Official Languages Committee on Oct. 30th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Welcome to meeting number seven of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

I would first like to inform you that, for the last 10 or 15 minutes, we have been trying to resolve technical problems involving witnesses who have to participate in the meeting by video conference.

Witnesses, we look forward to hearing what you have to say. I'm so sorry about the technical issues. The technical team will continue to work with you to see if they can resolve them quickly. If not, we will unfortunately have to ask you to testify at a later date, at a future meeting. The sound quality is not adequate for the interpreters to do their job, and it is imperative that we have interpretation.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Is only one witness affected?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

The technical problem is affecting the two witnesses who have to participate by video conference.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

I waited for you to give me the floor, Mr. Chair. You know I'm disciplined.

Will we still have the other witnesses with us for an hour and a half?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

If it's the will of the committee, yes.

Is it the will of the committee to still have an hour and a half with the other witnesses?

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I don't want to speak for the team, but an hour and a half with a small group of witnesses is a long time.

I think it would be preferable to limit the testimony to a maximum of one hour.

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

The two witnesses will not be participating, including the one from Alberta.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

We can proceed as you would like.

To clarify matters, I remind you that the two witnesses who have to participate by video conference are from the same organization, the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta.

However, two other organizations are in the room and are ready to testify. We can ask them questions for an hour and a half or we can change the length of the testimony.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, I just want to make sure that we are going to respect the motion adopted for this study. The motion calls for six meetings.

How are you going to account for that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

The clerk always makes sure that we respect the number of witnesses each party can invite.

In terms of the number of meetings set for this study, the motion states that a minimum of six meetings must be held. If the committee wishes to keep the same number of witnesses, it can decide to add a meeting.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, I don't want our witnesses from Alberta to be interrupted because of technical problems. I think it's important to hear their testimony.

From what I understand, you're going to invite them again. Perhaps the sound quality will be better next time. The witnesses may appear in person. That way, their testimony will be taken into account in the drafting of the committee's report.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

I agree with you, Mr. Godin. We want to hear from the witnesses. It's very important.

If the committee wishes to keep the same number of witnesses and maintain the number of witnesses for each party, I propose to add one meeting.

Mr. Beaulieu, you have the floor.

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

I would like to ask another question, Mr. Chair. It can wait a bit.

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

We in the Conservative Party agree with your proposal, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, you have the floor.

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

We agree with the proposal, as well.

We can hear from the witnesses for an hour, while maintaining flexibility so that we can take an additional 30 minutes if the technical problems of the witnesses from Alberta are resolved.

It is now 11:13 a.m. If the testimony lasts an hour, we will have 15 minutes left at the end to move on to another matter. If the two witnesses who are participating remotely can join us, we can continue until 12:45 p.m. to have an hour and a half with the witnesses.

I would be comfortable moving in that direction in order to maximize the time we have to hear from witnesses.

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

Mr. Chair, I also agree, but I have a question.

Technical problems like this have occurred a few times.

Are sound tests done before the meetings?

Was it working then and is not working now?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Madeleine Martin]

Mr. Chair, every time an invitation to appear is sent to a witness, they are given the choice of appearing in person or by video conference. If they choose to do appear virtually, they are sent an email with the information they need to carry out a mandatory sound test. The witness must absolutely pass this test to connect to the meeting.

The two witnesses today passed the test. Our operators do not allow witnesses who do not pass the test to participate. It's not even allowed. They also make sure witnesses have the right headset.

I don't know if today's problem has anything to do with the room. I'm not a technician, so it's hard to say.

Interpreters are definitely not present during the tests. It's the technical team that measures the quality indicators. I can't explain what's happening today. I don't know.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

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

I have two things to say.

First, I want to be sure I understand my colleague's proposal. Today, we will work with the two witnesses who are here for an hour, and then for an additional half an hour if the technical problem is resolved.

Is that correct?

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

That's my understanding.

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault is confirming that this is correct.

Do you agree with that, Mr. Godin?

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

I absolutely agree. I just wanted some clarity. I like things to be clear.

Second, for clarity's sake, what is the unit of measure used?

Mr. Beaulieu's question is very relevant. Sound tests were done before the meeting. By the quality standards of the House of Commons, they were successful. When we started the meeting, the indicators were different.

For my own knowledge and that of the other committee members, can you tell us what metric is used to determine whether the quality passes or doesn't pass the test?

[The Clerk]

Since I'm not a technician, the situation isn't within my purview. My role is simply to send an email to the technical team and ask them to conduct a test.

The technical team manages the tests. I don't have the answer right now, but I'm writing to a manager who communicates with interpretation services. I am wondering the same thing.

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

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

We've been through this before. I just want to get a clear understanding of the situation and get accurate information about the indicators that would help us understand what's going on. Our job as legislators is to understand the situation. Right now, we don't have enough data.

If possible, Madam Clerk, could you provide us with information on which criteria are assessed for fluidity, clarity or decibel volume? We would appreciate that.

Like you, Madam Clerk, I know nothing about the technical aspect, and I'm in the dark.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Beaulieu, thank you for asking the question. I was wondering the same thing as you.

Madam Clerk, if you can get back to the committee on that, it would be appreciated. That could prevent the same problems from happening in the future.

Mr. Dalton, you have the floor.