At 3:44 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 3:46 p.m., the sitting resumed.

At 3:50 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:03 p.m., the sitting resumed.

At 4:17 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:20 p.m., the sitting resumed.

At 4:25 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:33 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Patricia Lattanzio moved, — That, as part of its study of the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19 on the government's capacity to provide information in both official languages, the committee devote five meetings to hearing witnesses and that members submit their list of suggested witnesses to the clerk no later than Friday, November 20, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. (ET).

Debate arose thereon.

At 5:22 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:27 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to.

Mario Beaulieu moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), the committee undertake a study on government measures to protect and promote, as an official language, French in Quebec; that, as part of this study, the committee:

(a) prepare an objective and detailed portrait of the decline of French in Quebec based on key linguistic indicators, including French as mother tongue, main language spoken at home, language substitutions, main language of work, etc., as well as the impact of the decline of French in the province;

(b) assess the effectiveness of the government's language policies in terms of the objective of protecting and promoting the French language, as well as the impact of these policies on provincial legislative measures to protect and promote the French language (Charter of the French Language);

(c) evaluate possible amendments to the Official Languages Act with a view to harmonizing the government's desire to protect the French language with legislative measures;

that, in order to conduct this study, the committee allocate a minimum of seven meetings and that these meetings be completed no later than March 1, 2021;

that the committee present its findings and recommendations to the House, and;

that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request a comprehensive response from the government.

Marie-France Lalonde moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

The question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: René Arseneault, Terry Duguid, Marie-France Lalonde, Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Patricia Lattanzio — 5;

NAYS: Niki Ashton, Mario Beaulieu, Steven Blaney, Marc Dalton, Bernard Généreux, John Williamson — 6.