Evidence of meeting #119 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was brock.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
While you're looking through your notes, I want to tell the committee members that I am setting aside the last two minutes of the meeting to say something. I will be interrupting the discussion, regardless of who is speaking at that time.
Go ahead, Mr. Godin.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Chair, I want to thank you for the respect you have shown the witnesses. Since you knew what was coming, you decided to postpone their appearance and informed the vice-chairs. The witnesses who were invited last Thursday were from British Columbia. I don't know where today's witnesses were from, but I thank you for respecting them. I wanted to mention that.
That being said, the Liberal MPs claimed earlier that Conservative MPs are not sensitive to the French fact and Canadian identity. Mr. Chair, you would be surprised by the number of Conservative MPs who speak French. Let me offer some advice, to you and all your Liberal colleagues: Be careful. Even though they're not fluent in French, they can indeed speak French discreetly, but they understand it very well. That is their choice.
Mr. Iacono's motion says: “That the Committee remind all MPs of their right to speak in whichever of the two official languages at all times in Parliament”.
When I say the official languages, I still have to wink. It is clear that for the Liberals or for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada's two official languages are not necessarily French and English. Since the Prime Minister appointed a bilingual Governor General who doesn't speak French, there is not much doubt.
Let me say again that you would be surprised that my Conservative colleagues speak more French than you think. That was the most wonderful surprise I had when I took the official languages portfolio.
Just yesterday, I met with representatives from Canadian Parents for French. The interest that Canadians have in Canada's specific identity is impressive. They want to preserve bilingualism and learn French. The problem isn't that not enough people are interested, but rather that there is insufficient access. That is a great tribute to the francophones who struggle every day.
I can understand my fellow committee members who want my colleague Larry Brock to apologize, but my colleague has apologized. It is important for francophones to continue to defend the French fact. I will always stand up for the French fact. We mustn't get carried away, though. Going back to that image of my colleague, I am wondering if Mr. Brock has to be tarred and feathered.
Mr. Chair, I don't know whether you remember that. Maybe you didn't do that in Acadia.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Well, I am familiar with it from the Lucky Luke cartoons, with the Dalton brothers.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
That was not where I wanted to go, Mr. Chair. For my part, I saw that kind of thing when I was young, at bachelor parties. They used molasses and tar. Unfortunately, that practice caused suffering.
Getting back to the motion, you have to listen to reason at some point. In my opinion, insisting on this motion is unreasonable. My colleague took concrete action. Does he have to appear before the committee on his knees now and ask for absolution? I think we need to move on to something else.
Ms. Ashton, I agree with you. Once again, I withdraw my remarks and offer my sincere apologies. For my part, I have no trouble apologizing. If someone does something unacceptable, they need to apologize. I did that and so did my colleague, three times. No doubt you will say I am rambling and repeating myself, but a message has to be repeated for it to be heard. That is because people do not always pay attention.
The motion before us is not necessarily acceptable. I question the motive behind it. The Liberals are no doubt looking to score political points, which I understand because we aren't naive. In the end though, people have to listen to reason. For my part, I have extended a hand. If the Liberals see that this is a waste of time, they can simply withdraw the motion, since they are the ones who introduced it. It is up to them.
We have tools and procedures at our disposal. As parliamentarians, we use them to assert our rights. In this case, it is a question of respect for parliamentarians. I think it is very important to recognize all the rights of parliamentarians.
In my colleague's motion, it says: “That the Committee request that the MP for Brantford—Brant apologizes in the House…”. In other words, they want to choose the setting where the apology is made. My colleague has apologized though, and no one here can say he has not. The key player in this saga is the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, who is the MP for Québec City. Like my colleagues Mr. Lightbound, Mr. Duclos, Mr. Deltell and Mr. Paul‑Hus, I am fortunate to represent a riding in the greater Québec City area.
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos expressed his thanks on the social network where my colleague Larry Block apologized. My great friend and colleague Bernard Généreux, the Member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, is telling me that he apologized in both official languages. Here is what he said:
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.
As you can see, his final words were “I am sorry”. Who do you think answered with “Thank you, Larry”? If someone says that on Larry Brock's page on the X platform, they are not addressing the MP Larry Maguire or defenceman Larry Robinson, unless Larry Brock's X page has been hacked. It was Jean-Yves Duclos himself who said thank you. In my opinion, that means that he accepts Mr. Brock's apology and that he also wants to move on to something else.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
I want to make sure everyone knows that this quote is from the X platform and that he did not say that in the House of Commons.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
As I told the committee, I have set aside the next two minutes to say something.
I decided to cancel the appearance of the witnesses who were supposed to be here on Thursday. The Commissioner of Official Languages was supposed to appear in the first hour of the meeting, and witnesses from British Columbia and Saskatchewan were supposed to testify in the second hour of the meeting.
I will be adjourning the meeting shortly, even though this discussion is still ongoing.
Mr. Godin, you were speaking before I interrupted. Had you finished?
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Okay.
According to my list, the order of speakers for the next meeting is as follows: Mr. Godin, Mr. Serré, Ms. Gladu, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Généreux and Mr. Iacono. It looks like Mr. Dalton also wishes to speak, but I will ask him to raise his hand at the next meeting.
The meeting is now adjourned.