Official Languages Committee on Dec. 4th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Please provide a very quick response, as there are 15 seconds left.

[Shafqat Ali]

I had a meeting with the Commissioner of Official Languages. We are trying to take all of the feedback from stakeholders, from organizations, and put it into efforts to improve the implementation of the Official Languages Act. We're taking that very seriously and are making sure that we follow the act.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Ms. Mingarelli.

Minister, on behalf of the committee, I thank you for being with us today.

The minister must leave now, but we will continue our meeting right after the break.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We will resume meeting number 15 of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

We are continuing our study of the use of French in government communications.

We will go straight to the question round.

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have the floor, Mr. Godin.

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

In fact, I would like to propose a motion related to the study we are currently conducting. I could send it to you. It states: “That, in relation to the ongoing study on the use—”

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you do not have the right to use a point of order to propose a motion. You must have the right to speak to propose a motion.

Normally, it’s you who corrects me on procedure, but not this time.

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

Okay. In that case, I would like to speak, Mr. Chair.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We will begin the round of questions. Anyway, you are first on the list, Mr. Godin. I will therefore give you the floor, and it will be up to you to decide how you want to use your speaking time.

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

If I propose my motion, will it be included in the time that I am allotted for asking questions?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

The clerk confirms to me that, if a member proposes a motion, I must stop the clock while they present it to us.

Now that the minister has left the meeting, we will move directly to the question rounds. Mr. Godin, you are first on the list. You have six minutes. If you decide to propose a motion during your speaking time, I will stop the clock.

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

Perfect.

Mr. Chair, I would like to propose a motion. Since it is related to the study we are currently conducting, I do not need a 48‑hour notice, to my knowledge. Correct me if I’m wrong.

The motion is as follows:

That, in relation to the ongoing study of the use of French in government communications and federal institutions the committee report to the House that it condemns the recent comments made by the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Official Languages, in which he expressed that he was “fed up” with the public debate concerning the decline of the French language; That the committee reaffirm its view, based on evidence presented across multiple studies and testimonies at this committee, that French is in decline in Canada, particularly in Quebec and in francophone minority communities and that this situation constitutes a linguistic and cultural crisis requiring urgent federal action; That the committee express its disapproval that the Minister responsible for protecting and promoting French would dismiss or minimize legitimate concerns about its vulnerability; and, That the committee call on the government to take immediate measures to reverse the decline of French, including strengthening federal enforcement mechanisms, enhancing support for francophone institutions, and ensuring that official languages obligations are upheld across all departments and agencies.

I believe my adviser has submitted this motion to the clerk. I would like, if possible, for the committee to discuss this motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

The clerk is currently distributing your motion, Mr. Godin.

I will suspend the meeting for a few minutes so the committee members can review the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We are ready to continue.

Before the suspension of the meeting, you had the floor, Mr. Godin, and you proposed a motion. Do you want to add anything on this subject?

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

Yes, I would like to add two things.

First, I think we could allow the witnesses to leave, since there are 10 minutes left before the scheduled end of the meeting.

Second, we had discussions with members from the various parties about my motion. I think amendments will be proposed in the hope of finding common ground. We must remember that we were expecting to receive the Minister responsible for Official Languages, Mr. Miller today. Unfortunately, he is not here. That’s why we are intervening. We want him to commit to coming to testify here, before the Standing Committee on Official Languages. In doing so, he would show respect for the Standing Committee on Official Languages, as we are entitled to expect from the Minister responsible for Official Languages.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

The clerk will help me keep track of the list of people who wish to speak. For now, there is Ms. Chenette, Mr. Beaulieu, and Mr. Deschênes-Thériault.

With respect to Minister Miller, I want to make it clear that his team stated he was not available today, but he would be happy to appear at a later meeting. I want to make sure that you have the same information as I do.

Ms. Chenette, you have the floor.

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

Excuse me, Mr. Chair, but can we allow the witnesses to leave?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Yes, if everyone agrees, that’s what we will do.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the witnesses for their participation today as well as for their work as public servants.

Ms. Chenette, you have the floor.

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I move that we postpone the debate on the motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

This is a dilatory motion, so we must proceed immediately to a vote.

(Motion negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I would like to propose an amendment to the motion. It is being sent to you right now. In the fourth paragraph, after the word “including”, I would add “by applying the new asymmetrical approach of the Official Languages Act in favour of French in Quebec”.

I think it’s important, even if Mr. Miller downplayed the issue by saying he was tired of this debate, that it was an identity question and that, in his opinion, discussing the decline of French amounted to politicizing the debate. He backtracked by stating that he loved French and that he would defend it until the end of his days. The fact remains that his own department works only for English in Quebec. If we love French, we should defend it.

That’s why I propose an amendment to add these words to the fourth paragraph. This is actually a wording that has already been adopted in the context of another motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Beaulieu has just proposed an amendment.

Does that work for everyone? Do you need to see the wording?