April 17, 2019, Quebec City, Quebec – Pierre Paul-Hus, Shadow Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, and Alupa Clarke, Shadow Minister for Official Languages and La Francophonie and Member of Parliament for Beauport- Limoilou, today issued the following statement regarding the government’s decision to replace the RCMP’s French Cadet Training Program with a bilingual pilot program:

“Canada’s Conservatives strongly support official bilingualism and recognize the benefits of receiving training in both French and English. We also recognize the challenges the RCMP has faced over the years with regards to recruitment and retention.

“However, we are deeply concerned that the Liberal government’s decision to eliminate the RCMP’s French Cadet Training Program will have a negative impact on the RCMP’s ability to attract francophone recruits.

“If the Liberals truly supported the Official Languages Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they would have introduced a bilingual pilot program, while still offering a French program, so as not to put francophone cadets at an unfair disadvantage.

“We sincerely hope that the Trudeau government will reconsider their decision and respect the rights of francophones across the country.”

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