Official Languages Committee on March 7th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's exactly what I was going to say, Mr. Serré.

Mr. Beaulieu, let us know what you want and we can debate it. For now, it's a bit vague.

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

I'll send you our motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's fine, Mr. Beaulieu.

It'll take a little time before we receive it.

Mr. Godin, would you like to speak now or wait until we receive the motion?

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

I can speak, Mr. Chair.

In fact, while we are waiting for Mr. Beaulieu's motion, to make up for lost time, I will make my presentation, if committee members agree.

Would you agree to that, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

On what do you want to give a presentation?

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

On the request made under Standing Order 106(4).

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The member who made the request is Mr. Beaulieu.

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

In that case, we'll wait.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Beaulieu, I'm being indulgent, but I really need something specific.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to clarify something.

A motion requesting that the committee have 12 meetings has been moved. We agreed to hold eight meetings, and we decided that after the eighth meeting we could discuss extending the study if necessary. That's what we agreed to.

So I don't understand why we called a meeting today under Standing Order 106(4). I hope my colleagues will be able to explain that. We also agreed on a motion which—

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

Mr. Chair, I can't answer that since we are still waiting for the written motion. My colleague has to abide by the same rules.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I will consider what Mr. Serré said as being comments.

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

I don't think we established a moment when we could—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Let's take a few moments to read what Mr. Beaulieu's motion says.

I will suspend for a few minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are resuming our deliberations.

I will read out Mr. Beaulieu's motion:

That, in accordance with item 5 of the motion adopted on December 1, 2022, the committee extend the duration of its clause-by-clause study of Bill C‑13 by the number of meetings necessary to consider and debate any amendments that committee members wish to propose.

I will give the floor to Mr. Godin, and then we'll come back to Mr. Beaulieu.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

What I wanted to say a little earlier is that this process was undertaken to show how important it is for us to do good work at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, in the interest of making this bill a historic one which will stand the test of time over the next 25 years.

Between my colleague Mr. Beaulieu's proposal and the one calling for two additional meetings, there is some leeway. I think that we can find common ground for the benefit of both official languages.

I will let others speak to Mr. Beaulieu's motion. After that I would like to propose an amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor, and then we'll come back to Mr. Beaulieu.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

I would like to remind the committee that, if the preliminary study had been done, we would not be in this mess which started almost a year ago, but that's another story.

Mr. Beaulieu's motion calls for extending the duration of the clause-by-clause study of Bill C‑13 by the number of meetings necessary. I don't understand. Is he suggesting we hold meetings indefinitely? Can he give us an idea of what we can expect?

The last time, we agreed unanimously on eight meetings, after which we would see if it was necessary to add more. However, if we agree to hold a number of necessary meetings, that means we could debate every amendment for hours on end. It would be endless.

So I would like to get a clarification from Mr. Beaulieu.

I would also like to hear the amendment Mr. Godin wants to propose. He seems to be the master of ratification and a reasonable person.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I'm not trying to drag this out indefinitely. That said, I feel like people took a long time because they didn't want us to get to clause 54 about applying Bill 101 to federally regulated private businesses. I dropped a number of our amendments, all the minor ones, so we could move faster.

The goal is not to drag this out so that the bill doesn't pass. I agree that it needs to pass. At some point, we have to move forward.

However, if we set a very specific number of meetings, I feel like people will stretch out the debate to make sure we never get to clause 54.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Drouin, for calling me a good mediator. I have been one in the past, but at that point the opposition parties worked well with the governing party.

I would like to introduce an amendment. In terms of the wording, Mr. Chair, I will draft it with you. I want to reflect my intentions. The people who have the expertise, like the legislative clerks and Madam Clerk, will likely be able to help us.

I move that consideration 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, be extended by four meetings. In addition, I move that consideration of clause 54 of Bill C‑13 be postponed to the end of clause-by-clause consideration and be subject to debate.

That's my amendment. The purpose is to be able to discuss clause 54, which deals with the Charter, among other things—

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I'm going to interrupt you, Mr. Godin. We have a procedural issue right away. You need to tell us how you wish to fit your amendment into Mr. Beaulieu's motion.

Would you rather move your motion after we vote on Mr. Beaulieu's motion?

Having said that, I don't want to tell you what to do or point you in either direction.

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

I understand what you're saying about procedure, Mr. Chair. Therefore, I won't move my amendment. I will introduce my motion, which you are now aware of, later on.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you for your consideration.