The committee resumed consideration of the motion, as amended, of Joël Godin moved on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, which reads as follows:

Given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has failed to appoint a bilingual Governor General and that the latter is still unable to speak French after 3 years in the position, and;

Despite the Official Languages Act (OLA), whose purpose is to “ensure respect for English and French as the official languages of Canada and ensure equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions,” according to section 2(a) of the OLA, and to “advance the existence of a majority-French society in a Quebec where the future of French is assured,” according to section 2(b.2) of the OLA;

therefore, be it resolved that:

a) The committee report to the House the Prime Minister of Canada’s failure to respect Canada’s official languages by appointing a Governor General that cannot speak French, and has not demonstrated any improvements over the past 3 years;

b) Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study of the reasons which led the Prime Minister to appoint the Governor General unable to express herself in one of Canada’s two official languages and that, as part of this study, the committee invite to appear:

• The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Quebec Lieutenant;
• The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, former Quebec Lieutenant;

Advisory Panel on the Selection of the Next Governor General:

• The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Co-Chair;
• Janice Charrette, Co-Chair;

Privy Council Office:

• Donnalyn McClymony, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet (Senior Personnel and Public Service Renewal);
• Donald Booth, Canadian Secretary to the King;

Office of the Secretary to the Governor General:

• Ken MacKillop, Secretary to the Governor General;

that the committee allocate a minimum of 5 meetings to this study; and,

that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.

The question was put on the motion and negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 6.

Chantal Ouellette, Robert Levesque, Ghislain Bernard and Brad Samson made statements and answered questions.

At 12:04 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:11 p.m., the meeting resumed.

Jean de Dieu Tuyishime made a statement and answered questions.

At 12:44 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:49 p.m., the meeting resumed in camera.

The committee resumed consideration of a draft report.

It was agreed, — That the draft report, as amended, be adopted.

It was agreed, — That the report be entitled: "Economic Development of Official Language Minority Communities".

It was agreed, — That the Chair, clerk and analyst be authorized to make such grammatical and editorial changes as may be necessary without changing the substance of the report.

It was agreed, — That dissenting or supplementary opinions be in Calibri 12-point front, left aligned, single spaced, and be submitted electronically, in both official languages, to the clerk of the committee, not later than 12:00 p.m. on Monday, October 21, 2024.

ORDERED, — That the Chair present the report to the House.

ORDERED, — That the clerk and analyst of the committee, in consultation with the Chair, prepare a news release for publication on the committee's website and for distribution upon presentation of the report to the House.