The Higgs-Trudeau alliance against l’Acadie must come to an end
Justin Trudeau and Blaine Higgs’ governments have little in common. Yet here they are, united in a court case with the common goal of fighting the legitimate aspirations of the Acadian people.
The problem dates back to 2019, when Prime Minister Trudeau made a major blunder by appointing Brenda Murphy, a unilingual anglophone, as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.
The Société de l’Acadie du N.-B. challenged Ms Murphy’s appointment in court and won. In a decision handed down last year, the Chief Justice of what was then the Court of Queen’s Bench, Tracy DeWare, concluded that the appointment was unconstitutional. “The Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick must be bilingual and able to perform all the duties of the office in both English and French,” wrote Justice DeWare.
You can’t correct one mistake with another. But that’s what the Trudeau government has chosen to do by trying to overturn the ruling in the N.B. Court of Appeal. So a government whose ranks include Dominic LeBlanc, an Acadian minister considered to be Justin Trudeau’s right-hand man, and Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Acadian minister holding the Official Languages portfolio, has chosen to continue this battle in the courts against the SANB.
Our disappointment was not over. The New Brunswick government applied for intervener status in the Court of Appeal against the position defended by the SANB.
Blaine Higgs, Kris Austin, Justin Trudeau and Dominic LeBlanc: same battle. A scenario that would have been considered far-fetched not so long ago has now become reality.
Yet the provincial government has nothing to do with this cause. It does not appoint lieutenant-governors. If it considers it so important to intervene in court to preserve the federal government’s right to appoint a unilingual person to this position, it is not to clarify any rule of law or to prevent the creation of a “unique regime of personal bilingualism”, as we read in its brief.
It is for political reasons.
The Higgs government was handed the opportunity on a silver platter to wage a public battle to limit the scope of Acadians’ language rights. It was not going to be denied.
This is not the first time that Fredericton has taken part in a legal case led by Francophones in a minority setting.
The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique and the Fédération des parents francophones de la C.-B. have been waging a legal battle against their provincial government for over a decade because their schools are underfunded.
In July 2019, we learned that the New Brunswick government had applied for intervener status in this case before the Supreme Court of Canada. Acadian organizations, including the SANB, mobilized at the time because they feared that New Brunswick would defend a restrictive interpretation based on economic arguments. New Brunswick eventually backed down and withdrew its request to intervene.
We are asking it to do the same in the case of the Lieutenant-Governor.
As the only officially bilingual province in Canada, New Brunswick should play the role of promoter and defender of the rights of francophones outside Quebec. It should forcefully demand a bilingual lieutenant-governor. Not fight in court to encourage the hiring of other unilinguals for this position, which is supposed to bring people together.
We obviously can’t expect an administration led by Blaine Higgs to support the SANB in court. At the very least, we ask them to mind their own business and withdraw their request to intervene in this case.
As for the Government of Canada, we urge it to drop its appeal and appoint a new lieutenant-governor who can express himself or herself adequately in both of New Brunswick’s official languages.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have enough fires to put out these days without devoting resources and effort to waging a guerrilla legal war with Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives, at the expense of the Acadian people.
English translation:
The Higgs-Trudeau alliance against l’Acadie must come to an end
Justin Trudeau and Blaine Higgs’ governments have little in common. Yet here they are, united in a court case with the common goal of fighting the legitimate aspirations of the Acadian people.
The problem dates back to 2019, when Prime Minister Trudeau made a major blunder by appointing Brenda Murphy, a unilingual anglophone, as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.
The Société de l’Acadie du N.-B. challenged Ms Murphy’s appointment in court and won. In a decision handed down last year, the Chief Justice of what was then the Court of Queen’s Bench, Tracy DeWare, concluded that the appointment was unconstitutional. “The Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick must be bilingual and able to perform all the duties of the office in both English and French,” wrote Justice DeWare.
You can’t correct one mistake with another. But that’s what the Trudeau government has chosen to do by trying to overturn the ruling in the N.B. Court of Appeal. So a government whose ranks include Dominic LeBlanc, an Acadian minister considered to be Justin Trudeau’s right-hand man, and Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Acadian minister holding the Official Languages portfolio, has chosen to continue this battle in the courts against the SANB.
Our disappointment was not over. The New Brunswick government applied for intervener status in the Court of Appeal against the position defended by the SANB.
Blaine Higgs, Kris Austin, Justin Trudeau and Dominic LeBlanc: same battle. A scenario that would have been considered far-fetched not so long ago has now become reality.
Yet the provincial government has nothing to do with this cause. It does not appoint lieutenant-governors. If it considers it so important to intervene in court to preserve the federal government’s right to appoint a unilingual person to this position, it is not to clarify any rule of law or to prevent the creation of a “unique regime of personal bilingualism”, as we read in its brief.
It is for political reasons.
The Higgs government was handed the opportunity on a silver platter to wage a public battle to limit the scope of Acadians’ language rights. It was not going to be denied.
This is not the first time that Fredericton has taken part in a legal case led by Francophones in a minority setting.
The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique and the Fédération des parents francophones de la C.-B. have been waging a legal battle against their provincial government for over a decade because their schools are underfunded.
In July 2019, we learned that the New Brunswick government had applied for intervener status in this case before the Supreme Court of Canada. Acadian organizations, including the SANB, mobilized at the time because they feared that New Brunswick would defend a restrictive interpretation based on economic arguments. New Brunswick eventually backed down and withdrew its request to intervene.
We are asking it to do the same in the case of the Lieutenant-Governor.
As the only officially bilingual province in Canada, New Brunswick should play the role of promoter and defender of the rights of francophones outside Quebec. It should forcefully demand a bilingual lieutenant-governor. Not fight in court to encourage the hiring of other unilinguals for this position, which is supposed to bring people together.
We obviously can’t expect an administration led by Blaine Higgs to support the SANB in court. At the very least, we ask them to mind their own business and withdraw their request to intervene in this case.
As for the Government of Canada, we urge it to drop its appeal and appoint a new lieutenant-governor who can express himself or herself adequately in both of New Brunswick’s official languages.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have enough fires to put out these days without devoting resources and effort to waging a guerrilla legal war with Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives, at the expense of the Acadian people.