Official Languages Committee on Nov. 8th, 2023

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Mr. Samson has the floor for a point of order.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Unless I'm mistaken, Mrs. Goodridge's question on the carbon tax has absolutely nothing to do with the motion for which we've invited the witnesses today.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

Mrs. Goodridge, if you wish to make a comment and return to today's subject, or if you wish to table a notice of motion, you may do so. You have the floor.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I wish to give notice of the following motion, and I am entitled to do so.

Small francophone communities are absolutely essential to the tradition of our country. However, the rising cost of living and necessities such as heating, food and transportation caused by thoughtless government policy is pushing those communities to the brink of survival.

Here is my motion:

That the committee undertake a five meetings study to examine the impact of the carbon tax on rural official language communities across Canada.

I have the notice of motion in both languages and will distribute it.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Mrs. Goodridge, Madam Clerk has received your notice of motion, and it will be distributed shortly to all members of the committee.

Have all members received the notice of motion that Mrs. Goodridge has just tabled?

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

There's something I'd like to understand.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Pardon me, Mr. Serré. I was speaking with the clerk.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to have a clear idea of where we stand. Question time is over. A notice of motion has been distributed.

Are we moving on to the next witness to ask questions?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Actually, Mr. Serré, there are 30 seconds left. That's what I was checking with Madam Clerk.

Mrs. Goodridge, you have 30 seconds in which to conclude.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think it's essential that this committee really take the time to consider the impact of the carbon tax on rural official language minority communities in Canada. It's essential because of the culture of the communities; it's [Technical difficulty—Editor].

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

A point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Allow me a comment, Mr. Iacono.

Mrs. Goodridge's five-minute intervention is over. You must understand that the time that was used for her notice of motion was subtracted from her speaking time. Consequent, she has simply used all the time that was at her disposal.

You may raise your point of order, Mr. Iacono.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

I would really like to understand how the carbon tax has an impact on language.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Actually, Mr. Iacono, we have received that notice of motion. We may debate it at a future meeting.

That's what I think, but I'm open to other suggestions. It could be debated, but, as you can understand, all of us are now ready to question the president of CBC/Radio-Canada.

We will move on to the next speaker.

Mr. Lauzon, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank Ms. Tait and Mr. Dubé for being here today. I would also like to thank them for admitting that a mistake was made in the first place. That's very important. I also want to thank them for reacting promptly. They were not slow to act, nor was their team.

Ms. Tait, thanks as well for coming to represent CBC/Radio-Canada before the committee to answer all our questions.

I would like to know a little more about the corrective measures that were put in place to prevent this kind of situation.

What kind of process have you put in place so that the committee can now be sure this situation will not reoccur?

I don't want to go into the details, since you make your decisions and manage your organization independently. We just want to know what changes you have made to prevent a reoccurrence.

[Catherine Tait]

Thank you for your question.

I'm going to ask my colleague to answer you.

[Marco Dubé]

Mr. Chair, first, we met with the teams to make them aware of the problem. They are keenly aware of the mistake that was made and of the impact it has had on all of us.

We have introduced measures to ensure that, when CBC teams are required to interpret or translate a podcast into French, they obviously call upon Quebec firms.

We have also enhanced exchanges between the CBC and Radio-Canada teams on critical issues such as this one. We are satisfied that what we have put in place will prevent this kind of situation from reoccurring. That being said, it was an isolated incident.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

You say it was an isolated incident. Do you know of any similar situation that has previously occurred? If so, when did it happen?

Was it really an isolated situation?

[Marco Dubé]

It was an isolated incident, yes.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

All right.

Ms. Tait, how did the Union des artistes react? How were the communications that you had with it and your apology received?

[Catherine Tait]

As I said, when I learned of the incident, I immediately called Ms. Kontoyanni, the president of the UDA.

I apologized without attempting to justify or explain the matter. I simply told her that it was a mistake and that we would correct the situation, and she responded in a very generous manner. She told me that she was pleased that I had called, and I then sent her a letter so that she could distribute it to her members.

Mr. Dubé called Radio-Canada's unions.

I was very pleased that Ms. Kontoyanni even spoke to the press to emphasize the fact that she had accepted our apology.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

You have 30 seconds left, Mr. Lauzon.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Yes, I wanted to talk about the unions.

Were you able to speak to the unions and explain the situation to them, or was that done through the president of the UDA?

[Catherine Tait]

I spoke to the UDA myself, and Mr. Dubé spoke to the Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec.