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House of Commons Emblem

Standing Committee on Official Languages

NUMBER 078

1st SESSION

42nd PARLIAMENT

EVIDENCE

Thursday, November 2, 2017

[Recorded by Electronic Apparatus]

(1645)

[Translation]

The Chair (Hon. Denis Paradis (Brome—Missisquoi, Lib.)):

The meeting is now public.

With the consent of committee members, I invite Mr. Samson to introduce his motion.

Mr. Darrell Samson (Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, Lib.):

The motion is as follows:

That the Committee invite the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and/or departmental officials to present and explain the Department's Action Plan: Enhancing the Bilingual Capacity of the Superior Courts.

The only point I would add is that this meeting should be held as soon as possible. It would be ideal if the minister could come on Tuesday. Otherwise, it should be Thursday at the latest, since we are finishing up our report.

The Clerk of the Committee (Ms. Christine Holke):

I will send out the invitation this evening.

Mr. Bernard Généreux (Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, CPC):

Mr. Chair, I understood that my colleague wanted to introduce an amendment. I second it.

The Chair:

Mr. Choquette, do you want to move an amendment to Mr. Samson's motion?

Mr. François Choquette (Drummond, NDP):

Yes, Mr. Chair.

We previously discussed this among ourselves on another occasion, but I believe that, if we want to invite someone to address this matter, it is important that it be the Minister of Justice or a parliamentary secretary. This is a policy we want to examine. Since policies come from the government, we should hear from government representatives rather than officials. The officials on their own will be able to tell us nothing about this policy.

I think it would be good simply to replace "and/or" with "and". The Minister of Justice would thus be in attendance during the first hour, and we would hear from the officials during the second hour.

Furthermore, when hearing from ministers, we usually indicate that we would like the meeting to be televised, if possible. I think we can add that point, including the words "if possible", since we never know what will happen.

It is up to Mr. Samson to decide whether we can make an acceptable amendment or whether we must bring the matter to a vote.

Mr. Darrell Samson:

In fact, the only amendment would be to add mention of a parliamentary secretary. The motion would thus be that we invite either the Minister of Justice or a parliamentary secretary, "and/or officials". If that is what you are moving, I agree.

Mr. François Choquette:

The word "or" should be deleted from "and/or" and only the word "and" retained.

The Chair:

In short, you want the committee to invite the minister, a parliamentary secretary, and officials.

Mr. Darrell Samson:

No. It would be the minister or a parliamentary secretary and officials.

The Chair:

Is that it?

Mr. Darrell Samson:

It would be a two-hour meeting divided into two parts.

The Chair:

I see. Then we would have the minister or a parliamentary secretary for one hour and the officials for the other hour.

Mr. Darrell Samson:

Correct.

The Chair:

All right.

Mr. Darrell Samson:

We should also request that the meeting be televised.

The Chair:

That is automatic in the case of ministers.

Mr. Paul Lefebvre (Sudbury, Lib.):

Shall we vote?

Mr. François Choquette:

Yes, we may vote.

The Chair:

I think it is unanimous.

Some hon. members: Yes.

Mr. François Choquette:

Yes, it is unanimous, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Darrell Samson:

Both for the amendment and for the motion.

(Amendment agreed to)

(Motion as amended agreed to)

The Chair:

That is all for today. We will see each other next Tuesday.

Thank you.

The meeting is adjourned.