Thank you, Mr. Chair.
With all due respect to my fellow member, I have to point out that all the motion does is call on the committee to report to the House. It does not call on the committee to conduct a study or spend more time on the matter other than the discussion we're having right now.
The Governor General's expenditures do fall within the committee's mandate. I'm sure the honourable member recalls discussing the matter a few months ago as part of another study. We were looking into the travel expenses of the Governor General and her team on a trip to the Middle East, and we heard from protocol of Canada representatives. At the time, we had to take a close look at the mandate of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to confirm that examining the expenditures of the Governor General was indeed part of the committee's mandate.
Clearly, my motion does not formally refer to the expenditures on her French training. I have no issue with anyone taking French training, whether it's the Governor General or an MP. I strongly encourage it, in fact. The language of Molière is a wonderful language. The French we speak here, with the accents of the Americas, to quote a certain singer, is even more wonderful because it travels through time and space. Those accents are as wonderful as the river with which they are entwined, dancing along it like the wind and waves. I urge anyone who wants to take French classes to do so.
In the case of the Governor General, however, I'm disappointed to see that, despite those classes, her skills have not improved. I did not include the cost of her French training in the motion because I didn't want to press the point unnecessarily. This is not an attempt to humiliate the Governor General. I didn't want to demean the Governor General or her efforts. A person can learn French and still not be able to speak it. I know people who understand French but are always shy to speak it because of their accent. However, the more accents there are, the more beautiful and vibrant the language. That is why I removed the costs from my motion. That is also why I did not ask for a study. In my view, we can simply report the situation to the House and signal that we would like the current Prime Minister and those who come after him to appoint people who can speak both official languages. I mean no disrespect to anyone who was chosen in the past or who may be chosen in the future.
I really don't see anything to debate here, since I took out all the language that some members found contentious in my first motion. This version merely makes a point.
The Governor General's spending is still within the committee's purview, as was previously established. That's why I'm proposing that the committee report to the House without further preamble.