment of Michael Ferguson, a unilingual former New Brunswick auditor general, as Canada’s new AG – what message did the party send to Canadians?”
My answer:
The result of the House and Senate votes was a foregone conclusion, whether the Liberals showed up or not. This is a perverse of our antiquated first-past-the-post voting system, which gives the Conservatives near-absolute power, despite receiving support from less than 40% of Canadians who voted in the last election.
The Liberal walkout was merely symbolic, but I think the boycott expressed some of the frustration that much of the opposition is feeling right now.
As Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser has said, bilingualism is a key competency for top civil servants. This is presumably why the Auditor General job description clearly stated that ability to speak both English and French is a requirement. By selecting a unilingual Auditor General, the Conservatives have delivered a figurative slap in the face to francophone Canadians.
Installing a unilingual Auditor General signals to Canada that the government does not take our country’s commitment to bilingualism seriously. Perhaps this is unsurprising. The Conservatives have finally formed their much-coveted majority government, and have done so without winning over Quebeckers. Perhaps they are cynically rethinking the need to embrace policies that protect language rights.
Scridb filter