Good afternoon, everyone.
I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 28 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.
Today's meeting is in a hybrid format. Members will attend in person or with the Zoom application.
In light of the recommendations from health authorities regarding the pandemic, all those attending the meeting in person should follow the directives of the Board of Internal Economy. I thank the members in advance for their co‑operation.
Should any technical challenges arise, please advise me. Note that we may need to suspend for a few minutes, as we need to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Monday, May 30, 2022, the committee is resuming its study of Bill C‑13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts.
I would now like to welcome the first witnesses.
Today we have Linda Cardinal, Associate Vice-Rector of Research at the Université de l’Ontario français, and Stéphanie Chouinard, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University.
Welcome, ladies.
The meeting will be somewhat shortened as a result of the voting. You nevertheless have five minutes for your opening statements. Then we will begin the first round of questions.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are participating in the meeting by video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute your mike. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute to prevent echoing in the room.
As previously mentioned, you will be allowed a maximum of five minutes.
We will begin with Linda Cardinal.