Official Languages Committee on Dec. 13th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's a perfectly legitimate procedure.

Is there unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment?

I'm going to do it the other way around. Is there anyone opposed to unanimous consent? I'm looking at the screen and around the table.

Mr. Beaulieu, are you opposed? So there is no unanimous consent.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I didn't ask for the floor. I would ask that we vote on the amendment, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

To withdraw the amendment?

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

Yes.

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

Mr. Chair, could you ask Mr. Beaulieu again whether or not he agrees to unanimous consent? I'm not sure if he actually heard the procedure because of the technical problems.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay.

I'll start the procedure again, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Godin was asking if there was unanimous consent to withdraw his amendment, which is allowed. That is the question that was asked. Is there unanimous consent?

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

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay. Thank you.

We'll continue the discussion on the amendment.

Mr. Beaulieu, you were next.

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

I ask that we vote on this amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Mr. Beaulieu.

We're proceeding according to the rules.

Go ahead, Madam Clerk.

(Amendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 5) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We'll move on to the next clause.

Mr. Vis, would you like to say something?

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

On page 2 at line 31 in English, Bill C-13 states:

And whereas the Government of Canada recognizes that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation contributes through its activities to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities and to the protection and promotion of both official languages;

I have a problem with this paragraph, partly because I see Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as two separate entities.

The second point I'd also like to raise is that I don't actually believe that the CBC in English does much to promote English anymore. I would kindly ask that we rewrite the—

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

I don't understand. We're supposed to debate the amendments. We're not going to start justifying the content.

Could you please clarify that?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Amendments can be proposed in this way, on the spot. It's possible. Mr. Vis had indicated that he would do so.

However, it will have to be communicated in writing. We can consult with the legislative clerks, if anyone would like.

First, I want to understand what Mr. Vis wants to do.

Mr. Vis, the floor is yours.

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

This morning I was just reading this. I hadn't looked at this clause very closely before, but CBC and Radio-Canada are administered separately, so it doesn't make sense to have one referenced in English and one in French.

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

Excuse me, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Wait a moment.

I have to suspend the meeting.

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

It's not in the order of the clauses.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

There are a lot of technical aspects here.

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

We need to move on to BQ‑1 before we go to his comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, there are a lot of technical aspects to deal with.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are suspending the meeting briefly.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are resuming the meeting.

Mr. Vis, I did indeed make a mistake. I misunderstood what you were explaining to me. The amendment you proposed concerns the lines following those affected by BQ‑1. It may include what you're saying.

We can discuss it, but in English, BQ‑1 starts at line 19. In French, it starts at line 17.

That takes precedence over what you wanted to do. I apologize for the confusion.

We're now moving on to BQ‑1.

Go ahead, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

Thank you.

I want you to know that I sent a new proposed amendment to the clerk. I don't know if she was able to get it to you.