From Don McPherson today, a column focused on a new private members bill from Thomas Mulcair that would "amend the Canada Labour Code to apply business 'francization' rules in the provincial Bill 101 to companies operating in Quebec under federal jurisdiction." Mulcair makes a tortured argument on why his bill is different from two extremely similar Bloc efforts but is ultimately uncompelling in that regard.
McPherson then drops a bit of a bomb - at least to me - from Michael Ignatieff's speech on Sunday to Quebec Liberals:
"That choice [whether to support Mulcair's private members bill applying 101 to federally regulated business in Quebec]might be especially difficult for the party of Pierre Trudeau and the Official Languages Act.
At the Liberals' Quebec convention on the weekend, party leader Michael Ignatieff called for the promotion of French and said that 'Bill 101 and the Official Languages Act are not in opposition, they are complementary.'
And the Liberal critic on official languages, Pablo Rodriguez, said the party might support Mulcair's bill.
But yesterday, Liberal MP Marlene Jennings told me she would speak against Mulcair's bill in the party caucus before a vote in the Commons on the principle of the bill."
If any commenter can explain to me how Bill 101 and the Official Languages Act - two pieces of legislation attempting to achieve exactly opposite goals - are "not in opposition, they are complementary", wins a signed Silver-Powers sweatshirt. Bonus points if you can explain to me why the Liberals are now taking official positions on private members bills.