Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Généreux, you had the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, I think the comments my colleague opposite just made are unnecessary. He says that it's the reality, yes, but I too could comment on the actions of Conservative members in the House of Commons. I'm not telling the witnesses that before they leave, though, and I think he's being a little disrespectful to the witnesses.

Could you call the member opposite to order, please?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Iacono.

Listen, this is the Standing Committee on Official Languages. I'm going to have to be tougher now. I'm sorry for everybody, but maybe what's happening is that I'm being too permissive.

We are now discussing Mr. Godin's amendment, which, I would remind members, would insert after the first paragraph of Mr. Iacono's motion the following paragraph:That the committee expresses its disappointment with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's appointment of a Governor General who does not speak French.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor and I'm listening to you on the amendment.

Those who are next on the list will speak to the amendment. I would ask everyone to listen to Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

To my knowledge, in Canada, there is only one Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and there is only one Parliament, that of Ottawa. It's the home of all Canadians. The decisions made inside that chamber are as valid for appointments as they are for the free choice of the official language of members who speak in the House of Commons.

Consequently, I fully agree with the addition of Mr. Godin's subamendment denouncing the Prime Minister's appointment of someone who doesn't speak French. It's equally harmful to all Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Généreux.

Ms. Gladu, you have the floor.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you, Chair, for the opportunity to speak.

While I think it's awful that they put in place a Governor General who doesn't speak French, it doesn't add to the context we have. Everyone knows you can speak English or French in the House. When French questions are directed at me, I try to reply in French, unless I run out of vocabulary, in which case I switch over.

I also want to say that Mr. Brock knows this, because he apologized that day to Mr. Duclos. He went on Twitter and social media and apologized as well, which affects all of what has been put before us.

I want to read it into the record: “I want to apologize to Minister Duclos and all my colleagues for my comments in Question Period today. Every Member of Parliament has the right to speak in the official language of their choice, my comment was inappropriate and I am sorry.” Also, to make it better, he did it in French.

In light of the fact that we've all made errors.... We've seen, in the past, Sean Fraser putting ministerial things out unilingually. He apologized, and he's done much better to learn French and move along.

In the spirit of working better as a committee, I think we should skip the amendment and the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Samson, you have the floor.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I just want to say that the proposed amendment is out of order because it completely changes the main motion. The motion and the amendment are totally different. Amendments like this could be added indefinitely, but this amendment has nothing to do with what happened in the House. So I would ask you to vote against this amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm prepared to rule on this, but there may still be people who would like to speak to the relevance of the amendment. If there are other things I haven't heard, I'm prepared to listen to other people.

Mr. Lightbound, you were next on the list.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I would prefer to speak to the motion. I agree that the amendment is in order.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Are you saying “in order” or “out of order”?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I'm sorry. I mean “out of order”, because it has nothing to do with the substance of the motion that's being put forward. In fact, there is another motion on the subject that Mr. Godin is trying to raise, which I also find out of order. Otherwise, we could add amendments such as “heaven is red and hell is blue”. It has nothing to do with the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I can recognize other members, but I'm prepared to make my ruling, unless someone thinks they can change my mind.

According to my list, the next speaker is Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think it's important to set the record straight. My colleague, who is the sponsor of the motion that I amended—

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to remind you that you were asked to make a decision. If you find that we're debating an amendment that's out of order, we have to go back to the motion. For the moment, I get the impression that Mr. Godin wants to speak to the motion. I would have liked to speak to it as well, but I decided not to, because the debate is on an amendment that I believe is out of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, I have to make a decision.

I asked three times if anyone thought they could change my mind.

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

Mr. Chair, I—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, I'm of the opinion that the amendment to the motion is out of order, for the reasons you have heard. I'll give you the floor: Do you have an argument that might change my mind?

You yourself tabled a notice of motion, which is consistent with your amendment.

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

That doesn't discredit an amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Iacono's motion takes us into a specific day, into an event that happened in the House of Commons—

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

That's not true, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You think that's not true, but that's what I'm reading in the motion. The motion calls on the committee to express its disappointment with the behaviour toward francophone ministers. We know what the event is. Ms. Gladu took the time to read the member's apology. It happened in the heat of the moment in the House of Commons.

I'm going to deal with the amendment right now, because I want to move on. I declare it—

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

Mr. Chair, before ruling whether it's in order, I would like to share with you a very important point, which will probably convince you to change your mind. You talked about actions taken in the House of Commons. Where did the member for Lethbridge make the remarks for which she apologized? Was it in the House of Commons?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I could let the mover speak to that.

However, my ruling remains the same: The amendment is out of order in the context of the motion.

Do you have a point of order, Mr. Lightbound?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

No, Mr. Chair.

The amendment is out of order, so we'll go back to the motion. I had given my name because I wanted to speak to the motion. I decided not to speak to it because we were discussing the amendment. Before making a new list….