On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That René Arsenault be elected Chair of the committee.

At 3:38 p.m., René Arsenault took the Chair.

On motion of Jacques Gourde, it was agreed, — That Joël Godin be elected as First Vice-Chair of the committee.

On motion of Marc Dalton, it was agreed, — That Mario Beaulieu be elected as Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

At 3:43 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 115(5), it was agreed that the committee continue to sit.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the committee retain, as needed and at the discretion of the Chair, the services of one or more analysts from the Library of Parliament to assist it in its work.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be established and be composed of five members: the Chair, one member from each recognized party; and that the subcommittee work in a spirit of collaboration.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings to receive evidence and to have that evidence published when a quorum is not present, provided that at least four members are present, including two members of the opposition parties and two members of the government party, but when travelling outside the Parliamentary Precinct, that the meeting begin after 15 minutes, regardless of members present.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That witnesses be given up to five minutes for their opening statement; and that whenever possible, witnesses provide the committee with their opening statement 72 hours in advance; that at the discretion of the Chair, during the questioning of witnesses, there be allocated six minutes for the first questioner of each party as follows for the first round:

• Conservative Party;
• Liberal Party;
• Bloc Québécois; and
• New Democratic Party.

For the second and subsequent rounds, the order and time for questioning be as follows:

• Conservative Party, five minutes;
• Liberal Party, five minutes;
• Bloc Québécois, two and a half minutes;
• New Democratic Party, two and a half minutes;
• Conservative Party, five minutes; and
• Liberal Party, five minutes.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That only the clerk of the committee be authorized to distribute documents to members of the committee provided the documents are in both official languages, and that the witnesses be advised accordingly.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the clerk of the committee, at the discretion of the Chair, be authorized to make the necessary arrangements to provide working meals for the committee and its subcommittees.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That, if requested, reasonable travel, accommodation and living expenses be reimbursed to witnesses not exceeding two representatives per organization; and that in exceptional circumstances, payment for more representatives be made at the discretion of the Chair.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That, unless otherwise ordered, each committee member be allowed to be accompanied by one staff member at in camera meetings and that one additional person from each House officer’s office be allowed to be present.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That one copy of the transcript of each in camera meeting be kept in the committee clerk’s office for consultation by members of the committee or by their staff; and that the analysts assigned to the committee also have access to the in camera transcripts.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That a 48-hour notice, interpreted as two nights, be required for any substantive motion to be moved in committee, unless the substantive motion relates directly to business then under consideration, provided that:

(a) the notice be filed with the clerk of the committee no later than 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday;

(b) the motion be distributed to Members and the offices of the whips of each recognized party in both official languages by the clerk on the same day the said notice was transmitted if it was received no later than the deadline hour; and

(c) notices received after the deadline hour or on non-business days be deemed to have been received during the next business day;

And that when the committee is holding meetings outside the Parliamentary Precinct, no substantive motion may be moved.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That in relation to orders of reference from the House respecting bills:

(a) the clerk of the committee shall, upon the committee receiving such an order of reference, write to each member who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee to invite those members to file with the clerk of the committee, in both official languages, any amendments to the bill, which is the subject of the said Order, which they would suggest that the committee consider;

(b) suggested amendments filed, pursuant to paragraph (a), at least 48 hours prior to the start of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to which the amendments relate shall be deemed to be proposed during the said consideration, provided that the committee may, by motion, vary this deadline in respect of a given bill; and

(c) during the clause-by-clause consideration of a bill, the Chair shall allow a member who filed suggested amendments, pursuant to paragraph (a), an opportunity to make brief representations in support of them.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That the clerk inform each witness who is to appear before the committee that the House administration support team must conduct technical tests to check the connectivity and the equipment used to ensure the best possible sound quality; and that the Chair advise the committee, at the start of each meeting, of any witness who did not perform the required technical tests.

On motion of Francis Drouin, it was agreed, — That all documents submitted for committee business that do not come from a federal department, members’ offices, or that have not been translated by the Translation Bureau be sent for prior linguistic review by the Translation Bureau before being distributed to members.

At 3:57 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:39 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Patricia Lattanzio gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on Air Canada and its obligations under the Official Languages Act; that, in the context of this study, the committee:

(a) examine Air Canada’s obligation to provide service in both official languages;

(b) study measures Air Canada could take to ensure their full compliance with the Official Languages Act;

(c) invite Air Canada to discuss the measures Air Canada is taking to ensure bilingual customer service and work environments; and

(d) invite the Commissioner of Official Languages to discuss the historical compliance issues with the Official Languages Act at Air Canada;

That the committee devote a minimum of two meetings to this study; that the committee report its findings to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a government response to its report.

Patricia Lattanzio gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on Francophone immigration to Canada to ensure the Government of Canada lives up to its duty to attract and facilitate Francophone immigration outside of Quebec; that, as part of this study, the committee:

(a) examine why the target of 4.4% of total immigration set in 2003 in the Strategic Framework to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities was not met;

(b) review the November 2021 report from the Commissioner of Official Languages on French immigration;

(c) explore how the government can work to maintain or increase the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities; and

(d) provide recommendations for addressing the shortage of French-language teachers in Canada, particularly outside of Quebec, as well as how the government can increase opportunities for newcomers to learn French, while respecting the powers of other jurisdictions and existing agreements;

That the committee allocate a minimum of six meetings to this study; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response.

Patricia Lattanzio gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on the measures that the Government of Canada can take to fulfill its responsibility, as set out in the Speech from the Throne, to protect and promote French not only outside Quebec but also within Quebec; that, as part of this study, the committee:

(a) provide an objective and detailed portrait of the situation of English and French in Quebec, as well as of francophone and Acadian communities, based on key linguistic indicators, such as French as the mother tongue, main language spoken at home, language shifts, main language of work, and so on;

(b) evaluate the effectiveness of the government’s language policies with respect to the objective of protecting and promoting French as well as the impact of these policies on provincial legislative measures to protect and promote French; and

(c) examine all the tools available to the government, as well as consider possible amendments to the Official Languages Act, to harmonize the government’s commitment to protect and promote both official languages of Canada;

That, to conduct this study, the committee allocate a minimum of seven meetings and that these meetings be completed by Tuesday, March 1, 2022; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response.

At 4:47 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:52 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Patricia Lattanzio gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on linguistic security; that, as part of this study, the committee:

(a) consider the impact of declining linguistic security on official language minority groups, particularly among youth;

(b) study how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated issues of linguistic security for Canadians;

(c) invite the Commissioner of Official Languages to share his findings on linguistic security in the federal public service; and

(d) examine methods to alleviating linguistic security; that the committee allocate a minimum of five meetings to this study;

That the committee allocate a minimum of five meetings to this study; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response.

Mario Beaulieu gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Section 108(3)(f) of the Standing Order, the committee undertake a study on the measures that the Government of Canada can take to administer federal funds and the positive measures taken by federal institutions regarding post-secondary education for official language minority communities; that, as part of this study, the committee compare federal funding for English and French post-secondary minority institutions, as well as federal funding for French post-secondary teaching institutions in Quebec; that the committee allocate a minimum of two meetings for this purpose; that the testimony and documents obtained by the committee during the 2nd Session of the 43rd Parliament concerning the study be considered by the committee during the current Session; that the committee report on its observations and conclusions to the House; and that, pursuant to Section 109 of the Standing Order, the government table a comprehensive response.

Mario Beaulieu gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Section 108(3)(f) of the Standing Order, the committee undertake a study on the measures the Government of Canada can take, as stated in the Speech from the Throne, to fulfill its responsibility to protect and promote French not only outside Quebec, but also within Quebec; that the testimony and documents obtained by the committee during the 2nd Session of the 43rd Parliament regarding the study be considered by the committee during the current Session; that the committee resume the witness schedule set out in the original work plan; and that, as part of this study, the committee:

(a) draw an objective and detailed picture of the situation of the English and French languages in Quebec, as well as the Francophone and Acadian communities, based on the main linguistic indicators, including French as a mother tongue, main language spoken at home, language substitutions, main language of work, etc.;

(b) evaluate the effectiveness of the government’s language policies, and the current role of provincial and federal legislation in protecting and promoting the French language, as well as the impact of these policies on provincial legislative measures to protect and promote the French language (in particular the Charter of the French Language in Quebec); and

(c) evaluate possible amendments to the Official Languages Act to align the Government’s will to protect the French language with provincial legislation;

That, in order to conduct this study, the committee allocate a minimum of three meetings and that these be completed no later than Wednesday, June 1, 2022; that the committee report on its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Section 109 of the Standing Order, the government table a comprehensive response.

Joël Godin gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee invite the Minister of Official Languages to discuss her mandate, priorities and pressing issues related to her portfolio.

Joël Godin gave notice of the following motion:

That the committee invite the Commissioner of Official Languages for a two-hour meeting to brief the committee on pressing issues related to the application of the Official Languages Act in Canada.

Joël Godin moved, — That the committee invite the President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada for a two-hour meeting to answer questions from parliamentarians on the place and importance of official languages at Air Canada.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

Niki Ashton gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), following the events from the fall 2021 and the concern shared by Canadians regarding the respect of official languages by Air Canada, the committee undertake a study on the measures adopted by the government and by Air Canada following the presentation of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, presented on Tuesday, June 7, 2016: On the road to increased compliance through an effective enforcement regime; that the committee invites the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Official Languages, and the Commissioner of Official Languages to lay out the steps needed to follow in order for Air Canada to respect its obligations to serve Canadians in both official languages; that the committee invites the President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada to testify on the importance of respecting the official languages and the measures taken by senior management so that Air Canada’s culture reflects Canada’s linguistic duality; that the committee holds no less than four meetings on this study; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response.

Niki Ashton gave notice of the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on Francophone immigration in language minority communities, surrounding the presentation of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Statistical analysis of the 4.4% immigration target for French-speaking immigrants in Francophone minority communities: Almost 20 years after setting the target, it is time to do more and do better; that the committee welcomes the Commissioner of Official Languages’ testimony on this study; that the committee welcomes the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s testimony on this study; that the committee hears from representatives of Francophone and Acadian communities on their experience with Francophone immigration in their communities; that the committee holds no less than five meetings on this study; that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response.

On motion of Joël Godin, it was agreed, — That the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure meet to consider the future business of the committee.