OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday defended his French-language response to English-speaking Quebecers the night before, sounding regretful but stopping short of apologizing.

At a press conference at Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Que., both French and English-speaking journalists asked Trudeau to explain why he chose to respond to English-speakers in French at a town hall event in the same city on Tuesday evening.

In one case, a woman asked Trudeau about the difficulty in accessing English-language mental health services in Quebec. He responded in French, telling her it's an issue he's concerned about and that everyone who speaks one of Canada's official languages should feel at home everywhere in the country.

"We're in Quebec, so I'll respond in French," he said to her.

On Wednesday, the prime minister allowed that he probably should have answered partly in English and partly in French, but said his focus at the town hall meetings is to take as many questions as possible. Repeating a response in another language can eat into the allotted time.

Upon reflection, Trudeau said in French that speaking in both languages would have been a good way to handle it, but noted he was focused on the idea of a French town hall. He added that the difficulties faced by linguistic minority communities must be respected.

A spokesman for the official languages commissioner said the office has received complaints about Trudeau’s Tuesday town hall.

Trudeau initially responded Wednesday to a French-language question about the brewing controversy. Instead of repeating the answer in English when he was prompted by reporters, as is standard practice at press conferences by federal politicians, Trudeau appeared to decide to skip an English-language reporter who asked him to address it in both languages "on behalf of 700,000 anglophones in Quebec."

'Will always defend official bilingualism'

After consulting with the next reporter in line, he ended up responding in English.

"When I was in Peterborough [in Ontario] a few days ago, I took a question in French and answered it in English," Trudeau said Wednesday in defence of his response.

"I was glad to take questions in English, surprised, to be quite frank that there were as many questions in English at the [Sherbrooke] town hall.... I will always defend official bilingualism. I believe deeply in it, but I also understand the importance of speaking French, of defending the French language in Quebec, and that is something I will continue to do while respecting minority language rights across the country," he said.

The woman who asked Trudeau the mental-health services question Tuesday night told the Canadian Press she "felt disrespected."

"I was so disappointed that by the time he got through that bit of fantasy land [explaining why he was speaking in French], I really didn't take in the rest," Judy Ross said. "I was too miffed.

"It [mental health] is a topic that's very difficult to explain and express in your own language, let alone a second language. Even people who are bilingual prefer to have their services in their mother tongue. And I thought, with his life experience, he would be sensitive to that."

While Trudeau referred to minority language rights, at least two organizations who advocate on behalf of those rights questioned his handling of the situation.

The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, which represents French-speaking communities outside of Quebec, tweeted that Trudeau should respond in the official language in which the question was asked, no matter where he is.

Le Premier ministre devrait répondre dans la lg officielle où la question lui a été posée, peu importe où il se trouve au pays #frcan #plcan https://t.co/iUgX9cQe7O — FCFA du Canada (@fcfacanada) January 18, 2017

The Quebec Community Groups Network, which links English-speaking community groups in the province, called the episode "tone deaf" and "a repudiation of almost a half century of work in official languages," and said they want to meet with Trudeau to clarify his position on bilingualism.

"Does this signal a change in policy or attitude towards Quebec's English-speaking minority?" James Shea, the organization's president, said in a news release.

With files from The Canadian Press