Official Languages Committee on Nov. 24th, 2020

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I looked at the amendment.

I have a question about Mrs. Lalonde's amendment. If I understand correctly, she would like the members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages to examine the repercussions of federal laws on the decline of French. That may be a useful addition in order to fully understand the big picture. This is, of course, a federal committee, so we should be focusing on federal laws. I would, however, be open to supporting the proposed amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Blaney.

Since we don't have any other hands up, we will now vote on the amendment.

Are there any objections to the amendment to paragraph (b), as moved by Mrs. Lalonde?

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

Mr. Chair, would you mind rereading the amendment with Mr. Beaulieu's subamendment?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

We actually don't have a subamendment by Mr. Beaulieu. We are voting on Mrs. Lalonde's amendment to Mr. Beaulieu's motion.

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

Would it be possible to get it in writing?

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

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Go ahead, Mrs. Lalonde.

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

I sent the amendment to your P9 account. I hope I sent it to the right person, the clerk, Ms. Ménard. I just want to make sure the honourable members did receive it. If not, I will resend it.

If I could have 30 seconds, it would be appreciated. What is the clerk's name?

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Her full name is Josée Ménard.

Mr. Beaulieu, would it be all right if I read the amendment again in order to speed things up?

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

I would prefer to have it in writing. It won't take that long. Could the clerk send it out to us? Surely, she heard the amendment, and we will be able to read it over. It's just a small addition.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Very well.

Mrs. Lalonde is going to send the amendment to the clerk, who will then send it out to everyone. I assume there won't be any amendments to what she just read. To speed things up, I would like to have the committee vote on the amendment as read.

Is that acceptable, Mr. Beaulieu?

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

I would prefer to vote on the amendment once we have it in writing. In the meantime, we can move on to the next amendment, if there is one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Unfortunately, we can't proceed that way. If it is the committee's pleasure, we will wait until everyone receives a written copy. There is a hard copy in the room, but we are meeting in hybrid mode. We need to make sure that Mr. Généreux, in the meeting room, receives a copy as well.

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

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Go ahead, Mrs. Lalonde.

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

I just sent Ms. Ménard the text of the amended paragraph b).

I see that I sent it to you too, Mr. Beaulieu, as your name appeared in my P9 account email.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Let's take the time to receive the email and read it. I will talk to the clerk.

So I will suspend the meeting for up to a minute.

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

One second, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Mr. Arseneault, go ahead.

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

I don't want to get bogged down in details, but the term “efficience” is a very bad anglicism. It should rather say “efficacité”, but I can tolerate “efficience”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you for that comment.

Respected colleagues, I am suspending the meeting for a few seconds.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

We are resuming the meeting.

We all just received the text of Ms. Lalonde's amendment. I will read it to you before we vote.

b) Evaluate the effectiveness of the government's language policies, as well as the current role of federal and provincial laws, with respect to the objective of protecting and promoting French as well as the impact of these policies on provincial legislative measures to protect and promote French (particularly the Charter of the French Language in Quebec);

Is anyone opposed to this amendment?

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

I would like to comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Go ahead, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

I have considered the proposed amendment. We are a federal entity, and here we are, evaluating the role of provincial policies. I don't think that is really our role. I would rather propose the following:

b) Evaluate the effectiveness of the federal government's language policies with respect to the objective of protecting and promoting French as well as the impact of these policies on provincial legislative measures...

I agree with evaluating the impact of federal measures on the provinces, but I'm not sure it is our role to evaluate the merits of provincial policies. I propose rejecting the amendment, or adding the word “federal” after “government”.