Through you, Mr. Chair, we are asking Mr. Gourde to repeat what he said. He does not have to do so. But we must address the question to you. I thought I heard him say that this issue does not pertain to official languages, but rather justice.
Of course, we wish to speak to the Minister of Justice. It is quite normal for different ministers to be invited to appear before our committee. We do not wish to discuss the number of people that will be incarcerated nor the number of prisons that will be built with the Minister of Justice. We simply wish to know what he plans to do about access to justice in both official languages. This issue does not fall under the mandate of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, but rather the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
As Ms. St-Denis correctly stated, the official languages commissioner did not state that this issue did not fall under his jurisdiction and that he would not deal with it. He produced a report and made recommendations. We would like to know what the minister is prepared to do in response to the official languages commissioner's recommendations. That falls under our mandate.
If you are claiming that this is not the case, well, you are stuck in the St. Lawrence and you will not be able to get out.