Official Languages Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Today's study is on the use of French in government communications and in federal institutions. How is the use of English in Montreal relevant?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, what do you—

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

It's an introduction. Members need to give me a chance to get to what I'm saying, and then they'll see how it connects to the topic at hand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

And how does it connect, for those who haven't been paying attention?

What's the connection? We'd like to know what it is.

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

Mr. Chair, I simply want to know the minister's opinion on the situation regarding the French language in Montreal. Then I'll ask him why he opposed….

Listen, I won't reveal my questions ahead of time, but there is a connection, Mr. Chair. Trust me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I trust you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll continue.

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

If I may interject, if linguistic vitality is important outside Quebec, then it is also important in Quebec, especially in Montreal.

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

What a wonderful display of solidarity over here.

This concludes the debate on the point of order.

How much time do I have left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

You have three and a half minutes.

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

Okay.

Actually, Minister, what I want to know is whether, in your opinion, the use of French is on the rise in Montreal. I turned my question around.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

You asked me another question earlier that I haven't answered yet.

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

It's okay. There was a point of order. Let's forget about that one.

I turned my question around and asked you a new question about French.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

I would say that, since I was a little boy, the situation of French has improved in Montreal, thanks in part to Bill 101.

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

When you were appointed, Minister, the Premier of Quebec called it a shameful appointment. Why is that?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Last I checked, I'm not the premier of Quebec. Odds are I'll never be. You would have to ask him that. He's actually a constituent in Île-des-Soeurs, in my riding, so I could ask him myself.

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

Now, Minister, I'd like to know how many anglophones and how many francophones there are in your riding.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

In my riding, roughly 40% of the population is francophone, 30% is anglophone and 30% is allophone.

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

Why did you oppose the official languages bill? You were one of four MPs, along with Marc Garneau, Anthony Housefather and Emmanuella Lambropoulos, who stood against your own government and Mélanie Joly, who presented the white paper on official languages.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

First of all, that is not true. I was a minister and I voted for that bill, which I supported.

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

I have an article, Minister, that tells me otherwise.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Fine, you have an article. Congratulations.

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

I understand that you were following ministerial instructions. I can understand that.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

No. I would like to clarify something because it is very important. As you were a member of this committee, you'll recall that it was dominated by the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives. I didn't necessarily want to leave the overhaul of this legislation to people whom I may respect, but who are not in government. So I wanted—

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

Minister, I'm going to stop you right there—