Official Languages Committee on Nov. 1st, 2022

[The Clerk]

Minister Fraser and his officials have confirmed their attendance for Tuesday, November 15, the date of the committee's next meeting.

I've also ensured that the witnesses from Power Law will be able to move up their appearance and join us for two hours on November 15. The committee will have to decide who it wants to hear from on November 15.

As for Thursday, November 17, the Minister of Official Languages and the President of the Treasury Board have confirmed that they can appear before the committee for two hours.

Representatives from Power Law were originally scheduled to appear for two hours on Tuesday, November 22.

I also have a list for Thursday, November 24, but I haven't invited any witnesses yet, because I was waiting to see how the committee wanted to arrange its schedule.

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

Were there any other invited witnesses who have had their appearances cancelled?

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Ms. Lattanzio.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I want to reiterate what's been said, to make sure everything's clear. The witnesses who were called to appear on November 15, specifically Minister Fraser and representatives from Power Law, have confirmed their attendance.

We will hear from Minister Petitpas Taylor on November 17.

As I understand it, the only remaining time slot is on November 22, which was originally reserved for the Power Law representatives. Do I have that right?

[The Clerk]

If Minister Fraser is coming on November 15, and if that's the committee's priority, I'll ask the Power Law representatives if they're still available to come on November 22, their original date.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Power Law representatives could appear on November 15 for one hour, but if they want to appear for two hours, it will have to be on November 22. Is that right?

[The Clerk]

It's up to the committee to decide.

However, I would draw your attention to the motions passed by the committee to have each minister appear for two hours. That's why I invited only Minister Fraser on November 15.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

All right. Have the Power Law representatives confirmed they can appear on November 15?

[The Clerk]

Yes, they have confirmed that. However, I just received a message from Minister Fraser's office, so I haven't had a chance to discuss it with the Power Law representatives yet.

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Can we suspend the meeting to deal with the matter pertaining to witness management before we dispose of Mr. Généreux's amendment?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I have to suspend the meeting anyway, because it is 1 p.m. Eastern time, and the technical team has informed me that the meeting can't go past that time because there is not enough technical support. It's too bad, because we were on a roll.

Let's keep all that in mind. We'll meet again in just a week's time.

The sitting is therefore suspended.

[The meeting was suspended at 1:01 p.m., Thursday, November 3.]

[The meeting resumed at 11:06 a.m., Tuesday, November 15.]

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I call this meeting back to order.

Welcome back to meeting number 38 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages, suspended on November 3, 2022.

This meeting continues. It is both a new meeting and meeting number 38.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Members may participate either in person or via Zoom.

We will pick up where we left off, resuming debate on Mr. Serré's motion, Mr. Godin's amendments and Mr. Généreux's subamendment.

Mr. Généreux, before I give you the floor, I will read the subamendment to put things into context, since it's been a week and a half.

Mr. Bernard Généreux moved the following subamendment:

That the amendment be amended by adding after the words “the Minister of Official Languages, the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and their officials be invited to appear for one two hours for each minister in separate meetings no later than Thursday, November 24, 2022”, the following: “but that, before proceeding with a clause-by-clause analysis, Quebec be given the opportunity to appear or to submit its positions before amendments are submitted, in order to protect its requests for amendments”.

As a brief reminder, we are reversing the procedure. We are considering the subamendment proposed by Mr. Généreux, the amendments proposed by Mr. Godin and the main motion moved by Mr. Serré.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to seek unanimous consent to withdraw my subamendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Is there unanimous consent for Mr. Généreux to withdraw his subamendment?

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

I'm waiting to see what happens.

I'm afraid of what's coming next.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I see everyone nodding their heads. Everyone seems to agree on that.

By unanimous consent, Mr. Généreux's subamendment is withdrawn.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

We could also withdraw the amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

So we're back to Mr. Godin's amendment.

The floor is open for debate.

Mr. Beaulieu, did you want to speak to that?

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

I will speak later.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, I see that you want to say something, but you were on the list of people who were supposed to speak when we suspended the meeting.

I will therefore give you the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm glad to see you in person today. It's far more efficient.

However, we do unfortunately need to use the hybrid format to meet in some circumstances. All that to say, I wish to inform you of something, Mr. Chair. I am very transparent and very collaborative. Unfortunately, I will be participating in the meeting virtually this Thursday, so I can hardly criticize you.

Mr. Chair, I would indeed like to speak again on my amendment to Mr. Serré's motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Before I go any further, does everyone in the room and participating virtually have Mr. Godin's amendments in front of them?

I believe they were distributed by the clerk the week before. Everyone should have them to follow along.

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

Mr. Chair, I can explain my amendment. That was actually my intention.

The point of my amendment is to ensure that the committee can do its work properly and meet the objective of hearing from the four ministers whose departments will be affected by Bill C‑13, specifically the Department of Canadian Heritage, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as well as the Treasury Board and Official Languages.

I think it's important that we hear from those four ministers. We would have preferred them to come during the debate, so we could have them answer our questions, confirm our assumptions and help draft our amendments as part of the process. Unfortunately, two of these ministers decided to appear at the conclusion of our testimony. That is their prerogative, not that I necessarily agree with it. I don't share their point of view, but we have to move forward at some point.

We also need to correct the dates, because time is running out.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I have a point of order.

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship did not cancel his attendance. He would have been here, if the motion had passed.