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Should French be Mandatory for Being Prime Minister Of Canada ? Is that Fair or is it outdated ?

700 views · Published 2 September 2017 · 3:42 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: Mike Martins · 2017 · Education

Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson didn't speak French, and other former party leaders like Ed Broadbent, Preston Manning, and Stéphane Dion were far from fluent.

Now, as the Conservative leadership race heats up, so too does the great Canadian language debate.
It was the race’s first officially bilingual debate, and many of the 14 federal Conservative leadership contenders bumbled through it.

The long, long line of lecterns on stage in Moncton, N.B Tuesday night was populated mostly by anglophone members of the Conservative Party, many who exhibited difficulty during French portions of the debate.

Erin O’Toole, Kellie Leitch, Lisa Raitt, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost, to name but a few of the candidates, took turns stumbling, stuttering and mumbling their way through French answers, with some opting to pepper their remarks with English words and phrases.

READ MORE: Tory leadership hopefuls square off in bilingual debate in Moncton

Some candidates did well – Maxime Bernier and Steven Blaney, the francophones from Quebec, obviously shone in their native language, and former diplomat Chris Alexander could certainly hold his own.

Should French be Mandatory for Being Prime Minister Of Canada ? Is that Fair or is it outdated ?

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