Mr. Chairman, I speak acknowledging that I haven't been on this committee and I certainly don't know the legalities with respect to the substance of this motion, but on the practical side of it, I'm persuaded by both of the points that have been put forward by Ms. Jennings and Mr. Lee.
First of all, we come to the table this morning with precedents and law that have been a subject for decades, and we have reached a position where surely we can be consistent with that legal position, which has been articulated by Ms. Jennings, and which is basically the overriding thought, if you will, that we have an Official Languages Act and that everything we do with respect to our duality of languages should be in keeping with both the spirit and the legal intent of that act.
I really think that we're beating the heck out of an issue that legitimately is before us. Certainly we should revisit from time to time the very essence of what our federalism and our country is about, but if we're going to at this time create new law...and I don't think that's the intent of the motion. The motion is very general, actually. The motion just says to write the minister to ask him not to. It isn't to direct him or whatever. It is, in making appointments, to establish and adhere to the convention that a working knowledge of both languages is reasonable with respect to the job description. I would think that this committee should find that compelling to support the motion as amended by Ms. Jennings.
As a layperson on this committee for the first time, I'm giving you what I think the average Canadian would say. They would agree with Mr. Lee that we're really not at this point embarking on breaking new ground. We're in fact confirming old ground if we support the amendment that's been put forward by Ms. Jennings. Unless there is someone on the committee...and I congratulate Mr. Petit on his analysis; I found it intriguing and I do thank him for the work that he put into it on the weekend. But I don't think even his argument was in contradiction to the general spirit, tone, tenure, and thrust of this motion. I say that with great respect.
I think we should get on with the vote. I won't speak any further. I will be supporting Ms. Jennings' motion for the reasons that I've outlined.
Thank you.