Evidence of meeting #53 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was godin.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Right.
We will suspend the meeting for a few moments to give Mr. Gourde a chance to reconnect.
9:05 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Resuming the meeting.
Mr. Godin, do you want to replace the member who is absent with another Conservative Party MP?
9:05 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Chair, thank you for your diligence, but in the circumstances, the absence of one of my party's MPs will not have any impact, because we already know the outcome of the vote.
For this time, I agree to have the committee proceed with the vote.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Fine.
The first vice-chair of the committee, who is from the Conservative Party, is telling me to go ahead even though his party is missing a member, because we have quorum.
We are therefore going to put Mr. Serré's amendment to the vote.
I will let the clerk proceed.
March 10th, 2023 / 9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Madam Clerk, the vote is to delete clause 54, is that right?
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
A point of order, Mr. Chair.
When we hold a vote, we can't make comments.
I was given a dressing down by my colleague last week when voting had begun. So I am asking that we keep silent and not answer questions. We have to know what we are voting on, and when voting has begun, everybody has to vote. I was rebuked for this last week.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
Patricia Lattanzio Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Mr. Chair, if I may speak.
We have connection problems this morning. You can check with other colleagues who are participating in the meeting remotely: the sound is not top quality today. So when the clerk started the vote, it wasn't clear. That is why I wanted to get clarification.
You know that I am not in the habit of making comments during a vote, my dear colleague.
That said, I apologize.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
No. I want to finish what I was saying.
I agree to one of my colleagues withdrawing from the vote because he had technical difficulties. If Ms. Lattanzio has technical difficulties, she should withdraw.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Mr. Godin, what you are telling me is not important for the vote. I would ask that you follow procedure, please. You agreed to proceeding with the vote.
Ms. Lattanzio asked a legitimate question. She is actually present. Let's be a bit more open-minded about this. I think she clearly told us the reason why she had asked the question.
Let's continue with the vote, Madam Clerk.
(Amendment agreed to: yeas: 6; nays: 4)
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
We will come back to the motion as amended.
Does anyone want to add something?
Since no one wishes to speak, we will proceed with the vote on Mr. Godin's amended motion.
(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 6; nays: 4)
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
The motion is as follows:
That, in relation to the 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 : Consideration of clause 27.1 to clause 52 of Bill C‑13 be postponed to the end of clause‑by‑clause consideration.
You have received a copy, Madam Clerk.
9:10 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Do you need me to present my arguments?
I can repeat what I said earlier, but if we want to save time, I don't need to go back over it. For us in the Conservative Party of Canada, it is extremely important to debate clause 54.
We also want to reiterate that there are various clauses in a bill and some are more important than others.
Mr. Chair, before we proceed with the vote, I want to make sure that four Conservative members are present.
9:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
That's fine, thank you.
Before we go any further, I want to note that everyone has received a copy of Mr. Godin's motion.
What is the situation with Mr. Gourde?
9:15 a.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Ms. Michelle Legault
It seems that Mr. Gourde had to restart his Surface device to do an update. He is trying to connect to the meeting using another computer.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
I'm going to suspend the meeting to give Mr. Gourde some time to rejoin it.
Do you want to say something, Mr. Godin?
9:15 a.m.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Chair, I just want to add that we are trying to find someone on site to temporarily replace Mr. Gourde.
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
9:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Resuming the meeting.
Mr. Gourde, I'm pleased to see you back.
I see that everyone is here.
Before the break, we were on Mr. Godin's motion.
Because no one seems to want to speak, we will proceed with the vote.
(Motion negatived; yeas: 5; nays: 6)
(Clause 21)