Thank you very much.
First of all, I must say that I am disappointed that we have to hold a second meeting during a constituency week, especially since today is a holiday when we should be with our families. It's a very busy week for many of us. Here in western Canada, we've had some historic forest fires, including in my riding. That had to be dealt with. Unfortunately, we have to deal again with the situation that occurred in our committee.
That said, I think it's important that we meet and take a stand, as a committee, to say that we don't accept the behaviour in question by one of our committee members, and that such behaviour isn't worthy of a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages or a president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. I think it's important that we take this position. It doesn't just affect one member of the committee; it affects the reputation of the entire committee.
This week, I received comments from several people. I'm going to share with you a comment I heard from someone who is well respected in the francophone community outside Quebec, and whose name I'll keep anonymous. This is someone who has already testified before our committee. In a conversation on a completely different subject, this person raised the fact that they were very concerned about the behaviour of the member of our committee we are talking about today. This francophone person, who is strong and passionate about issues relating to the francophonie, raised the question: Should we expect other witnesses to experience such behaviour when they come to testify before our committee?
This person has a point of view that needs to be heard again at our committee. We need to hear the views and experiences of people like them. However, how many fear the same thing? We invite people to come and share their views, experiences and opinions with us, and we want to treat them with respect. Unfortunately, some people are already wondering if they too will be the subject of such behaviour if one of us disagrees with them.
That's why I think it's essential that, as a committee, we take a stand to say that this kind of behaviour is not worthy of a member of this committee or of a president of a parliamentary assembly that represents us internationally.
I also want to add that we in the NDP do not question Mr. Drouin's or any other member of this committee's commitment to the defence of the French language. It's unfortunate that this conversation has become so intense and that we see such a defence around this table, because I don't think that's what we're talking about. We're talking about behaviour that showed a lack of respect not only for the witnesses present, but also for this committee and for future witnesses.
Finally, as I've mentioned to other members of the committee, we've been in politics for a while. For my part, I've had the privilege of being a member of Parliament for almost 16 years. You know that, like many of you, I'm very passionate about many issues. On several occasions, I've expressed my disagreement with other members of a committee, whether it be this one or another. I've even disagreed with several witnesses who have come before us, but never like what we've seen recently.
You say the MP has apologized, but you want to continue without taking any further action. For example, the MP could take a break and distance himself from the committee and the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie in order to reflect on what he has done and the consequences of his action on the committee's reputation. However, this is not the case and, in my opinion, demonstrates a troubling arrogance.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've seen arrogance from politicians. That said, I don't think it's representative of the spirit of our committee, a committee that worked hard on the modernization of the Official Languages Act, a committee that shows its respect for all official language minority communities, whether they're francophone or anglophone.
This is our party's position on this issue. The committee's reputation is at stake. We have to think about the message we're sending to future witnesses as well as to the Canadians and Quebeckers who follow our work. It's about the reputation of this committee.
For our part, in the NDP, we hope that the committee will be able to express an opinion on this issue. We hope to be able to continue to work with an emphasis on respect despite disagreements. This spirit of respect must be an integral part of our work as a committee, now and in the future.
It is for this reason that we support the motion that has been proposed. We hope that the committee can come to a decision on this matter as soon as possible.