MONTREAL - Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says he's going to push the federal government for greater recognition of the French language.

Duceppe told a student audience in Montreal today he wants the Official Languages Act amended to recognize French as Quebec's official language.

He says he also wants Parliament to amend the federal labour code to acknowledge French as the official language of work in Quebec.

The Bloc chief says the federal government has recognized Quebecers as a nation and now must act in accordance with that.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government recognized the Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada late last year.

Duceppe says that recognition must be more than symbolic.