Evidence of meeting #99 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Okay.
Mr. Serré and Ms. Ashton want to intervene, but just to make sure everything is clear, I'll summarize the situation. I'll start by reading Mr. Godin's amendment, then I'll insert Mr. Beaulieu's proposed amendments so we can all see what's what.
Mr. Godin's amendment reads as follows:
It is resolved that the committee: (a) requests the Member—
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
That's not my amendment. That's Mr. Généreux's amendment.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Sorry, that's Mr. Généreux's amendment to Mr. Godin's motion.
I'll start over:
It is resolved that the committee: (a) requests the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell to apologize to witnesses Frédéric Lacroix and Nicolas Bourdon as well as to the members of the Committee; (b) demand the immediate removal of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell from the committee; (c) requests the immediate resignation of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell as Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie; (d) requests the immediate resignation of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell as international Chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie; (e) reports to the House on this intolerable situation.
I'm getting to your subamendment, Mr. Beaulieu. You're proposing to leave point (a) as is, but, before continuing to the point (b) I just read, we'd insert “recognizes that such behaviour is not worthy of the position of parliamentarian or president of a parliamentary association”. That would become point (b).
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Actually, point (b) of my subamendment would be “acknowledges that the data presented by the witnesses in support of their testimony is based on science”.
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Right, that's what I was saying earlier.
So, we would move points (b), (c), (d) and (e), which I just read from Mr. Généreux's amendment, down.
Point (b) would now read “acknowledges that the data presented by the witnesses in support of their testimony is based on science”.
Point (c) would be “recognizes that such behaviour is not worthy of the position of parliamentarian or president of a parliamentary association”.
Point (d) would be “demands that Francis Drouin issue a written apology to the witnesses”. If you ask me, that's part of the amendment already, but so be it.
Lastly, point (e) would demand the immediate resignation of the member from his position as chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. That's already part of the amendment.
Bloc
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Because I don't think Mr. Généreux's amendment included a demand for a written apology.
Bloc
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
So this discussion is about points (a), (b) and (c) of the subamendment.
Mr. Serré, did I see you raise your hand?
If not, I know Ms. Ashton raised hers.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
That's right. I wrote Mr. Serré's name, but I remember it was actually Mr. Samson who raised his hand. Then we'll go to Ms. Ashton.
Mr. Samson, you have the floor.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Mr. Chair, I believe these motions are inadmissible, so I request a vote.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Because our committee doesn't have the power or authority to demand that a member apologize.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
We can still ask for it. It's not about what we have the right—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Wait a moment. As long as people have their hands raised to speak to this, we won't be voting. That said, before it comes to that, I'll rule on the motion. I would ask for your co-operation.
Thank you, Mr. Samson.
Ms. Ashton, you're next. Then we'll go to Mr. Serré, followed by Mr. Godin.
Just a reminder, we're talking about Mr. Beaulieu's subamendment.