Evidence of meeting #4 for Official Languages in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
You raised a point of order as a way of asking us to adjourn the debate. Let me consult the clerk about that for 30 seconds.
4:45 p.m.
The Clerk
Mrs. Lalonde's motion cannot be debated and we must proceed to a vote immediately.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Okay, thank you.
We have a motion to adjourn. We must proceed to a vote immediately.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
I am sorry, Mr. Mazier. The question has been called, so I will go back to your point of order…
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. Beaulieu, I just said the same thing to Mr. Mazier. We have to vote on the motion to adjourn.
4:45 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
I do not understand why we are not able to ask for a vote on the motion but now someone can ask for a vote and no one can comment.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. Beaulieu, let me clarify that this is a point of order and that, as the clerk has said, a motion to adjourn is not debatable. However, when a motion is on the table, as long as hands are raised, we must continue to debate that motion. That is the reason that the motion to adjourn cannot be debated and we have to call the question.
So I will ask Madam Clerk to call for a roll-call vote on the motion to adjourn.
(Motion negatived: nays 6; yeas 5.)
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
So we now continue the debate.
Ms. Lattanzio had the floor and, on the list—
November 5th, 2020 / 4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Let me finish, Mr. Arseneault. I just wanted to say that, on the list, we have Ms. Lattanzio, Ms. Ashton, Ms. Lambropoulos, Mr. Duguid, Mr. Beaulieu, and Mrs. Lalonde.
Mr. Arseneault, you have the floor.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
René Arseneault Liberal Madawaska—Restigouche, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It seems to me that, two meetings ago, we talked about the method of conducting votes. Are we voting in alphabetical order or by order of political parties? I felt that it was in alphabetical order. What is the requirement or the suggestion?
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Mr. Arseneault, as I understand the housekeeping regulations, that procedure has not been established.
4:50 p.m.
The Clerk
Mr. Chair, if I may, I would like to make a comment.
4:50 p.m.
The Clerk
We vote in alphabetical order, by party. Because Mr. Mazier is replacing Mr. Williamson, the alphabetical order is affected a little, but it is because Mr. Williamson is the last on the Conservative Party list. I hope that answers your question.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Yes. Thank you very much for that answer, Madam Clerk.
It seems to me that Mr. Mazier wanted to raise a point of order. You have the floor, Mr. Mazier.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
I'm trying to get Marc Dalton back in. He was out, so I was trying to get the clerk's attention. It's all good now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you very much, Mr. Mazier.
Let us go back to the list. You have the floor, Ms. Lattanzio. Go ahead.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Chair, I was just about to refer to the provisions of the contract signed between the parties.
I would like to make a comment first. I am sorry to see that we want to waste time with this kind of motion. After all, the same member has another, very interesting motion dealing with an issue of minority language rights that has implications all across the country. I find it's a shame that we are squandering our time—and, yes,“squandering” is the right word—on this motion today.
Some motions also deal with problems and shortcomings in the right to receive services during the pandemic. Others genuinely deal with basic issues for Canadians, but we are spending our time on this motion.
I am going to share with you the paragraphs that describe the organization's commitment. It wanted to make sure that the projects were in fact created in both official languages.
In the contract, in paragraph 37.1, under official languages, it is well stipulated that, “Where the Project is to be delivered to members of either language community, the Recipient shall”—so the WE Charity should—“(a) make Project-related documentation and announcements (for the public and prospective Project Participants, if any) in both official languages where applicable; (b) actively offer and provide in both official languages any Project-related services to be provided or made available to members of the public, where applicable; and, (c) organize activities and provide its services, where appropriate, in such a manner as to address the needs of both official language communities.”
Mr. Chair, you see that it's in black and white, it's crystal clear on the contract, and it was signed and both participants knew full well that the services needed to be in French and English.
We can find some of those activities where some of those projects needed to be done in both official languages throughout the contract, and more specifically in clauses that pertain to such activities. I'm going to draw your attention to some of those.
When we look at schedule A, we see that the specific objectives of the project are to “[P]lace up to 40,000 students in WE volunteer service opportunities across Canada, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups and official language minority communities (OLMC), through the 'I Want to Help' platform;”
It continues: “Ongoing from May to September 2020 [V]alidate and post volunteer service opportunities in bilingual format from Not-For-Profit partners and for Not-For-Profits through web-based input modules, electronic feed, to ESDC's 'I Want to Help' platform”.
Further on we read, “Provide bilingual supports to Not-for-Profit partners to ensure they have the capacity to train and safely onboard volunteers to WE service opportunities”. Furthermore, “Provide bilingual supports, youth skills training, and COVID-19 training to volunteers in WE service opportunities”.
We can go on and on, Mr. Chair. For instance, under June 2020, we also see, “Launch a bilingual online WE Platform to register and intake volunteers for WE opportunities”.
To say that the contract that was signed did not foresee that there was a basis and an emphasis making sure that both official languages...in services to be rendered by this organization is very far from the truth.
I honestly do not see the relevance of this motion we have before us. I think we need to move beyond this motion, Mr. Chairman, and get to the serious business of impending issues that are affecting the linguistic minority communities day to day across the nation.
What is unfortunate with this whole process is quite simple: the large scale of this program never came to be; and at the end of the day, it was the students who suffered.
They were the organization that was recognized to be able to take on such a huge undertaking with this project. They had the know-how, they had the expertise and they knew from the onset that they needed to provide services in both official languages.
Why we are dragging this into this committee is beyond my comprehension.
Mr. Chairman, I'm going to yield the floor to my colleagues, who I'm sure have a mouthful to say on this issue today. However, I'm going to remind you, Mr. Chairman, that I seek clarification from the member who is proposing this today, so that we can have a clearer understanding of how his motion responds to the mandate of this committee. I would like to have an answer on that, and I'm going to reserve my right to come back to speak.
Thank you.
5 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Thank you, Ms. Lattanzio.
The next speaker is Ms. Ashton.
Ms. Ashton, the floor is yours.
5 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I am quite worried that, once again, we are wasting our time instead of moving forward productively. We could be talking about what we decided at the subcommittee, and that concerns me. It is a plan that everyone would find acceptable.
Honestly, I must say that I have spent a lot of my time for a number of years sitting on different committees. What's happening here is quite troubling.
So I would like us to vote on the motion so that we can move forward and perhaps deal with something else.
5 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Emmanuel Dubourg
Okay. Thank you, Ms. Ashton.
As I said, I cannot call the question while others want to speak.
We now have Ms.—