LANG Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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Minutes of Proceedings
The Minister made a statement and answered questions.
Joël Godin moved, — That given the unacceptable remarks made by the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell towards witnesses Frédéric Lacroix and Nicolas Bourdon during the meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on May 6, 2024, and that the Member has withdrawn his remarks but has not apologized.
It is resolved that the committee requests the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell to apologize to witnesses Frédéric Lacroix and Nicolas Bourdon as well as to the members of the committee.
Debate arose thereon.
Bernard Généreux moved, — That the motion be amended:
I. by creating a point a) with the following sentence "requests the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell to apologize to witnesses Frédéric Lacroix and Nicolas Bourdon as well as to the members of the committee".
II. by adding after the point a), the following:b) demand the immediate removal of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell from the committee;
c) requests the immediate resignation of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell as Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie;
d) requests the immediate resignation of the Member of Parliament for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell as international Chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie;
e) reports to the House on this intolerable situation.
Debate arose thereon.
Mario Beaulieu moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after the point a), the following:
b) acknowledges that the data presented by the witnesses in support of their testimony is based on science;
c) recognizes that such behaviour is not worthy of the position of parliamentarian or president of a parliamentary association;
d) demands that Francis Drouin issue a written apology to the witnesses.
Debate arose thereon.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair ruled the motion inadmissible as it exceeded the mandate of the committee.Whereupon, Joël Godin appealed the decision of the Chair.
The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was overturned, on the following recorded division:
YEAS : Elisabeth Brière, Angelo Iacono, Darrell Samson, Marc G. Serré — 4;
NAYS : Marc Dalton, Bernard Généreux, Joël Godin, Stephanie Kusie, Mario Beaulieu, Niki Ashton — 6.
The debate resumed on Mario Beaulieu's subamendment.
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Mario Beaulieu, Marc Dalton, Bernard Généreux, Joël Godin, Stephanie Kusie — 6;
NAYS: Élisabeth Brière, Angelo Iacono, Darrell Samson, Marc G. Serré — 4.
Marc G. Serré moved, — That the motion be amended by adding after the point h), the following:
i) And further, that the committee call on the Leader of the Opposition to apologize to the House for his use of unparliamentary language directed at other members and for his disrespect for the authority of the Speaker on April 30, 2024.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair ruled the motion inadmissible as it is out of context.
The debate resumed on Bernard Généreux's amendment, as amended.
At 10:14 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 15, 2024, the meeting resumed.
On motion of Bernard Généreux, it was agreed, — That the committee proceed to the discussion of the matter raised by the letter sent pursuant to Standing Order 106(4).
Joël Godin moved, — That the committee invite, as soon as possible, the Minister for Official Languages to appear for no less than two hours as part of the study on federal funding of minority-language postsecondary educational institutions and any other matter related to his duties as Minister of Official Languages; and that the appearance take place within two weeks of this motion being adopted.
At 10:14 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 10:21 a.m., the sitting resumed.
The debate resumed on the motion.
Marc G. Serré moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words "no less than two hours", with the words "one hour", and the words "within two weeks of this motion being adopted", with the words "by the end of the current session in June".
At 10:42 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 10:50 a.m., the sitting resumed.
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Marc G. Serré and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Mario Beaulieu, Marc Dalton, Francis Drouin, Mona Fortier, Bernard Généreux, Joël Godin, Marie-France Lalonde, Richard Lehoux, Darrell Samson, Marc G. Serré — 11;
NAYS: — 0.
After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Mario Beaulieu, Marc Dalton, Francis Drouin, Mona Fortier, Bernard Généreux, Joël Godin, Laila Goodridge, Marie-France Lalonde, Darrell Samson, Marc G. Serré — 11;
NAYS: — 0.
The motion, as amended, read as follows:
That the committee invite, as soon as possible, the Minister for Official Languages to appear for one hour as part of the study on federal funding of minority-language postsecondary educational institutions and any other matter related to his duties as Minister of Official Languages; and that the appearance take place by the end of the current session in June.
Joël Godin moved, — That given the obscene and offensive comments made by the Liberal MP for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell to a witness defending the cause of the French language in Quebec.
Be it resolved that the committee report to the House :
a) that the Chief Government Whip and member of the Liberal leadership team
immediately remove MP Francis Drouin from the Standing Committee on Official
Languages and ;
b) that MP Francis Drouin resign as the Chair of the Assemblée parlementaire de la
Francophonie.
At 11:05 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:11 a.m., the sitting resumed.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair ruled the motion inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the matter at hand.
At 11:18 a.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.