CHPC 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 witnesses answered questions.
The committee resumed its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.
The committee resumed clause-by-clause consideration on Clause 2 of the Bill.
The committee resumed consideration of the amendment of Taleeb Noormohamed, as amended, — That Bill C-316, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing lines 10 to 16 on page 2 with the following:
“(a.1) establish and implement the program referred to in section 7.1 of this Act and paragraph 43(1)(c) of the Official Languages Act that is administered by an organization independent of the Government of Canada and whose purpose is to provide funding for test cases of national significance to be brought before the courts to clarify and assert constitutional and quasi- constitutional official language rights and constitutional human rights that are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and”
The committee resumed consideration of the subamendment of Rachael Thomas, — That the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding after the word “Canada” the following: “, and for which the selection criteria shall be made public and the final selection decision shall be tabled in each House of Parliament,”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Rachael Thomas and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding after the word “Canada” the following: “to be overseen by a panel whose members are selected independently based on criteria that are made public and for which the final membership selection decision shall be tabled in each House of Parliament”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Rachael Thomas and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding after the word “significance” the following: “that relate to federal laws or regulations or Government of Canada programs”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Rachael Thomas and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 4;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 7.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding after the word “Freedoms” the following: “and that do not involve potential conflicts between those rights”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Rachael Thomas and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 4;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 7.
The question was put on the amendment of Taleeb Noormohamed, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 7;
NAYS: Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 4.
Clause 2, as amended, carried on division.
On new Clause 2.1,
Martin Champoux moved, — That Bill C-316 be amended by adding after line 16 on page 2 the following new clause:“2.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5:
5.01 The test cases referred to in paragraph 5(a.1) respecting constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights are not to be used to challenge a law of the province of Quebec, considering that Quebec's Charter of the French language provides that French is the official language of Quebec.”
Debate arose thereon.
The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the Bill, as provided on page 770 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third Edition.
Whereupon, Martin Champoux appealed the decision of the Chair.
The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was sustained on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6;
NAYS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5.
“2.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5:
5.01 Any program established under paragraph 5(a.1) shall be consistent with Quebec's language planning as set out in that province's Charter of the French language.”
Debate arose thereon.
The Chair ruled the proposed amendment inadmissible because it was beyond the scope of the Bill, as provided on page 770 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Third Edition.
“2.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5:
5.01 The test cases referred to in paragraph 5(a.1) respecting constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights shall be consistent with the following purposes of the Official Languages Act:
(a) advance the equality of status and use of the English and French languages within Canadian society, taking into account the fact that French is in a minority situation in Canada and North America due to the predominant use of English and that there is a diversity of provincial and territorial language regimes that contribute to the advancement, including Quebec’s Charter of the French language, which provides that French is the official language of Quebec; and
(b) advance the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured.”
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Martin Champoux and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6.
On Clause 3,
Taleeb Noormohamed moved, — That Bill C-316, in Clause 3, be amended by(a) replacing lines 19 to 21 on page 2 with the following:
“5.1 (1) The independent organization responsible for administering the program referred to in section 7.1 of this Act and paragraph 43(1)(c) of the Official Languages Act shall, each year, submit to”
(b) replacing line 28 on page 2 with the following:
“ous year.”
Debate arose thereon.
Marc G. Serré moved, — That the amendment be amended by adding after the words “ous year” the following:
“and any outreach and promotional activities that were conducted with groups affected by these cases.”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Marc G. Serré and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6;
NAYS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5.
Martin Champoux moved, — That Bill C-316, in clause 3, be amended by replacing, on line 27, page 2, the word “overview” with the word “list” and that the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding, after the words “ous year”, the following: “, if those cases have been made public”.
After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Martin Champoux and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 5;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the amendment, as amended, be amended by adding after the words “ous year” the following:
“and financial performance of the program, as well as a list of all the cases that received funding, and the amount provided for each case.”.
Debate arose thereon.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.
The question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Kevin Waugh — 4;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 7.
At 5:42 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 3:32 p.m., on Thursday, May 30, 2024, the sitting resumed.
At 3:32 p.m, Kevin Waugh took the Chair.
It was agreed, — That the committee proceed to the consideration of the Main Estimates 2024-25.
The Chair called Vote 1 under Canada Council for the Arts.
The Minister made a statement and, with Thomas Owen Ripley, answered questions.
At 4:42 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 4:51 p.m., the sitting resumed.
The witnesses answered questions.
Niki Ashton moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities to appear for a period of two hours before June 19, 2024, to answer questions related to its anti-racism strategy, particularly due to the increase of both anti-Palestinian racism and antisemitism since October 7, 2024, and that the current antiracism strategy has no definition or even reference to anti-Palestinian racism.
Debate arose thereon.
Rachael Thomas moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting all the words following “anti-racism strategy”.
At 5:20 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 5:22 p.m., the sitting resumed.
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Rachael Thomas and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Jacques Gourde, Patricia Lattanzio, Philip Lawrence, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré, Rachael Thomas — 9;
NAYS: Niki Ashton — 1.
Martin Champoux moved, — That the motion be amended by deleting the words “before June 19, 2024,”.
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Martin Champoux and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas — 4.
Taleeb Noormohamed moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “two hours” with the following: “one hour, followed by one hour with department officials,”.
After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Taleeb Noormohamed and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Patricia Lattanzio, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré — 6;
NAYS: Niki Ashton, Jacques Gourde, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas — 4.
The question was put on the motion, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Niki Ashton, Martin Champoux, Michael Coteau, Anna Gainey, Jacques Gourde, Patricia Lattanzio, Philip Lawrence, Taleeb Noormohamed, Marc G. Serré, Rachael Thomas — 10;
NAYS: — 0.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities to appear for a period of one hour, followed by one hour with department officials, to answer questions related to its Anti-Racism strategy.
The committee resumed consideration of the Main Estimates 2024-25.
At 5:46 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.