Official Languages Committee on Oct. 31st, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

What are you proposing?

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

I propose that the meeting be suspended. I can read the amendment while my employee sends the text to the clerk so that it can be passed on to the committee members.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Please pass around the text of the amendment.

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

I'll read it in the meantime.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, please.

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

That's what I wanted to say, Mr. Chair. You beat me to it.

I propose to eliminate the first paragraph and keep the second paragraph in its entirety. The third paragraph would be amended.

I'll read the amended paragraph: “That the Committee accept the MP for Brantford—Brant's apologies to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement of Canada, to the 4,000 Franco‑Ontarians in his riding, and to all Francophone MPs and all the Francophones in Canada”.

There's another paragraph: “That the Committee recognises that French is just as important to Canada's bilingual status as English, and that French is indispensable to the Canadian identity”. Lastly, I propose to withdraw the last paragraph of Mr. Iacono's motion.

There you go, Mr. Chair. I think that you already received it.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, I have it. Our clerk is extremely efficient.

Before I suspend the meeting temporarily, I would like to remind you of the order of speakers: Ms. Gladu, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Lightbound, Mr. Iacono and Ms. Ashton. In the event of a debate on Mr. Godin's amendment, we'll follow the procedure.

I'll suspend the meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

At Mr. Beaulieu's request, we'll suspend the meeting again.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I call the meeting back to order. However, before continuing, I'd like to clarify a few things.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't know whether or not someone will propose a motion after Mr. Godin speaks.

Those who raised their hands and whose names I have taken down will have the floor as we continue the debate. That has nothing to do with a possible amendment to the motion.

The next speakers will therefore be Ms. Gladu, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Lightbound, Mr. Iacono and Ms. Ashton. Their comments pertain to the debate on Mr. Iacono's motion as currently drafted. If we start debating an amendment and you raise your hand, it will be for something else.

I don't know yet whether an amendment will be moved.

I yield the floor to Mr. Godin.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think you've all received the text of my proposed amendment.

Before going any further, I will say that we are wasting time and that official language minority community organizations are yet again paying the price.

At MP Angelo Iacono's initiative, a motion was moved on Tuesday while Statistics Canada witnesses were present.

I'm reaching out with both hands, as I did mention previously.

First of all, I invite Mr. Iacono to withdraw his motion, or to accept the amendment I am now proposing.

The amendment reads as follows:

That the motion be amended by deleting the first paragraph, by replacing the words “request that the MP for Brantford—Brant apologises in the House” with the words “accept the MP for Brantford—Brant's apologies”, and by deleting the last paragraph.

The motion goes on to say:

That the Committee recognises that French is just as important to Canada’s bilingual status as English, and that French is indispensable to the Canadian identity;

That is our proposed amendment, Mr. Chair.

I could draw out the debate and repeat what has already been said. I could add further arguments, but in order to be consistent and act in the interest of the official language communities that wish to participate in the study on the minority-language education continuum, I will now stop speaking.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Are you proposing an amendment to Mr. Iacono's motion? What exactly are you proposing? You said two things.

Please enlighten the committee on your amendment.

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

Very well, Mr. Chair.

Actually, I thought I was clear. However, thank you for allowing me to set the record straight and flesh out my comments so everyone can better understand them.

I am proposing two options to committee members.

The first option—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, we all understood that. You said you had two options, but which one do you want us to look at?

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

Mr. Chair, I am proposing two options.

I move that the committee withdraw Mr. Iacono's motion. Otherwise, I am proposing an amendment to his motion, which I read to you.

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

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

I am new to the Standing Committee on Official Languages, but I find it somewhat astounding that, after all these years, there is such a profound lack of understanding of procedure.

Mr. Godin, there is a motion on the table, and it has not been withdrawn. You cannot offer options to the committee. You only have one option: either you move an amendment, or you stop talking and someone else will debate the motion. It's quite simple.

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

Mr. Chair, is that a point of order?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

It's a point of order. That's why I was trying to guide you by telling you to move your amendment.

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

I appreciate that, Mr. Chair.

I now remind committee members to be reasonable.

I am officially moving the amendment that I read.

Would you like me to read the text of the amendment again, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

No, you've already read it and shared it.

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

To be consistent, we must not waste time.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

You even shared your proposal with the committee. So you're moving your amendment to the motion.

Is that correct?

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

Yes, and I won't make any speeches in the interest of consistency.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Perfect.

Are there any questions or comments on Mr. Godin's amendment to Mr. Iacono's motion? If not, we'll go to a vote.

I see no questions. We will now vote on Mr. Godin's amendment.

(Amendment negatived: nays 7; yeas 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are back to the list of speakers who wish to debate Mr. Iacono's motion.

We've reached Ms. Gladu. Then it will be Mr. Dalton's turn.

Ms. Gladu, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Chair.

I'm very disappointed that the amendment didn't pass, because it addressed the concerns that I have with the motion.

I don't like this motion. I don't like the way it was presented. I think we're above this at this committee. We're trying to promote the French language, and I think it is very vindictive and petty to be pointing out people's behaviour.

It's clear that all parliamentarians have made a mistake at one time or another. We know that Mr. Fraser, when he was the minister, was criticized for publishing memos only in English. Mr. Brock, from Brantford—Brant, realized that he had made a mistake, and he apologized, and Minister Duclos accepted the apology.

I think this committee has wasted over three hours talking about this. Clearly it is our job, as committee members, to remind the House of Commons that everyone can speak in either official language, but the way that this is phrased at the beginning, that there is “disappointment at the behaviour of Conservative MPs”, it's as though they're lumping everybody together all into one.

I don't appreciate that, because I think I've been very clear that I'm super-supportive of French and English across the country. I've demonstrated that continually at this committee and in the House. You heard Mr. Dalton talk at great length and passionately about his appreciation of the French language, so I don't like lumping them all together.

I also don't like that there's an assumption at the end of it that denounces “the inaction of the Conservative leader in the face of repeated anti-francophone remarks”. People have no idea what the leader did or did not do here, so to assume that he didn't take any action is unfair and, frankly, not true.

I don't like this motion, so I would like to move an amendment that would delete, in the first paragraph, “Conservative MPs”. Then in the third paragraph, it would say, “That the committee accepts that the MP for Brantford—Brant apologized in the House”. Then we keep the next paragraph, but strike the last paragraph.

That's what I think we should do so that we can get back to the good work of the committee.

We have done a lot of good reports here. I think the point that the Liberals wanted to make has been made ad nauseam for three hours, so let's move this amendment and see if we can vote on it and move on.