Charles Castonguay, Alexandre Cédric Doucet and Liane Roy made statements and, with Ali Chaisson and Alain Dupuis, answered questions.

Francis Drouin moved, — That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f):

1. the committee begin a subject matter study on the government’s modernization of the Official Languages Act, comparing Bill C-13, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts to Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, from the 43rd Parliament, and English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada;
2. the committee invite the Minister of Official Languages and the President of the Treasury Board to discuss the changes between Bill C-13 and previous legislation, and to respond to questions on the current bill before the House;
3. members of the committee submit their prioritized witness lists for the study to the clerk of the committee no later than 12:00 p.m. on Friday , April 22, 2022, and that the compiled list be distributed to members that same day;
4. if Bill C-13 is referred to the committee by the House during the subject matter study, all evidence and documentation received by the committee during the study related to Bill C-13 be taken into consideration by the committee during its legislative study of Bill C-13;
5. the clerk of the committee notifies immediately each member of Parliament who is not a member of a caucus represented on the committee, to inform them of the beginning of the subject matter study in order to invite them to start working on their proposed amendments to the bill, which would be considered during the clause-by-clause study of the Bill C-13; and
6. the committee begin this subject matter study no later than Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

Joël Godin moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

At 4:22 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:24 p.m., the sitting resumed.

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

YEAS: Mario Beaulieu, Alexandre Boulerice, Bernard Généreux, Joël Godin, Jacques Gourde, Alain Rayes — 6;

NAYS: Francis Drouin, Angelo Iacono, Arielle Kayabaga, Patricia Lattanzio, Marc G. Serré — 5.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, January 31, 2022, the committee resumed its study of Francophone immigration to Canada and Quebec.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

At 4:55 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:58 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Mohamadou Sarr, Cyriaque Kiti and Alain Laberge made statements and answered questions.