Agreed.
Evidence of meeting #1 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #1 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:40 p.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
So let's start with the formalities.
Welcome to meeting 1 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages. Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format.
Pursuant to the House Order of November 25, 2021, some members are attending the meeting in person in the room and others are participating remotely using the Zoom application. Regarding the speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that taking screenshots or photos of your screen is not permitted.
The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.
Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendations from public health authorities, as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19, 2021, the following is recommended for all those attending the meeting in person, in order to remain healthy and safe.
Anyone with symptoms must participate by Zoom, and not attend the meeting in person. Everyone must maintain two-metre physical distancing, whether seated or standing. Everyone must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is recommended in the strongest possible terms that members wear their masks at all times, including when seated. Non-medical masks, which provide better clarity of sound, are available in the room.
Everyone present must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer at the room entrance. Committee rooms are cleaned before and after each meeting. To maintain this, everyone is encouraged to clean surfaces such as the desk, chair and microphone with the disinfectant wipes provided when vacating or taking a seat.
As the Chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting and I thank members in advance for their cooperation.
Let's now go through the routine motions.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I have made enough copies of the routine motions for all my colleagues in the room. I can distribute them, although I feel that we are all quite familiar with the motions.
I first want to make sure that the interpreters can hear me properly when I am speaking with my mask. They are signalling that they can, so that's great.
I will read the motions. I propose that we adopt a motion to pass them all at the same time. Does that suit everyone?
3:50 p.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
The first routine motion is about the services of analysts:
That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.
The second motion is about the subcommittee on agenda and procedure. Of course, this motion applies only if we decide to have a subcommittee. The motion reads:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of [insert number] members; the Chair and one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.
The third motion is about meetings without a quorum:
That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.
The fourth motion is about the time for opening remarks and questioning of witnesses:
That witnesses be given five minutes for their opening statement; that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round: Conservative Party; Liberal Party; Bloc Québécois; New Democratic Party; For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows: Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes; Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes; New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes; Conservative Party, five minutes; Liberal Party, five minutes.
The fifth motion is about document distribution:
That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.
The sixth motion is about working meals:
That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.
The seventh motion is about travel, accommodation and living expenses of witnesses:
That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.
The eighth motion is about access to in camera meetings:
That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.
The ninth motion is about transcripts of in camera meetings:
That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk’s office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.
The tenth motion is about notices of motion:
That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that: (a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday; (b) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour; (c) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day; and that when the committee is holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.
The eleventh motion is about orders of reference from the House respecting bills:
That in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting Bills, (a) The clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider; (b) Suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and (c) During the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.
The twelfth motion is about technical tests for witnesses:
That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests [to check] the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.
The thirteenth motion is about linguistic review:
That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.
Mr. Chair, I have some good news. I have finished.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Drouin.
I have three small points to bring up before we continue.
First, we strongly recommend wearing a mask even when people are seated. The interpreters can still hear us.
Second, Ms. Ashton, can you hear us now? We lost you earlier.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Okay, that's great.
Before we move to vote on the motions, either by voting or by carrying them unanimously, I believe that some people want to comment. I saw some hands up just now, specifically Marc Serré and Ms. Lattanzio.
Do you want to make a comment? No? Okay.
I believe that Madam Clerk wants to comment.
3:50 p.m.
The Clerk
Thank you Mr. Chair.
The text of the motion on the subcommittee has the words “five members”. When Mr. Drouin read it, I don't think he said a number. Usually, the subcommittee is made up of five members. I do not know if he has a different intention.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I had no other intention; my intentions are noble.
3:50 p.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Yes, the comment is more or less along the same lines.
In the motion on technical tests for witnesses, Mr. Drouin said in French that the House team must conduct technical tests “avant de vérifier la connectivité …”. In the document, I see “afin”, but he said “avant”.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Is everyone fine with that?
So the subcommittee has five members, as has just been pointed out.
Do we have unanimous consent on the routine motions?
(Motions agreed to)
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
3:55 p.m.
The Clerk
On the screen here, it says 17 minutes left. However, I think that is ParlVU and there is always a little delay. So you probably have 15 minutes.
3:55 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
I don't know whether this is a good time, but I wanted to introduce two motions about resuming the committee's studies.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
In view of the time we have left before the vote, are we comfortable continuing for a few minutes? Earlier, the committee gave unanimous consent to continue the session through the bells, but we did not specify for how long.
So up to how many minutes before the vote do we want to continue the session?
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
I propose 10 minutes before, because we have to leave.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
