moved: That the second report of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, presented in May 2001, be concurred in.
Mr. Speaker, to convince parliamentarians of this House that it is urgent to adopt the report without delay, allow me to make a few remarks on some recommendations.
The issue studied in the report is essentially that of the broadcasting and availability of debates and proceedings of parliament in both official languages.
In its analysis, the committee found, and I quote:
—that broadcasting of the debates and proceedings of Parliament plays an essential role in the democratic process in Canada ... [and] that Canadians have a right to access to the debates and proceedings of their Parliament in their preferred official language.
The sixth and seventh recommendations of the report are of particular interest to me. They relate to the closed captioning in French of Oral Question Period and the closed captioning in both official languages of Senate committee proceedings, when they are broadcast.
Captioning is important. By now my interest for captioning and for people who are deaf or hearing impaired is known. I take this opportunity to tell them that they have my support and to salute them.
In this special Better Hearing Month, it is good to remind ourselves that 10% of the population is deaf or hearing impaired.