Official Languages Committee on March 31st, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I have not received it yet, but I see that it is being handed out.

You have the floor to speak to your subamendment.

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

Chair, the majority and common language in Quebec is French. We know that French is in decline. It is true that we need to protect both official languages in Canada, French and English, but we also need to protect French in Quebec. That is the purpose of my subamendment.

I move that amendment LIB-38.1, proposing to amend Clause 50 at page 37 of Bill C-13, be amended by substituting “protection and promotion of the French language in Canada. ” by the following:

protection and promotion of the French language in Canada, including in the province of Quebec.

I think it is important to add this complement to ensure that French in Quebec is rightly considered as in decline, even though it is not a minority language. In Canada, Quebec has the most francophones. We need to recognize Quebec as a leader, which has an impact on all francophone minorities in Canada, in every province and territory.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Colleagues, to sum up, the subamendment proposes adding “including in the province of Quebec” to the last line of the subclause (1.1) proposed by amendment LIB‑38.1.

As no one seems to want to intervene on this, I am putting this subamendment to a vote.

(Subamendment negatived: nays 6, yeas 5).

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We will come back to amendment LIB‑38.1.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I simply want to announce that the Conservative Party of Canada will vote in favour of the amendment. It is better than nothing.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you.

Since no else wants to intervene, I will put amendment LIB‑38.1 to a vote.

(Amendment agreed to: yeas 11, nays 0)

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Amendment CPC‑58 having already been negatived by correlation with amendment CPC‑57, we will now move on to amendment BQ‑62.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I move that Bill C-13, in Clause 50, be amended by adding after line 4 on page 38 the following:

93.2 On any of the first 30 sitting days of each session of Parliament, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, with the support of the President of the Treasury Board, shall table in each House of Parliament a comprehensive summary of government spending and transfers to the provinces related to official languages during the previous session.

It is important to have this information for the purposes of transparency.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Drouin, you have the floor.

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

I am not sure whether my colleague has had the opportunity to be a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts or the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, but this exercise is already automatically done in Parliament. We will therefore be voting against the amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Drouin.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, out of concern for consistency, I would say to my colleague from the Bloc Québécois that I would have preferred to read “the President of the Treasury Board with the support of the Minister of Canadian Heritage”. I therefore cannot support this amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I often consult the Public Accounts of Canada, but there really is not a lot of information there on how the money is being used. It provides only the name of the agency and the amount. That is why I thought it would be useful to have a more comprehensive record than that.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Since there are no other interventions, I am putting amendment BQ‑62 to a vote.

(Amendment negatived: nays 10, yeas 1)

(Clause 50 as amended agreed to)

(Clause 51)

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We will now move on to clause 51 and amendment CPC‑59, found on page 185 of our amendments package.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

We are not at clause 51. We still haven't voted on clause 50.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Yes, we did vote on clause 50. We are now dealing with clause 51.

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

I do not think I will move any of my proposals for this clause since they address grandfathering provisions for the governor general and the lieutenant-governor.

Is that right?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We are on amendment CPC‑59. I haven't told you yet if it is out of order, Mr. Godin.

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

You know that I have thick skin. I will not move any of my amendments.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, I am told that your amendment CPC‑59 may be moved because it relates to your amendment CPC‑16 on page 46. There is no problem.

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

I will not be moving amendments CPC‑59, CPC‑60, CPC‑61 and CPC‑62.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Chair, is it the amendment about deputy ministers and other people?

I think it is a good amendment, Mr. Godin.

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

You should have said so sooner, Mr. Serré. I will not be moving my amendments.