Official Languages Committee on Oct. 8th, 2024

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

I therefore ask for unanimous consent.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Your intention is not to withdraw it, but rather to amend it. Is that correct?

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

I would like to withdraw it and then amend Mr. Godin's motion, which I think is more likely to be adopted.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay. In that case, it requires the unanimous consent of the committee.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a question.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm surrounded by chairs here. There's one to my left and one to my right.

Go ahead, Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

If Mr. Beaulieu obtains unanimous consent to withdraw his motion, can the same motion be moved again later? Should we just vote on this?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The answer is yes, he will be able to, because we won't have dealt with his motion. It will be as if we hadn't heard it.

So, Mr. Beaulieu, you raised a point of order and I answered you. Now the ball is in your court.

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

I'm seeking unanimous consent to withdraw my motion. The reason I want to withdraw it is that I don't intend to move it again.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We will suspend the meeting so that everyone can think about it on their own.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I call the meeting back to order.

Mr. Beaulieu had the floor—

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

No, I had the floor 10 minutes ago.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I know, but your comment was in response to Mr. Beaulieu's motion.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

I have a point of order.

Mr. Dalton had the floor, and then you gave the floor to Mr. Beaulieu on a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay, but who is supposed to have the floor on this point of order now?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

It's up to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Dalton.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

That was a comment on the original motion. So there are several speakers who have gone before me.

We understand the importance of Canada appointing an indigenous Governor General, but as a Métis person, my concern, like many others, is that a person was appointed who doesn't speak French, when many qualified indigenous candidates can speak French. Appointing one of those people would have respected the bilingual nature of our country.

What the Prime Minister has done is insulting. None of this is directed at the Governor General herself, who is highly respected—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm going to interrupt you, Mr. Dalton.

I'm going to give you the floor again, don't worry, but when we suspended the meeting, the question was whether there was unanimous consent to withdraw Mr. Beaulieu's motion.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Yes, but those are comments I wanted to make before that.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I know, but since Mr. Godin's amendment was ruled out of order, we were going back to Mr. Beaulieu's motion. I understand what you're saying, but I want you to understand what I'm doing.

Here's what happened, in chronological order: Mr. Beaulieu moved a motion, and then Mr. Godin moved to amend it. Then that amendment was ruled out of order, so we were back to square one with Mr. Beaulieu, who asked for the committee's unanimous consent to withdraw his motion.

Is that correct, Mr. Beaulieu?

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

We can also vote on the motion. It's one or the other.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The ball is in your court.

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

Let's vote on it, then.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Let's vote on what?