Official Languages Committee on Feb. 29th, 2024

[Raymond Théberge]

Which minister are you talking about?

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

I'm talking about the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Should she testify here? Yes or no?

[Raymond Théberge]

I don't see why she shouldn't.

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

My second question is: is it possible for you to provide us with the list of suggested witnesses for the study you recommend?

[Raymond Théberge]

Yes, we can send you this list.

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

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, before we go any further, I'd like to advise you that I have a motion to table. So, I'd like you to stop the clock.

My apologies, Commissioner.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Go ahead, there are five seconds left.

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

At this point, I still have the right to table it. So, thank you, Chair.

You know the process, Commissioner. We're going to interrupt questioning because I have a motion to table, which is as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on the continuum in education, from early childhood to post-secondary, in official language minority communities.

I'd like to take this opportunity to greet two organizations, the Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, represented in the room by Ms. Arseneau Sluyter, and the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, represented in the room by Mr. Fournier. It is at the request of these organizations that we wish to conduct this study.

That, in the context of this study, the committee : (a) Study access to early learning and child care services in the minority language in Canada, including the quality of child care services and their impact on the linguistic and social development of children; (b) Examine the funding, including through the Official Languages in Education Program, for elementary and secondary schools in the minority language in Canada; (c) Examine federal funding for post-secondary institutions serving official language minority communities in Canada; (d) Assess the federal government's capacity to gather data on the education continuum, including data on rights holders; (e) Evaluate the impact of the education continuum on the implementation of the right to education in the minority language enshrined in article 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That, in the context of this study, the committee invite, among others: i) The Minister of Official Languages and the Minister of Canadian Heritage; ii) The Commissioner of Official Languages; iii) Officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage; iv) The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes, the Commission nationale des parents francophones, the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones, the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne and the Quebec Community Groups Network; v) Representatives from advocacy organizations in each province and territory where French is the official minority language; vi) Representatives from school boards or provincial education associations in each province and territory where French is the minority language; vii) Representatives from the ministries of Education in each province and territory where French is the minority language; viii) Representatives from post-secondary institutions serving official language minorities in each province and territory; ix) Experts from all areas of the education continuum in the minority language. That the committee allocate a minimum of twelve meetings to this study; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a comprehensive response from the government.

You will understand, Mr. Chair, that this study is important. It stems from a request from, I would say, a hundred or so organizations that defend official language minority communities. Of course, the focus is more on francophones, as the Commissioner mentioned earlier. In my opinion, it's important to ensure the continued presence of French-English bilingualism in Canada, and that means education. From early childhood, we need to give our young people access to the extraordinary French language, and then ensure that they can maintain this link throughout their educational path to post-secondary education.

I ask the committee to proceed with this study as soon as possible. Obviously, we will prioritize the Commissioner's request for a two-meeting study. However, I would like this notice of motion to be accepted by the entire committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Beaulieu, you may speak to the motion.

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

This motion would require the unanimous consent of committee members, because we've already voted on and approved a study on post-secondary institutions, where there are dire needs, in my opinion. We already started a study on this subject, but we didn't finish it, and I'm in favour of carrying on with it. If we want to put another proposal forward after that to look at all other educational institutions, I'll support that, but let's start with the study we've already voted on.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu.

To put this in context, it's true that the committee adopted a motion to conduct the study Mr. Beaulieu is talking about. Not proceeding with that requires committee members' unanimous consent because the motion has already been adopted.

Mr. Serré, you have the floor.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We agree that Mr. Godin's proposal is important, but we want to propose amendments to his motion. In response to Mr. Beaulieu's comments, we've already started the next study.

However, the Commissioner doesn't come to the committee often, and I know he would like to come more often. Can we at least continue our discussions with him and talk about Mr. Godin's motion at the next meeting? The Commissioner is here, and time is of the essence. We want to ask him questions. Can the discussion on the motion wait? Otherwise, the committee could spend the next 30 minutes talking about this motion, and we really want to talk to the Commissioner.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

I still want to hear from Ms. Ashton.

Ms. Ashton, you have the floor.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

I think Mr. Godin's motion is a good idea, but we have a few small amendments to make. They won't change the essence of the motion, but they will broaden the scope of the study. We'll send the amendments to the clerk.

I'd like to keep going with the Commissioner because we have another question for him that I think is important. If we can postpone the discussion about amendments to Mr. Godin's motion to the next meeting, that would be ideal.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Ms. Ashton.

Mr. Godin, over to you.

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

Mr. Chair, there's one thing we have to deal with first. We're reaching out to the Bloc Québécois because we need unanimous consent to replace the study on post-secondary education that we adopted with the study proposed in my motion, which incorporates that first study.

Otherwise, I agree with Ms. Ashton and Mr. Serré on postponing the discussion to the next meeting. However, that meeting is supposed to be about the study of the subject the Commissioner is discussing with us today.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

The next meeting will be on Monday, March 18, after the parliamentary recess. We don't have any witnesses lined up yet.

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

We need the committee's unanimous consent before proceeding.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Samson, are you saying you want to go in camera?

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

No. I'm saying we can deal with this in camera at the next meeting.

Let's continue the meeting with the commissioner.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

To clarify, unanimous consent is required to cancel the study requested by Mr. Beaulieu and has nothing to do with Mr. Godin's motion. Mr. Godin's motion would encroach to some extent on Mr. Beaulieu's motion, which has already been unanimously adopted by the committee.

Mr. Godin, you're asking if Mr. Beaulieu wants to cancel—

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

Mr. Chair, my question is very clear. Do we have committee members' unanimous consent to cancel Mr. Beaulieu's study on post-secondary education and incorporate that topic into the study proposed in my motion?

If so, we can postpone any discussion on the amendments to my motion to the next meeting. If not, we'll continue the meeting with the Commissioner.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay.

Mr. Beaulieu, it's up to you.

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

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there is no unanimous consent.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Okay.