Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2020

[The Clerk]

I'll have to check, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Very well.

Are committee members willing to meet with the commissioner over the November 13 break week? Are there any objections? If yes, raise your hand.

If I understand correctly, we all agree on the idea of receiving the commissioner on Friday, November 13. We still have to determine the time. It would be more likely that we would be able to meet him at 2:00 p.m. I suggest that we leave this in the hands of the clerk, who will send us a notice of meeting as soon as possible for this meeting on Friday, November 13.

Are there any objections?

Mrs. Lalonde, you have the floor.

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

Could the clerk let us know today whether the room is available?

I apologize for my insistence, Madam Clerk.

[The Clerk]

Mrs. Lalonde, I wish I could predict the future for you.

Actually, I just sent a message and I'm told that I have to check with committee administration. So I don't have an answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

We have just clarified that there will be a meeting on November 13, but there will surely be one next week as well. We'll make arrangements today to determine what will happen at the next meeting. That's why I reserve the right to keep the last 15 minutes of the meeting if we don't come to an agreement. We need to know now what study we are going to undertake at the next meeting, rather than continuing with committee or subcommittee work. It will be up to the committee members to decide.

I've painted a picture of the situation. Once again, we are left with 10 motions and the main estimates, which must be tabled by November 27.

As I mentioned, Mr. Beaulieu had presented a number of notices of motion and he had the floor at the end of the last meeting.

Mr. Beaulieu, we're listening

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

At the last meeting, we had started to discuss a motion. Are we going to continue to discuss it? It relates to the WE Charity file. Otherwise, I have another motion that I have amended; I had not yet introduced it. The second motion is the right one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I checked with the clerk and the motions that were not adopted are all notices of motion. You have the floor and it's up to you to decide which motion you want to discuss with the committee members.

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

We had started to discuss the first motion about WE Charity. The second motion is the one you just received, which has been amended. I am not tabling the other motion, as it is almost the same. I believe the clerk has received it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'd like to clarify something.

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

My second motion deals with French in Quebec, but I have modified it to include the francophone and Acadian communities as well as English in Quebec.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay.

As I said, you can choose which motion you want to consider. I understand that you want to start with the motion that talks about WE Charity. Of the eight motions we've looked at, there are some that overlap. We could group them together or split them up, or we could discuss them in the subcommittee.

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

Shall I submit the second motion?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

It's up to you to decide.

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

I already submitted the first motion. Could the clerk please advise me on the procedure to follow? Do I move both motions at the same time or do I start with the first one?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

No, it must be done one motion at a time.

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

I will therefore move the motion on the WE Charity file again. It is about having a single central committee, rather than several special committees, to study the dossier.

We recommend:

That the Standing Committee on Official Languages recommend to the House the creation of a special committee to hold hearings to examine all aspects of the design and creation of the Canada Student Service Grant, including those relating to the study to review the safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest in federal government expenditure policies; government spending, WE Charity and the Canada Student Service Grant; the government’s decision to select WE Charity, an anglophone organization, to implement the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG); and the administration of the Canada Student Service Grant and WE Charity; 1. That the committee be composed of 11 members, of which five shall be government members, four shall be from the official opposition, one shall be from the Bloc Québécois and one from the New Democratic Party; 2. That changes in the membership of the committee shall be effective immediately after notification by the whip has been filed with the Clerk of the House;[...]

I can read the rest, but that's basically it. The goal is to create a special committee that will take over all the work of the committees on all the issues that affect the Canada Student Volunteer Grant and WE Charity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

Before I answer you, we have two raised hands.

Mr. Blaney, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

What I would like is for us to have an efficient meeting. We know the positions of the various political parties, and I am open to them.

I want us to hold a vote as quickly as possible, so that we can then move on to committee business, with the objective of establishing our roadmap. We have a planned meeting, potentially that of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Concerning Mr. Beaulieu's second motion on the study of French, we saw that it was mentioned in the Speech from the Throne and there is consensus on it. I think that we have a very nice motion to work on.

I will stop here because I would rather talk about the other motion instead of this one on WE Charity. I think it has attracted a lot of attention, and we are in favour of it.

What I want is for us to be able to move forward and for the committee to set out a roadmap.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Blaney.

Ms. Lattanzio, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, but I would like to ask you to examine the motion's admissibility.

We know that the same motion has been moved in a number of committees. The only changing aspect is the preamble. It was amended to suit each committee, be it the Standing Committee on Finance, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics or the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

I can say with certainty that I have seen this motion, as it was moved in the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, of which I am a member. The preamble is the only thing that has changed. Since this motion has already been studied in a committee, I don't see how we can move it again in this committee, for a number of reasons.

First, a position has already been established on that motion. Second, if each committee makes amendments, the result will be different for every committee. What would we do with that? Third, what makes no sense to me is for this motion to be debated in the Senate. It's always the same motion coming back. What is more, I am wondering whether the wording of this motion is within the purview of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

So it seems to me, Mr. Chair, that you should determine whether this motion is admissible or not. I would like you to look into this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Ms. Lattanzio.

I will say right away to the committee members that, according to the exchange I have had with officials, especially the clerk, this position is problematic, and I will tell you why.

Standing Order 108(2) states the following:

...the standing committees...be empowered to study and report on all matters relating to the mandate, management and operation of the department or departments of government which are assigned to them...

Moreover, Standing Order 108(3)(f), which specifically affects the Standing Committee on Official Languages, specifies the following:

(f) Official Languages shall include, among other matters, the review of and report on official languages policies and programs, including reports of the Commissioner of Official Languages, which shall be deemed permanently referred to the committee immediately after they are laid upon the table;

Finally, House of Commons Procedure and Practice stipulates the following:

Like all other powers of standing committees, the power to report is limited to issues that follow in their mandate...

Mr. Beaulieu, this is my decision concerning the motion you have moved on WE Charity.

Before going to other committee members on my list, I would like to ask Mr. Beaulieu what his reaction to the ruling I just made is.

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

I would say that my motion is consistent with the committee's mandate, as it talks about official languages relative to WE Charity. We are proposing a central committee. Our committee can suggest that a report be done on that. I don't see why it couldn't do it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay, I understand what you are saying, but....

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

My understanding of Mr. Blaney's comments is that we should hold a vote as quickly as possible. But you are telling me that my motion is not admissible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

That's right.