THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Monday, September 26, 2022
(14)

[English]

The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 4 p.m., in room W110, 1 Wellington St., the chair, the Honourable René Cormier, presiding.

Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Bellemare, Clement, Cormier, Gagné, Mégie, Mockler and Moncion (7).

Participating in the meeting: Marie-Ève Hudon, Analyst, Library of Parliament.

Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, the committee continued its examination of the subject matter of 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.

WITNESSES (by videoconference):

Canadian Bankers Association:

Eric Prud’homme, Director, Quebec Region;

Charles Docherty, Assistant General Counsel.

As individuals:

David Robitaille, Full Professor, Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa;

Linda Cardinal, Associate Vice-Rector of Research, Université de l’Ontario français;

François Larocque, Professor and Research Chair on Language Rights, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa;

Érik Labelle Eastaugh, Associate Professor and Director, International Observatory on Language Rights, Université de Moncton.

David Robitaille and Eric Prud’homme each made a statement and answered questions.

At 5:03 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 5:23 p.m., the committee resumed.

Linda Cardinal, François Larocque and Érik Labelle Eastaugh each made a statement and answered questions.

At 6:58 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.

ATTEST:

Gaëtane Lemay

Clerk of the Committee