Official Languages Committee on Oct. 27th, 2022

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Clerk]

Mr. Chair, I confirm unanimous consent.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I see no objections on screen.

The motion is carried.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair. I hope we won't delay the witnesses in the second hour.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you for your comment, Mr. Beaulieu.

We have 10 minutes left before we hear from the witnesses.

I will now move on to the next question.

I believe Mr. Drouin has the floor.

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

No, Mr. Chair. My new colleague, Mr. Vis, shared his time with me, and I used no more than one minute of that time.

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

I was saying something and I was interrupted by a point of order and the vote on Mr. Godin's motion. I would like to finish making my comment and to have the time to do so.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Iacono.

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

The comment was made that Liberal members didn't want to hear from the ministers, but we've never been opposed to hearing from the ministers in committee at any of the meetings I have attended. It's simply a question of availability. I wanted to put that on record.

As you've seen, we agree on the motion.

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

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, we will let Mr. Iacono finish his comment.

You will have the floor after Mr. Iacono.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just wanted to clarify a point concerning the allegation that Liberal members don't want to hear from the ministers in committee.

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair, because the information my colleague is providing is false. It was said before the committee that the Minister of Canadian Heritage didn't want to come and testify. So I think my NDP colleague's comment was entirely appropriate.

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

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Iacono.

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

That information comes from one person, and I can't attest to its veracity.

Before we wind up the discussion, we should ask the Minister of Canadian Heritage exactly what happened. I can't confirm that's the case since I haven't yet spoken to the office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage. If we want to be fair, we should speak to both parties before concluding that was in fact the case.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

All right.

Since we have less than 10 minutes until the end of the public meeting, I'll have to shorten everyone's speaking time so we can finish the second round of questions. I'll allow the next speaker three minutes and the other parties a minute and a half.

Is everyone in agreement?

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

We are always ready to cooperate, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

All right.

Mr. Vis, you have the floor for two minutes.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses for being here.

I'm looking at this bill from the standpoint of the beautiful province of British Columbia. I come from a region of the country where not many people speak French.

Mr. Bastarache, do you think the bill will make it harder to appoint a judge from British Columbia to the Supreme Court?

[Michel Bastarache]

I think there are enough qualified individuals in all the provinces and regions of Canada to be able to appoint nine judges to the Supreme Court.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

The people of British Columbia have another concern about the bill, and that's the relationship between theory and practice. British Columbia currently doesn't apply the Official Languages Act.

Will the new rules and obligations under the bill make the province more bilingual?

[Michel Bastarache]

The federal act doesn't concern British Columbia's institutions; it concerns the federal institutions in British Columbia.

Personally, I don't think many additional obligations have been created; the bill simply clarifies language rights in order to improve the act's implementation. I don't think that's a problem.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

I see.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Vis, your time is up.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor for three minutes.