Welcome to meeting number 56 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.
I want to let the committee members know that all members went through the required sounds tests before the meeting.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Monday, May 30, 2022, the committee is resuming 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.
This meeting fulfills the conditions of the motion adopted on March 10 to add 6.5 hours of sitting time in order to debate the clauses and amendments to Bill C-13.
At the next meeting on Tuesday, April 18, item 6 of the motion passed on December 1, 2022, will be implemented as follows:
...all other amendments submitted to the committee shall be deemed moved. It is also moved that the chair shall put the question, forthwith and successively, without further debate on all other clauses and amendments submitted to the committee, as well as each and every question necessary to dispose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, as well as all questions necessary to report the bill to the House and to order the chair to report the bill to the House...
I again welcome the officials who were with us this morning. The Department of Canadian Heritage is represented by Julie Boyer, Marcel Fallu and Chantal Terrien. Warren J. Newman is here representing the Department of Justice. A special welcome to the Treasury Board Secretariat representatives, Karim Adam and Daniel Cadieux, as this is their first time at committee. They are replacing Carsten Quell. It takes two people to replace Mr. Quell, and that is saying something.
We are resuming consideration of clause 49 of the bill. This morning, before the meeting adjourned, I had ruled amendment CPC-53 out of order.
We will now move on to amendment CPC-54.