Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2020

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hopefully, I'm much better looking when I'm not seen.

I would like to reiterate what some of my colleagues have already said, which is that we're wasting time, and we have no time to waste.

I am very proud that 17% of the population in my Winnipeg South riding are bilingual, and French is the first language of 5% of them. A number of us received a fabulous presentation the other day that the French language is declining, particularly in western Canada. We need to get to work to find solutions to reinforce the Official Languages Act, which we are going to review shortly.

I was reading in my local newspaper this morning—which I know Ms. Ashton reads regularly—that because of the pandemic, we have a shortage of French immersion and francophone teachers and classes have been cancelled, and have not been able to start in some cases.

In western Canada, I hope some of our Conservative friends will speak with Premier Kenney, who is defunding Campus Saint-Jean, which is a very important institution for keeping the French language alive in that province. We have some big challenges ahead of us, particularly in western Canada where I come from, so again I appeal to Ms. Ashton particularly....

May I say I am disappointed, like Marie-France Lalonde, that right at the get-go, the chair was challenged and our committee is likely going to be rife with dysfunction. It is a really unfortunate way to start when there are many good motions on the table from all sides of the House.

I urge my colleagues to let us work together and get something done for the official languages of this country.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.

The next speakers are Ms. Lambropoulos, Mr. Arseneault, Ms. Lattanzio, Mrs. Lalonde and Mr. Dalton.

Ms. Lambropoulos, the floor is yours.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Généreux said that I know WE from experience and that WE representatives should have the opportunity to appear before the committee.

The motion before us isn't about this at all. There isn't any connection. I wouldn't mind inviting WE representatives as part of another study, but this isn't what we're voting on today.

Perhaps we should all reread the motion before we proceed with a vote, in order to make sure that we know what we're doing today. I just wanted to raise this issue, as I've done several times, and say once again that 948 francophone and anglophone teachers from 400 schools in Quebec have worked with WE Charity and UNIS.

When the Conservatives tabled their motion this summer, they ended up changing it after realizing that the motion wasn't fair at all and that it was almost a lie to say that only one community was affected, and not both.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Arseneault, the floor is yours.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My fellow members from all political backgrounds who make up this great and beautiful committee—I'm speaking to Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Blaney, my opposition colleagues from Quebec—there seems to be a serious decline in the French language in Quebec. Mr. Beaulieu placed great value on a very important motion on this topic, a motion that we asked to work on. Do we really want to hear the same old thing again with this motion? Is that what we want to accomplish? Is it that important? We aren't naive. No one here is naive. Is it responsible to sneak a motion through the back door when the motion hasn't been accepted in the House of Commons? Is this more important than talking about Campus Saint-Jean, which, as my colleagues said, is in danger in Alberta? We almost lost the Université de l'Ontario français in Toronto as a result of the provincial Conservatives' actions, and the Conservative Party in Ottawa remained silent about the matter. Let's all remember this.

Since I've been a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, it has always been 99% non-partisan. Does the motion on WE Charity, a hypothetical question from an organization that's no longer on the scene about whether it violated language rights in Canada, take precedence over everything that I just brought up, not to mention everything else?

During the pandemic, we heard about the lack of information in both official languages on drugs, dosages, and instructions for devices or equipment that we received. Does the scandal surrounding WE Charity, which we've discussed in I don't know how many committees, overlap with all this? Is it really worth it? Is this motion worth more than Mr. Beaulieu's second motion, which I find very valuable because the motion is of national interest across the country and it specifically concerns the decline of French in Quebec, a Quebec that also has two official languages?

Above all, I don't want to repeat what Ms. Lambropoulos said to my colleague, Mr. Généreux. However, for those who didn't fully understand Mr. Beaulieu's motion—and this brings me to my second point—it doesn't suggest that we address this issue in the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Rather, the motion is asking the House of Commons to agree to the creation of another committee, a third party committee that will review this matter.

This brings me to my question, which may be somewhat similar to my colleague Ms. Lattanzio's question. Does a standing committee such as ours have the authority, under the rules of the House of Commons, to ask the House of Commons to create another committee? That's my first question. Do we have the necessary power and jurisdiction to do this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Arseneault, please excuse me. I must stop you and speak to all committee members since it's already 5:15 p.m.

I want to know whether the committee has reached an agreement regarding the preparation of the next meeting. We must decide whether to address the motions in a subcommittee or whether we should all discuss the motions in the committee, as we're doing today as part of a meeting on committee business.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Dalton, I'm getting there.

The third option is to say that two motions have already been adopted. The clerk needs time to arrange a meeting.

Mr. Dalton, go ahead with your point of order.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I want to move a motion to continue our meeting until 6:30 p.m. We've wasted a great deal of time. We have many very important motions to address. I agree with my colleagues on the other side, the Liberals, about the fact that there are several motions. I also agree with the WE motion. This motion is only one of several motions. We shouldn't take the next few weeks and months to debate the motion. We must continue our work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

At the start of the meeting, I said that, depending on availability, we could stay later than the scheduled 5:30 p.m. adjournment time by up to 15 minutes. However, this proposal wasn't accepted. This motion requires the unanimous consent of the committee members. Mr. Williamson couldn't stay later than 5:30 p.m., given his responsibilities. At this time, a motion is under consideration.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Yes, go ahead.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

We can still change this, since we didn't vote to adjourn at 5:30 pm. We can vote to continue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I asked for unanimous consent. Mr. Dalton, the point is that we can't debate two motions at the same time. We're currently debating a motion, and we must finish considering the motion before we can move on to something else.

For now, I'll ask for the consent of all committee members to take the remaining 12 minutes to plan our next meeting. If they don't agree, we'll continue the debate on the motion before the committee.

Does anyone object to us taking the last 12 minutes to give the committee instructions regarding the business that it will address at the next meeting?

I see hands raised, so there seem to be some objections. Could the members who object please let us know.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Excuse me, Mr. Chair. What are you asking us to agree or disagree with?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'm asking the committee members whether they agree to spend the last 10 minutes preparing for the next meeting so that the clerk can make the necessary arrangements.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

That's fine with me.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Chair, I want to speak in my capacity as vice-chair of the committee. Although I didn't support your decision, I still have confidence in you.

My suggestion to the committee members would be to hold a subcommittee meeting, since it may be easier to have four rather than 12 people debating. I think we agree that we should move forward. I heard Mr. Arseneault express considerable support for a motion by Mr. Beaulieu that hasn't been adopted yet.

With the agreement of the committee members, perhaps we could agree on an agenda for consideration in a subcommittee. If we want to debate motions for hours, we can do so. However, at least we'll have a road map and we can move forward. I'd even say that we could have a good time and make progress. I've heard about some important issues, including, of course, the decline of the French language. Some very worthwhile motions have been proposed. I think that the committee is looking forward to making progress.

That's why we wanted to meet as a subcommittee before this meeting, in order to come up with a report and recommendations. In the end, we couldn't do so because of Internet issues. However, if we need to take another week to do this, let's do it. In any event, we'll be working overtime, since we'll be meeting with the Commissioner of Official Languages during our break week.

This was my privilege as vice-chair. I'll give you back the floor, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay. I completely understand you, Mr. Vice-Chair.

I want to assure all committee members that, if a date is available for the subcommittee before the next meeting, we'll be the first to let you know, so that we can keep our usual meetings. However, if there isn't any date available, our next meeting will be the committee meeting.

Are there any more comments regarding this subcommittee proposal?

Since we branched off for a bit, I'll ask Ms. Lattanzio, Mrs. Lalonde, Ms. Lambropoulos and Mr. Blaney, who had already raised their hands, to withdraw them. If you want to speak about this matter, please raise your hand now to take the floor.

Ms. Lattanzio, the floor is yours.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I took note of Mr. Blaney's comments.

Mr. Blaney, I hope that you aren't bothered by the fact that we want to speak today. I know that you would prefer a subcommittee meeting. However, please know that I'm very interested in these motions. I look forward to debating these worthwhile motions, which have been introduced and which are still before us. I'm very eager to discuss them.

Mr. Chair, I asked Mr. Beaulieu to clarify which paragraphs of his motion he considers appropriate for this committee. He hasn't provided this clarification yet. I'd like you to ask him to provide this clarification so that I can make comments and recommendations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Ms. Lattanzio, we've digressed. We are discussing the next meeting, so that may be why Mr. Beaulieu hasn't been able to comment.

Now we'll hear from Mr. Beaulieu in connection with the next meeting.

You may go ahead, Mr. Beaulieu.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

If I understand correctly, you'd like to take a moment to discuss the next meeting. Mr. Blaney suggested holding a subcommittee meeting. Has a meeting been scheduled for next Thursday?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'll have to check with the clerk. I don't have the date yet. I am not sure whether the calendar has come out yet.

Madam Clerk, can you check for us?

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chair, the calendar for next week isn't out yet.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you.