Roller commission: Ten minutes of French for Justin Trudeau

The last witness called as part of the commission on the state of emergency on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, gave ten minutes of answers in French for a total of about five hours of testimony.

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With the exception of Steve Charland, the leader of the Farfadas anti-sanitary measures group, Mr. Trudeau has become the witness who has used French the most since the hearings began in October, when Moliere’s language was scarce.

“In Canada, when it matters, it’s done in English,” said Genevieve Tellier, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa. “We’re trying to take our position, it’s not going to work.”

Before beginning his testimony under close surveillance, Mr. Trudeau chose to swear in French, clutching a Bible in his hands. A few exchanges in French followed with the commission’s counsel, but English quickly returned to Gallop.

Ms. Tellier sees “a lack of leadership on the part of the commission and the commissioner,” Paul S. Rouleau, a Franco-Ontarian, who, through the selection of lawyers, could, for example, give more preference to the French. This is a historic exercise.

“Yes, I would like to believe that his primary mission is to learn about matters related to the Emergency Measures Act, but he is still representing the Federal National Commission,” the professor said in an interview.

Senior Quebec and French-Canadian officials spoke exclusively in English, though everyone was briefed immediately.

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“It was an eye-opener. French-speaking civil servants especially spoke English, because that’s the way things are done in the public service,” continues Genevieve Tellier.

“What is unfortunate in my opinion is that in such an open exercise, it has become a reflex. We have done everything in English with few exceptions. When it is a fundamental problem, we feel very comfortable not looking at the problem.

Of the nearly 70 witnesses, only ministers Dominique LeBlanc and Anita Anand slipped in a few sentences in French earlier Friday, after media stories highlighting the issue were published.

Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board and therefore head of the federal public service, declined to say earlier this week whether the downgrading of French at the commission reflected the reality of the federal public service.

The minister of official languages, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, said Tuesday that “work still needs to be done on the issue of Frenchization of the public service,” but predicted that Quebec Lt. Pablo Rodríguez “could have more French.”