Official Languages Committee on Dec. 4th, 2025

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

Could we simply reread the first paragraph as it would be amended?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Wait a moment, Mr. Beaulieu.

The clerk tells me that it would not be possible to revisit your decision.

I will therefore ask the clerk to reread the motion as it would be amended by the amendment, to make it clear. It’s up to you to decide if you want us to distribute the wording, but the decision must be made right away.

Madam Clerk, can you read the motion?

[The Clerk]

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The first paragraph would start with “That in relation to the ongoing study on the use of French in government communications and in federal institutions the committee”. Then, we would remove “report to the House that it condemns the recent comments made by the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister responsible for Official Languages, in which he stated he was ‘fed up’ of the public debate regarding the decline of French”. This passage would be replaced by “urges the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Official Languages, to testify for a period of two hours regarding his position on the decline of French in Canada, including in Quebec, no later than February 12, 2026. In the even of failure to meet this deadline, the committee will report to the House on the minister’s failure to testify on this matter”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Beaulieu, the floor is yours.

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

What the clerk read is the first paragraph as it would be amended by Ms. Chenette’s amendment. The second paragraph of the original motion would be kept as is. Then, the third paragraph would be removed. Finally, there would be the fourth paragraph as it has already been amended.

I want to specify that, so it’s clear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

As far as I understand, and the clerk can intervene if I’m wrong, she did not read the entire motion. She only read the first paragraph as it would be amended.

Do you need her to read the entire motion?

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

No. I just wanted to confirm that the second paragraph would remain as is, that the third paragraph would be removed and that the fourth paragraph would be adopted as it has already been amended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

That is correct.

Does anyone wish to speak on the amendment proposed by Ms. Chenette?

It seems not, so we will proceed to the vote.

(Amendment agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We therefore return to the motion as amended.

Does anyone wish to speak on this matter?

Mr. Godin, the floor is yours.

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

Excuse me, Mr. Chair, but I thought that Ms. Chenette’s amendment combined the four paragraphs and that it was that text that we were adopting.

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

The amendment amended the first paragraph, then the—

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

So, because the amendment has been adopted, the amendment will become the motion. Is that correct?

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

No. Ms. Chenette’s amendment replaced the first paragraph, the second paragraph is kept as is, the third paragraph has been removed and the last paragraph is kept.

Now, we are adopting the entire motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Colleagues, I will ask the clerk to clarify all of this, because I want to make sure that everyone understands what’s happening.

[The Clerk]

When the committee began to debate the motion, the last paragraph was amended first. The proposed amendments to that paragraph were submitted for a vote and adopted.

This paragraph begins with “That the committee call on the government to take immediate measures to reverse the decline of French”. Mr. Deschênes-Thériault’s subamendment added the words “in Canada” here. Then, after the word “including”, Mr. Beaulieu’s amendment added ’by applying the new asymmetrical approach of the Official Languages Act in favour of French in Quebec”. The rest of the paragraph remains as is, namely “strengthening federal enforcement mechanisms, enhancing support for francophone institutions, and ensuring that official languages obligations are upheld across all departments and agencies.”

Those are the amendments to the fourth paragraph that have been adopted.

The third paragraph has been removed.

The second paragraph remains unchanged.

The first paragraph incorporates the amendment from Ms. Chenette that has just been adopted. I will reread that paragraph, just to make sure everything is clear:

That, in relation to the ongoing study on the use of French in government communications and in federal institutions the committee urges the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Official Languages, to testify for a period of two hours regarding his position on the decline of French in Canada, including in Quebec, no later than February 12, 2026. In the event of failure to meet this deadline, the committee will report to the House on the minister’s failure to testify on this matter;

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

That is the motion before us.

If no one else wishes to speak, we will proceed to the vote.

(Motion as amended agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you. The meeting is adjourned.