Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Further to the clarifications requested by Mr. Beaulieu, I understand that basically, what's involved is agreeing on five meetings to study the impact of the pandemic and to tweak Ms. Lattanzio's motion. That seems perfectly reasonable.
I would now like to return to the comments made by Mr. Arseneault, who is from New Brunswick's francophone community. The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada—the FCFA—and the Quebec Community Groups Network—the QCGN—which represents the anglophone minority, would like the government to accomplish something. That something is the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
I am sure, Mr. Arseneault, that I would be able to rely on your support as a member of a francophone community if I were to table a motion asking the government to modernize the Official Languages Act. We know that the francophone minorities in the anglophone provinces and the anglophone minority community in Quebec deserve to be fully respected. But according to the Prime Minister of Canada's Speech from the Throne, there is a new minority in Canada, the francophone minority, mainly concentrated in Quebec as part of North America. It's quite a mouthful to swallow, and that is why we are impatiently awaiting the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
Accordingly, I agree with Ms. Lattanzio's proposal. I agree with our chair, who has said that it is up to the committee to set the work priorities. For me, the governments top priority should be the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
As members of the committee, we have already held informal discussions. It is true that the motion has not yet been tabled, but it could be today or next week. Let's study it carefully. In my view, it's really just a matter of giving consideration to the decline of French in Montreal and the province of Quebec. It is a new responsibility that falls to our committee, and I am prepared to take part in whatever discussions are required for us to get an effective study under way.
It's true that we have already done some studies and held a few meetings. We have had technical problems and problems in linking things up. I believe that we can reach consensus. I think that the people of Canada expect it. Minorities expect it. After all, we have some eminent members on our committee; some have held ministerial positions at the provincial level. Some members of the committee represent official language minority communities. As a Quebecer, I represent a North American minority, francophones, even though my first name and family name are Irish.
I agree with Ms. Lattanzio's motion. Let's show that we are capable of holding a productive work meeting. I hope that once the committee members on the list have been able to speak, we will be able to vote on Ms. Lattanzio's motion and then agree on the next steps.
It would be nice to have an overview. I still have some highly relevant motions that have not yet been tabled, and we should put them on the table. I think that we can trust ourselves as a committee. We have moved forward informally in committee. We have had a few problems, but I think that we can overcome them. A lot of people were watching us this morning, so let's make the right decisions this afternoon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.