I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 28 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.
The committee is meeting to hear witnesses as part of the study on government measures to protect and promote French in Quebec and in Canada.
My thanks to the witnesses for being with us for the duration of the meeting.
We will suspend the meeting at around 5:10 p.m. for a short period in camera.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants of this meeting that taking screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
Before speaking, click on the microphone icon to activate your own mic. When you are done speaking, please put your mic on mute to minimize any interference. A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the use of a headset with a boom microphone is mandatory for everyone participating remotely.
However, should any challenges arise, feel free to advise me, so as to foster everyone's full participation in this meeting.
Without further ado, I would like to welcome this afternoon's witnesses. From the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, we welcome director general Alain Dupuis. Jean Johnson, the federation's president, is having technical difficulties. He is attending, but he won't be able to speak.
We also welcome, as an individual, Mariève Forest, sociologist, president and founder of Sociopol, and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa. Also as an individual, we welcome Jack Jedwab, president and chief executive officer, immigration and identities, Association for Canadian Studies and Canadian Institute for Identities and Migration.
Each witness will have seven and a half minutes for their presentation. I will advise them when they have one minute left and when their time has run out. Then we will move on to the question period.
Without further ado, we will start with Mr. Dupuis, who has seven and a half minutes to give his speech.
Mr. Dupuis, turn on your mic. You have the floor.