Official Languages Committee on March 9th, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

There is also the English counterpart that we should not overlook.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

But the issue is federal support for francophone media, which consists of two components. If we have to hold a meeting, let us do it properly. As for the anglophone media, I agree, but that could be dealt with as a different topic.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Is Mr. or Ms. S. Lanthier from community radio?

[The Clerk]

No, Ms. Lanthier and Mr. Potié represent the Association de la presse francophone only.

So it has been suggested that we invite representatives from community radio stations, but I personally do not have any other suggestions in this regard, unless—

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

There is the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada. It is in Ottawa, and so is Mr. Potié. That way, we could kill two birds with one stone.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

So we are going to schedule our ongoing work for the next meeting, on Thursday. We could then meet with these two witnesses.

Are there any other comments on the work plan?

Mrs. Glover.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would just like to welcome all members of our committee.

I would also like to hear what Mr. Potié has to say. I know he has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I completely agree with Mr. Nadeau: if the ARC representatives are available this Thursday, we could hear from them.

I would also like to talk about other witnesses. I want to point out that a number of topics are already included in our work plan. With all due respect, I would like to follow up on topics that were introduced almost a year and a half ago. I do not know if we are going to do this today, Mr. Chair, but it would be good to undertake a long-term study.

I know we did a good job with the study on post-secondary schools, but there are other ideas in our work plan. I would like us to decide on a potential long-term study as a group. There are several short-term studies, but I think we should do one over the long term. Could the opposition tell me what they would like to study?

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mrs. Glover.

Actually, I would like to hear from the members of the committee what their priorities are for issues to be addressed in the next weeks. That is why I gave you the handout this morning and I would like to have your thoughts on it. I want to make the most of the time we have for the work of the committee. We could certainly hold a meeting next Thursday. We are going to organize ourselves so that we can receive witnesses and have enough time to look at our ongoing work.

If possible, it would also be good if we could hatch our work plan, so to speak, or at least continue to make progress along those lines.

Mr. Godin.

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

Mr. Chair, the executive and the committee were established this morning. We have just received the schedule. We also already have witnesses that we could ask to appear on Thursday morning. In my opinion, we should hear from them for the first hour. Then, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., we could start working on the schedule. So next week, we could begin the process and, at that point, we could discuss the different topics.

It is all well and good to look at something long-term, but it is also good to look at short-term matters because they do not take much time. For example, Mr. Bélanger talked about Air Canada; that would be a long-term issue because there have been bills in the House of Commons on this topic since 2005. Then, they were set aside and brought before the House of Commons and Parliament again. This is important because Air Canada is about to securely stow bilingualism in the overhead bin, so to speak. This company does not meet its obligations in this regard. There is a total lack of respect. The company has obligations because, when its people bought Air Canada, they also bought what we might call the elephant in the plane. They do not like it, but they have to deal with it.

The government promised us that it would protect the two official languages. I do not want to be difficult..., but I spoke with Minister Cannon when he was Minister of Transport and he said it was on its way. So it could be done quickly if the minister decided to appear before the committee. The minister can make a promise, and the bill is already drafted. All the government has to do is change the date on it. If there is the will to solve the problem with Air Canada, it could be done quickly.

That is why I feel that, on Thursday, we could do this work, look at the agenda, rethink our previous ideas, reorganize them and move forward.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

There seems to be a consensus, if not unanimity, on your proposal.

There are two comments, one from Mr. D'Amours and one from Ms. Guay.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

This will be brief, Mr. Chair. We should remember that, in the second hour of looking at our work, we must consider Mr. Bélanger's motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Agreed. Ms. Guay.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Along the same lines, when a motion is introduced, it must be discussed within 48 hours. So this is important.

We should also remember the wrap-up of the Olympic Games. I think we could do that quickly. So we have to do a good wrap-up and report on them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Very well. l think we have covered all the issues. Thank you for your attention and we will meet again on Thursday.

The meeting is adjourned.