Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 117 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Ladies and gentlemen, before we begin, I ask that you read the guidelines that are written on the small cards on the table to prevent feedback incidents.

I would like to remind participants to wait until I recognize them by name before speaking. Members, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. The clerk and I will do our best to respect the order in which people have raised their hand. Comments should always be addressed through the chair of the committee.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted by the committee on April 29, 2024, we are continuing our study on the minority-language education continuum.

I would like to welcome the witnesses who are joining us for the first hour of the meeting. We have two Statistics Canada representatives: Éric Caron‑Malenfant, assistant director, Centre for Demography, and Josée Bégin, assistant chief statistician, Social, Health and Labour Statistics Field.

Welcome, Mr. Caron‑Malenfant and Ms. Bégin. I believe this is your first appearance before this committee.

[Josée Bégin, Assistant Chief Statistician, Social, Health and Labour Statistics Field, Statistics Canada]

Yes, this is my first time before this committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The Standing Committee on Official Languages is a very good committee. We have a great team and amazing members.

Do you want to comment, Mr. Beaulieu?

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

Mr. Chair, I'll have a motion to move while the meeting is in public. Would there be a way to extend the public portion of the meeting a bit, so that the moving of my motion wouldn't take away from the time allocated to the witnesses? It won't take long. It may take five minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay, that's perfect. I'll keep it in mind, but feel free to remind me if necessary.

Do you want to add anything, Mr. Iacono?

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

I will also have a motion to put forward, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay, this is how we'll proceed. After the first hour, we'll stay in public. For the benefit of those watching us live or on the Internet, the notice of meeting states that we have one hour with the witnesses and then one hour in camera.

Are there any other questions on that?

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Actually, Mr. Chair, the notice of meeting we received clearly states that, from 11 a.m. to noon, we will hear from witnesses from Statistics Canada and that, from noon to 1 p.m., we will continue our work in camera. How can this notice of meeting be changed without unanimous consent?

We have witnesses before us, and I think it's important to hear their testimony. If the parties want to use their speaking time to move motions, it's up to them, but they must use the time based on the agenda we have received.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, the first hour is set aside for Statistics Canada, and then we will continue in camera. However, the committee is free to do what it wants, informally. If we want to stay in public to move motions, that's a choice the committee can make.

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

In that case, I have a question for you, Mr. Chair. Do we need unanimous consent from the committee to go in camera or stay in public?

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

You could ask for it quickly, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Sorry, my mistake, it's the other way around: It's when we want to go in camera that we need unanimous consent.

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

Here is my question: Is the unanimous consent of the committee needed to change the agenda?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

No. As I understand it, the answer is no.

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

Can you check that with the clerk?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

If we have the committee's consent to continue, we can do it.

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

How is that consent expressed, Mr. Chair, according to parliamentary rules?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

It can be expressed by a majority vote.

Do you want us to hear from the Statistics Canada witnesses right away and wait until the last minute to deal with the motions?

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

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Dalton, do you want to speak to this?

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

Yes. I just wanted to say that I would like to be able to listen to the presentations and ask the witnesses questions. At the end of the first hour, we can take a few minutes to discuss Mr. Beaulieu's motion. That would be my suggestion.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Before suspending the meeting to go in camera, we will deal with the motions of Mr. Beaulieu and Mr. Iacono.

Are you okay with that?

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

The only issue is that we don't know if the public portion of the meeting will be extended or not. I would have liked to have that clarified. Take the time to check that, perhaps later, Mr. Chair. Then you can advise us accordingly. Right now, we're eating up time.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's usually how it works: Someone can move a motion when they have the floor before the meeting is adjourned.

I see that we have two microphones on right now.

You have the floor, Mr. Godin.

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

Mr. Chair, I would remind you of what we, on our side, have done in the past. To comply with procedure, we used our time during the questioning of witnesses to move motions. As I understand it, in this case, we're trying to avoid reducing the time planned for witnesses, which is very legitimate, and we're adapting the rules according to the requests made.

I feel that my rights as a parliamentarian are being violated because, in the past, I had to use my speaking time during the question and answer period to move a motion when the Minister of Official Languages came to testify before the committee. The opposing party criticized me for that.

Mr. Chair, I just want to make sure that the rules are strictly followed. I will stand in your way if my rights are ever violated.