Official Languages Committee on Nov. 29th, 2007

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga, QC]

I see.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We expect that the report would be passed on the 11th, but we may make some changes or add some recommendations. In addition, it has to be translated. If I do not have the report, I cannot give notice that I will be tabling it.

I will ask the clerk to read the draft motion. Then I will take comments on the motion and the procedure.

[The Clerk]

As I said, if the committee wanted to follow this route, a motion could read: That the Committee recommends that its Report on the Court Challenges Program be deemed presented to the House upon its adoption by the Committee, if the House has already adjourned, and that the adoption of this motion be reported to the House.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I so move.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Godin is moving the motion.

We will now move to the next round.

You have the floor, Mr. Bélanger.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to make two points. Does that mean that if the report is not adopted before the House adjourns the committee will continue its work to adopt it before the end of December? That is implicit in the motion, and I have no objection whatsoever, in fact I support that. However, I do want to make sure that committee members realize that the motion implies that we are prepared to continue our work even if the House has adjourned.

Furthermore, I may be mistaken, but I didn't think it was necessary to give 48 hours notice to table a committee report. If the report is adopted on Wednesday evening and if the work has been done properly, there is nothing to prevent it from being tabled on Thursday morning, as far as I know.

[Jean-Rodrigue Paré]

I can check into that, but I believe that is the case.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

The issue of 48 hours' notice has just been included, and I think it is not required. I would like clarification on that.

[Réal Ménard, Bloc, Hochelaga, QC]

I think you are right. I do not think it is necessary...

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

While I cannot guarantee this, it does appear that 48 hours' notice is not required.

I would like to remind you of something, Mr. Bélanger. The motion is a sort of additional guarantee that the committee would like to have to ensure that the report is tabled before the Christmas break.

The next speakers are Mr. Godin and Mr. Lemieux.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I understand what Mr. Bélanger is saying, but I do not want to get into a situation where we would be sitting endlessly. We set a deadline. That is why we are prepared to meet on Wednesday evening if necessary. The report must be finished and presented. We are doing that just in case the House adjourns early. The House could decide to end on Wednesday evening. You know what happens during the Christmas period: the four parties get together and decide not to come back the next day and the House is adjourned. This is just for protection in case that is what happens.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

That means we would sit...

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

We would sit on Wednesday evening and...

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

... we would complete the report.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

... we would finish the report. I do not want to be here on December 15 and December 20.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I just wanted this to be clear and that people not be under the impression that we have finished if the House adjourns. I wanted that to be clear.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

That will be done during our normal week.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

It is Mr. Lemieux's turn.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

There seems to be a great deal of fear on the other side of the table. If we are not sitting, we will come back at the end of January. What is the rush? We want to do a good job; I do not understand what they are afraid of. Why do they want to ensure that the report is tabled before Christmas? We have a schedule and we have another plan. What are the members opposite so afraid of?

I also have a question for the clerk regarding the process.

The motion you drafted—at least Mr. Godin's motion—says that if the House is not sitting and the report is adopted, you can deem it—

[The Clerk]

Deem it presented in the House.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

You can do that.

[The Clerk]

For this to happen, the report—because this would be presented to the House via a report—would then have to be concurred on by the House. There are two routes to do it. There's that, or a special order of the House that would usually come after consultations between the whips.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Again, it's an extraordinary measure; reports aren't normally tabled in this manner. So I'm wondering what the great fear is. If we finish with our report on the 11th, and the House isn't sitting, it will just be presented to the House when we come back in January. We're all expecting to come back in January, or at least I am; are you not?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Godin has the floor.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

It has nothing to do with fear, Mr. Chairman, but rather a desire to move things forward. When we table a report in the House of Commons, the clock starts ticking, and we would like to know when we will get a response to our report. We will be studying the estimates in March. They are prepared over Christmas. In this way, the committee's request and recommendation will be public. It will give the government an opportunity to read them. There are no games being played here. We are all adults, and we have done many studies, as you say. I have a great deal of confidence in our researcher. He will draft a good report for us. There will not be a great deal of work to do on it, and we will present it to the House of Commons. Christmas is a time of joy; everyone is happy. The minister may decide to restore the Court Challenges Program for official language minority communities in this country. Who knows; we are going to try. It has nothing to do with fear; we are expressing a Christmas wish.