A day after being named federal culture minister, Marc Miller is drawing ire from several Quebec officials, including the premier of his home province.

Miller, who replaced Steven Guilbeault in cabinet on Monday, said Tuesday that the French language is precarious throughout North America, rather than saying it is declining in Quebec specifically, as the provincial government would characterize it.

“As a Quebecer, I’m pretty fed up with this debate that is generally identity-based,” Miller said in French during a scrum.

Describing the language issue in Quebec as “very complex,” Miller noted that saying French is declining sometimes diminishes the achievements of legislation, such as Bill 101 — the province’s landmark Charter of the French language — and the Canada-Quebec Accord.

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