Waiting until this fall to hear the government’s response to the Official Languages Act review is not sitting well with the Liberals.
Premier Blaine Higgs announced the updated timeline late Thursday, just ahead of the Canada Day long weekend.
“Providing an appropriate and comprehensive response to these recommendations is crucial and should not be rushed. We need to get it right,” Higgs said in a news release.
The announcement came more than six months after two commissioners, Judge Yvette Finn and John MacLaughlin, released their report and recommendations in mid-December.
However, Official Languages Act critic Benoît Bourque said they reject the premier’s “lame excuses” for missing his own self-imposed deadline to respond to the recommendations.
“Yet again we are witnessing the Premier’s disrespect for the process, the Act and most importantly New Brunswickers,” Bourque said in a news release on Monday.
Bourque said the Higgs government is “dragging their feet” on the commissioners’ recommendations for significant improvements to the Act and to the protection and promotion of English and French language rights in the province.
“The Premier has an opportunity to prove to New Brunswickers that he understands, and truly values language and cultural rights at all levels. It’s deeply concerning that this opportunity may be missed,” he said.
