'Full of s---': Special meeting called over politician's comments

Liberal MP Francis Drouin answers a question in the House of Commons, February 2, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

A special meeting has been called to discuss whether Franco-Ontarian Liberal MP Francis Drouin should resign as president of the Canadian chapter of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF).

"We're going to table a motion asking members to vote on Mr. Drouin's resignation," Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure, one of the two vice presidents of the Canadian branch of the APF, confirmed to The Canadian Press on Friday.

Villemure, along with 16 other Bloc Québécois members, signed a letter requesting the meeting.

They say they do not accept Drouin's "extremely reluctant" apology on Thursday for calling two people "full of s---" and "extremists" for campaigning for the protection of the French language in Quebec.

The two people, an independent researcher and a CEGEP professor, were explaining that based on Statistics Canada data, when a francophone or allophone attends an English-speaking university or CEGEP, it significantly increases the likelihood that they will continue living their life in English.

Drouin responded by asking them if they sincerely believed "that the big anglicization problem in Quebec is McGill and Dawson College."

Later, Drouin apologized for not creating "a respectful environment" and using profanity but added that "the depth of his thinking remains unchanged."

Villemure argues Drouin is continuing to deny "the facts" and "trivialize" the fate of the province's French-speaking community.

He says it is "unacceptable, period" for someone he describes as "Canada's first elected diplomat" in matters of the French-speaking world.

After apologizing, Drouin told reporters, "I've said all I had to say" when asked if he intended to resign.

Villemure said he was "astonished" to have to ask for a vote, imploring Drouin to accept "the only verdict possible" by stepping down on his own.

"It's better than being removed," he said.

Both Bloc Québécois and Conservative Party of Canada leaders Yves-François Blanchet and Pierre Poilievre have risen in the House to call for Drouin's resignation from the APF.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers have continued to defend Drouin, noting that he has apologized.

In a written statement, New Democratic Party official languages critic Niki Ashton said Friday that she "finds it hard to see" how Drouin could remain president of the Canadian chapter of the APF "after disrespecting and treating people like this."

The bylaws of the Canadian section of the APF state that "any Senator or Member of Parliament" can be part of the organization.

They are not required to speak French.

The Parliament of Canada's page devoted to the organization shows that it has 88 members as of Friday morning.

A calculation by The Canadian Press reveals that 48.9 per cent are members of the Bloc Québécois or Conservative Party.

Parliamentarians can become members up to seven days before the special meeting is set to take place.

Villemure notes that five members have already been added since the start of the week.

A notice was sent out on Thursday in French and English specifying that the special meeting was scheduled for Thursday, May 23 at 6:30 p.m.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 10, 2024.