Official Languages Committee on March 31st, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The ruling of the chair is sustained, so amendment BQ‑65 is defeated.

Mr. Godin, the floor is yours.

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

Mr. Chair, I would like to move a new amendment. It would be an exact copy of the Bloc Québécois's amendment minus the final paragraph, the one that made the amendment inadmissible.

I can read it out.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I think it would be faster to proceed that way. So, you're saying your new amendment has the same text as amendment BQ‑65 that was just defeated, minus the final paragraph, in both the French and the English versions. Correct?

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

Yes.

I don't want to repeat what my colleague was saying, Mr. Chair. We're here to defend the francophone core of North America. I'm talking about consistency again, and I don't want to repeat myself, but I think it's important to bear that in mind.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Since there are no further questions or comments, let me call the vote on this new amendment moved by Mr. Godin.

(Amendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Now we're on amendment BQ‑65.1, on page 195.1 of the amendments package.

Mr. Beaulieu, the floor is yours.

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

I'm not going to move it.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Amendment BQ‑65.1 is not being moved, so we will move on to amendment BQ‑66.

Mr. Beaulieu, do you want to move this one?

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

Yes. I move that Bill C‑13, in clause 54, be amended by replacing lines 22 to 25 on page 41 with the following: 7 (1) Federally regulated private businesses must communicate in French with consumers in Quebec and provide them services in French.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Are there any questions or comments?

Go ahead, Mr. Godin.

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

Mr. Chair, I do understand what my colleague is getting at, but I feel it's more important to protect consumers' rights than businesses' rights, so I will be voting against his amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you.

There being no further questions or comments, I will call the vote on amendment BQ‑66.

(Amendment negatived: nays 10; yeas 1)

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

Were we just voting on amendment BQ‑65.1?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

No, you said you didn't want to move amendment BQ‑65.1, and we just voted down amendment BQ‑66, the one with the reference number 11696492.

Now we're moving on to amendment BQ‑67.

Do you want to move it, Mr. Beaulieu?

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

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay, so you're not moving amendment BQ‑67.

Do you want to move amendment BQ‑68?

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

No, not that one either.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Amendment BQ‑68 is not being moved either.

Now we're on LIB‑40.1.

Mr. Serré, do you want to move it?

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Let me start by explaining amendment LIB‑40.1. The purpose of the future use of French in federally regulated private businesses act is to promote and protect the use of French in federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and in regions with a strong francophone presence, as mentioned earlier. We have several amendments to move at this stage, and I'm going to talk about the first one.

I am proud to move the first in a series of amendments. The goal is to incorporate additional details on the use of French in communications with employees and as a language of work. The changes are consistent with the vision that the federal govermment laid out in the reform proposal it released in February 2021. Instead of adding these new requirements through regulations, however, the government decided to explicitly include them in the act.

More specifically, the amendments will add new clauses and additional details, particularly with regard to what the employer is required to do to respect the employees' right to work and be supervised—

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

Point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, Mr. Godin.

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

Isn't Mr. Serré supposed to move his amendment first and then present his arguments?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

He told me he wanted to move it. Now he's explaining its content.

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

Did he read out the whole thing?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I asked him if he had moved it and he indicated that he had. Now he's explaining the reasons for it in his own words.