Oh, it's on. Excuse me.
Evidence of meeting #5 for Official Languages in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #5 for Official Languages in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A video is available from Parliament.
2 p.m.
Liberal
2 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Earlier, there was a subamendment and I was wondering what the mechanism was. Is it at the discretion of the chair?
2 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
No, not at all. In fact, there was the motion, then an amendment, then a subamendment to the amendment. That's the usual procedure. As the clerk was saying, some people wanted to continue the debate on the amendment, but because there is a subamendment, we have to debate it first. The subamendment removes the dates that were indicated and adds the minister and her officials.
Mr. Deltell, you have the floor.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Regarding the date, I would like to make a counter-proposal off the record. We may find common ground quickly.
As for adding, “the Minister and her officials”, I want to point out that the motion, in its current form, already allows for that, without it necessarily containing those words. The motion does say, “That other witnesses include, but are not limited to:”. That way, when the committee defines the list, it can add that if it decides to invite the senior officials of the minister in charge of official languages to appear.
We could talk about the dates again. I think we will manage to find common ground.
2 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
I really appreciate the door being opened, but you are already talking about several lists, and I would just like us to make official the fact that officials, when the minister will be here.... Respected colleagues, you have a pretty exhaustive list of people you would like to hear from. I understand that you do say, “but are not limited to”. However, I would like us to add, “that the Minister be accompanied by her officials”.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Chair, I would just like to clarify something.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
I don't remember ever seeing a minister alone at the table. They are always flanked by senior officials. So I don't think it's necessary to specify that, especially as no limits are imposed.
2 p.m.
Liberal
2 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
I am being told that the minister is usually allowed to be accompanied by her senior officials when she appears.
Mr. Green, you have an intervention.
2 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Yes, I support the idea of having staff present. I think it provides the opportunity for us to have the same discussion at the same time rather than having the minister defer to their staff at a future date, and then have their staff defer back to the minister at a future date. I think it would be wise to have them both at the same place. I would support that.
2 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We have an amendment, a subamendment, and so on, and I don't know what stage we are at, but I think we can reach a consensus on the dates. It would be at least two hours in September 2020. That's a fairly broad period or four and a half weeks. It encompasses Labour Day and so on. However, it does provide us with a deadline, so we cannot put it off indefinitely. Therefore, the committee would meet in September. I think we can find common ground on that and on the availability of ministers.
Regarding officials, as the clerk specified earlier, when a minister appears before the committee, they are always flanked by their senior officials. I think we can reach our objectives. We have set aside the language that could be examined, not to say debated. We understand that. For us, the goal is to give decision-makers an opportunity to explain what led to this decision.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank my colleague. As the chair of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, I know it is not always easy to have witnesses appear as soon as we want because of scheduling issues. Allowing for some flexibility helps. The amendment talks about urgency at the beginning. It is not as if the meeting will be held in December; it will be in September. I assume the clerk will appreciate that, as it allows her to plan while taking everyone's availability into account. I know that a number of committee members around the table have travelled for hours to be here today.
I thank my colleague for being flexible.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Mrs. Romanado.
We do have good cooperation on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.
I would like to address Mrs. Lalonde with regard to that.
Mrs. Lalonde, since this has been discussed with Mr. Deltell, you would first need to withdraw your subamendment, so that Mr. Deltell can revise his amendment taking into account the changes you discussed.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Thank you for clarifying that, Mr. Chair. I am in fact withdrawing my amendment.
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Chair, as the saying goes, enlightenment comes when ideas collide. This is not called a Parliament for no reason. We have to talk to each other in order to understand each another. I think we have found an honourable common ground for everyone. Here is the motion.
Am I saying it right?
2:05 p.m.
Liberal
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
2:05 p.m.
Conservative
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Just so we understand each other, I will read the amendment we are proposing, as subamended:
That the Committee undertake a study of the government's decision to select We Charity/UNIS to administer the Canada Student Service Grant;
That the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, Melanie Joly, be invited to appear for at least two hours in September 2020;
That the other witnesses include, but are not limited to:
a) The minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, the Honourable Bardish Chagger;
b) The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez;
c) The President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos;
d) NATIONAL Public Relations;
e) WE Charity/UNIS;
f) The Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge.