LANG Committee Meeting
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Minutes of Proceedings
Éric Caron-Malenfant and Josée Bégin made statements and answered questions.
Angelo Iacono moved, —
That the Committee expresses its disappointment at the behaviour of Conservative MPs, notably the MP for Lethbridge and the MP for Brantford—Brant, toward Francophone ministers and toward the entirety of the Canadian population that speaks French, an official language of Canada;
That the Committee remind all MPs of their right to speak in whichever of the two official languages at all times in Parliament;
That the Committee request that the MP for Brantford—Brant apologises in the House to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement of Canada, to the 4,000 Franco-Ontarians in his riding, and to all Francophone MPs and all the Francophones in Canada;
That the Committee recognises that French is just as important to Canada’s bilingual status as English, and that French is indispensable to the Canadian identity;
That the Committee denounce the inaction of the Conservative leader in face of repeated antiFrancophone remarks by his MPs.A point of order was raised as to the procedural acceptability of the proposed motion.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair ruled the motion in order, as committees can express an opinion on matters that fall within their mandate and that do not exceed their powers.
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 sustained on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Mario Beaulieu, Richard Cannings, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joël Lightbound, Marc Serré, Darrell Samson - 7;
NAYS: Marc Dalton, Bernard Généreux, Marilyn Gladu, Joël Godin - 4.
Accordingly, the decision of the Chair was sustained.
The debate on the motion continued.
Joël Godin moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.
The question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Marc Dalton, Bernard Généreux, Marilyn Gladu, Joël Godin — 4;
NAYS: Mario Beaulieu, Richard Cannings, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joël Lightbound, Darrell Samson, Marc G. Serré — 7.
The debate on the motion of Angelo Iacono continued.
Joël Godin moved, — That the motion be amended by adding before the words “That the Committee remind all MPs” the following: “That the committee expresses its disappointment with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's appointment of a Governor General who does not speak French”.
Debate arose thereon.
A point of order was raised as to the procedural acceptability of the proposed amendment.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair declared the proposed amendment inadmissible on the grounds that it does not relate to the main motion.
The debate on the motion continued.
At 1:02 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.