Evidence of meeting #1 for Official Languages in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Graeme Truelove
Chad Mariage  Procedural Clerk

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Graeme Truelove

Honourable members of the committee, I see we have quorum.

Welcome to the first meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages of this second session. I wish you every success in your work.

We will now proceed to elect a chair. I am ready to receive motions for the position of chair.

Mr. Lemieux.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

I would like to nominate Mr. Blaney as chair.

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

Mr. Lemieux moves that Mr. Blaney be elected Chair of the committee.

Are there any other motions?

Is it the pleasure of the committee to adopt the motion?

9:05 a.m.

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

9:05 a.m.

Liberal

Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Can there be other nominations?

Would you not like to be chair, Mr. Chong?

9:05 a.m.

Some Hon. Members

Oh! Oh!

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

I declare the motion carried and Mr. Blaney duly elected Chair of the committee.

(Motion agreed to.)

9:05 a.m.

Some Hon. Members

Hear! Hear!

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

Before I invite Mr. Blaney to take the Chair, if the committee agrees, we will now proceed with the election of the vice-chairs.

Are there any motions to that effect?

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC

I would like to nominate Mr. Godin. Is that all right?

No? Mr. Rodriguez?

9:05 a.m.

Liberal

Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

I would like to nominate Mr. Pablo Rodriguez as Vice-Chair of the committee.

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

Mr. Mauril Bélanger moves that Mr. Rodriguez be elected First Vice-Chair.

Are there any other motions?

Mr. Nadeau.

9:05 a.m.

Bloc

Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC

Do we elect the second vice-chair immediately, or do we have to wait until we unanimously elect the first vice-chair?

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

If there is no other motions for the position of first vice-chair, we can move to the election of the second vice-chair.

(Motion agreed to.)

9:05 a.m.

Bloc

Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC

I move that Mr. Godin, the member for Acadie—Bathurst, be elected second vice-chair.

9:05 a.m.

The Clerk

Are there any other motions?

(Motion agreed to.)

I would like to congratulate our two vice-chairs, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Godin.

I would now invite Mr. Blaney to take his seat as Committee Chair.

9:05 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney

Good morning, everyone. I'm very glad to be here with you. Thank you for this renewed confidence in my capacity.

I would like to congratulate my colleagues, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Godin, on their election.

I am pleased to be here with you this morning. I would like to welcome back those committee members who were here last spring, as well as our new members.

As you know, the session was prorogued, and that is why this morning we had to elect a new chair and vice-chairs who will conduct the business of this committee.

There are about a dozen routine motions we need to pass that will govern how the committee operate. So I am prepared to receive motions on these routine matters.

Ms. Folco.

9:10 a.m.

Liberal

Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC

Are you going to take them one at the time, or can we move amendments to any of these motions?

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney

For the time being, no motion has been moved. So you may move them.

9:10 a.m.

Liberal

Raymonde Folco Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC

The point at the page 2 entitled “Staff at in camera meetings”—

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney

On page 2...

9:10 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

On a point of order.

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney

Mr. Godin has a point of order.

9:10 a.m.

NDP

Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB

Mr. Chairman, we already have a sheet listing the motions in order. We should go through them one by one, otherwise we might get confused. We should go through them in the order they appear, vote on each of them and discuss them where necessary.

9:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney

We all have the three-page document. We could go through it one point at a time. I am ready to receive motions.