Thank you, Mr. Chair.
With respect to the motion before us, I can clearly see the discomfort and embarrassment of the Conservatives, who want to do everything except talk about what happened in the House last Thursday.
I understand their discomfort, because what we observed last Thursday echoes years of condescension and contempt from that party toward parliamentarians who speak French. Other colleagues have experienced it. I experienced it when I was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and I answered in French, because, as we know, French is my mother tongue and I have the right to speak French in the House. I saw it in their eyes, I heard it in their sighs, and we hear it, year after year, in their comments like the one the member for Brantford—Brant made to remind the minister that his question was in English. Even though Mr. Généreux would have us believe otherwise, we all know very well what he was trying to do. He was trying to insinuate that Mr. Duclos, who is a francophone, should have answered him in English, because the question was put to him in English. It's embarrassing and it's shameful.
The member has tried to pay lip service to this by offering an apology in the House, which wasn't really an apology. He then repeated the message on the X platform and Mr. Duclos accepted his apology. This testifies to Mr. Duclos's great class, and I agree with him. I also appreciate what Ms. Gladu said. She's right that mistakes are human.
However, that doesn't prevent this committee from speaking out about what happened and condemning this type of behaviour, which, as I recall, didn't happen through the workings of the Holy Spirit. We have seen this kind of behaviour from the Conservative Party for years. What amazes me is that my Quebec colleagues, francophone and francophile, on the other side of the House are also unable, once in a while, when the mistake is on their side, to step up and say that it makes no sense. That isn't how francophone parliamentarians should be treated. That isn't how we should respect francophone Canadians.
I think the motion is very relevant. It's not binding, but I think it clearly expresses the committee's view of what happened on Thursday in the House. I hope that my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Official Languages, who, we assume, have official languages at heart, will rally around something that is ultimately not very controversial.