Official Languages Committee on March 10th, 2023

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Having , earlier in life, been a trustee on the English Montreal School Board, I can say that this amendment would further strengthen the idea of contributing to the survival and vitality of minority language communities. I'd like to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Samson, for this amendment. I strongly and fully support it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Godin.

After that, it will be Ms. Ashton's turn.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to begin by thanking my colleague, Mr. Samson, for his heartfelt presentation. We know that he has spent his life defending Canada's francophone minorities, which is all to his credit.

I'd like to return to one of his comments. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in including the enumeration in the bill, because the Liberals opposed it.

My colleague was there, as were you, Mr. Chair, when…

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Please stick to the amendment, Mr. Godin.

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

I'm getting there, Mr. Chair.

I simply want to describe the extraordinary work done by my colleague on behalf of francophones outside Quebec, and even in Quebec.

There is at the moment a property-related situation. I'd like to congratulate Ms. Marie-Pierre Lavoie, the chair of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, the CSFCB, who has been working hard on this. There is a problem at the moment in British Columbia with access to real property in Canada. That's why I wanted to congratulate her.

It's worth remembering that the last witness before we began to discuss Bill C‑13 was Mr. Denis Chartrand, who has spent his life working on many issues, including access to federal real property. Mr. Chartrand will be retiring soon. As he has already said so, I'm not revealing anything new, but I just wanted to thank him for his work and his dedication to francophones outside Quebec.

I would now like to propose a subamendment to amendment Lib‑20.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Godin.

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

Its purpose is to strengthen what Mr. Samson said in his presentation, but which didn't make its way into his amendment. As Ms. Boyer mentioned, the word "shall" was not used, but rather "may".

I am therefore proposing that Bill C‑13, in clause 21, be amended by adding after line 26 on page 13 the following:"

"41.1(1) In developing a disposal strategy for a surplus federal real property or a federal immovable, every department and supporting federal institution, including but not limited to the Canada Land Company, shall take into account the needs and priorities of the English or French linguistic minority communities, including but not limited to the school boards or commissions of the province or territory where the federal real property or federal immovable is located."

The words "including but not limited to the Canada Land Company" further strengthen what was said. The words "including but not limited to the school boards or commissions of the province" are important. They are mentioned in the second paragraph, but they should also be included in the first. As a member of Parliament, I think it's important for us to be as specific as possible to facilitate the work of our judges.

I will now continue with my proposed subamendment.

"(2) In taking account of the needs and priorities under subsection (1), departments and supporting federal institutions, including but not limited to the Canada Lands Company, consult English or French linguistic minority communities and other stakeholders, including but not limited to school boards or commissions, with regard to their needs and interests in relation to the federal real property or federal immovable and offer them the opportunity to purchase or lease that real property or immovable in whole or in part."

I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that in the French version I removed "peuvent consulter" and replaced it with "consultent".

I think that's important. As my colleague mentioned, the purpose of all this is to give access to these properties in order to comply with the Government of Canada's obligation to make infrastructures available to those entitled to them.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, thank you for having presented the content of your subamendment, but from the procedural standpoint, I will let the legislative clerk explain to us how a subamendment should be presented.

I will therefore give the floor to Mr. Jean-François Pagé so that he can explain to us how this ought to be done.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Jean-François Pagé]

You indicated the changes you wanted to make, but you began by reading the entire amendment as amended.

However, when a subamendment is introduced, one does not present the entire amended amendment. The parts to be amended are presented and voted upon. It's a step-by-step process. It's not part of a whole, because it's a subamendment, not an amendment.

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

Do you want me to present six subamendments?

[The Clerk]

That's the procedure.

A subamendment is not presented in its entirely like that.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Let's begin with subsection 41.1(1) and go at it step‑by‑step.

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

Okay.

Do I need to request unanimous consent?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That's how it has to be done.

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

Is that how it's done?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

That indeed is how it's done.

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

Can I do that?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes.

As I mentioned, it's strictly a matter of procedure.

I think Mr. Généreux would like to say something.

Go ahead, Mr. Généreux.

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

I'd like to ask a procedural question.

Can the outcome of a prior vote be applied? If we are required to vote six times, could we not apply the outcome of the previous vote to save time.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

With unanimous consent, the committee can do whatever it wants.

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

Right.

Mr. Chair, you've just said that with unanimous consent, we can do whatever we want…

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I was talking about the committee.

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

In that case, I am requesting unanimous consent to introduce all of these items together so as not to lose any time.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Is there unanimous consent on this? Okay.

Good. That will save us some time.

Before giving you the floor, Mr. Beaulieu, I'm going to allow Ms. Ashton to ask her questions.

Go ahead, Ms. Ashton.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

There is a question I would like to ask before Mr. Godin presents his subamendment. It's a question for the officials, one that is always appropriate.

To begin with, I want to underscore the tireless work of the member for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook. His life experience has led us to this amendment and to a bill that will considerably change things for our communities across Canada. I also approve of Mr. Godin's sound proposals.

That said, I would like the officials to clarify something.

We know that indigenous communities are also affected by the sale of real property or federal lands. In testimony before the committee, we heard that there was a shortage of land in francophone communities to build schools. It's important to point out that such sales of lands or buildings are also part of what the federal government has to do as part of the reconciliation process with indigenous peoples.

Will the proposed amendments enable the federal government to continue to make these lands available to first nations? Will it protect first nations' right to acquire these lands on a priority basis?