Official Languages Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

All right.

Go ahead, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

If memory serves me correctly, it seems to me that we used to have more informal subcommittee meetings, where we didn't necessarily need to have all the equipment. I'm not sure whether all the other committees always need to have interpretation services.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

What are you talking about?

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

It seems to me that a few years back, when René Arseneault chaired the official languages committee, we held more informal meetings, and there were just three or four of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Is that different from what we did last week?

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

I just wanted to make sure. It makes things easier sometimes if we can do it that way. We won't do it this time, but we can talk about it later.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

All right. I will—

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

I don't know the procedure.

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

Subcommittee meetings always have to be recorded.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Madeleine Martin]

Every time the subcommittee meets, it has to report its recommendations to all committee members. They must endorse the subcommittee's decision and can make changes to it. The subcommittee's proposals are subject to the full committee's approval and any changes it makes.

It's another way of doing things. In subcommittee, you can do the same things you can do in committee, but if you go the subcommittee route, you have the extra step of adopting the report, as we are doing right now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

All right.

Mr. Godin, you may go ahead.

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

Here's my question. According to House procedures, do we have to hold subcommittee meetings during the same time slots as committee meetings?

[The Clerk]

No.

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

Nevertheless, the report has to be adopted. Is that right?

[The Clerk]

That's exactly right.

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

Let's take a real-life example. Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, Mr. Beaulieu and I met on our own for a subcommittee meeting. We made a recommendation to the chair, but we could have done the same thing during a regular committee meeting.

Is that correct?

[The Clerk]

Yes.

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

That means we would've lost a meeting.

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

We met informally. The meeting wasn't recorded.

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

It's good to know going forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

It's a good question.

My understanding is that we adopted the committee's report with an amendment, and we are going to adopt what Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault proposed. On Thursday, then, we will spend an hour and a half with the witnesses and a half-hour on the report.

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

Before we make a decision, I'd like to know who the witnesses are, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Do you have that information, Madam Clerk?

[The Clerk]

The committee will be meeting with representatives from CATSA, Marine Atlantic Inc. and the Canadian Airports Council, and Érik Labelle Westin‑Eastaugh. That's four different groups of witnesses.

Normally, two hours would be allocated to meet with them, but at the committee's request, all four groups can appear for an hour and a half. They will all be at the table together.

The committee will spend the next 30 minutes in camera discussing drafting instructions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Does that work? Can we adjourn?

The meeting is adjourned.