THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Thursday, June 26, 2025
The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 10:31 a.m. [ET], pursuant to rule 12-13 of the Rules of the Senate, for the purpose of organization.
[Translation]
Catherine Cuerrier, Clerk of the Committee: Honourable senators, good morning. My name is Catherine Cuerrier, and I am the clerk of your committee.
Therefore, it is my responsibility to proceed with the election of the chair.
I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator Moncion: I nominate my colleague Senator Surette.
Ms. Cuerrier: Are there any other nominations?
The Honourable Senator Moncion moved:
That the Honourable Senator Surette be elected chair of this committee.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Yes.
Ms. Cuerrier: I declare the motion carried and invite the Honourable Senator Surette to take the chair.
Senator Allister W. Surette (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: I want to begin by thanking you for your trust. I hope that my past experience will benefit the committee, as I have chaired various committees and groups at the local, regional and national levels.
I survived 13 years as chair of the university senate. I hope that this will make a small difference for those who are familiar with the dynamics of a university senate.
Another thing that naturally draws me to the committee is that I have spent my entire career — the last 30 years or so — working in the Canadian francophonie, with official languages, with French and with minority communities. For these reasons, I am very interested in this committee.
I also hope to benefit from your experience and skills. Many of you have been serving on this committee for a long time. I look forward to benefiting greatly from your expertise and skills.
In closing, I would like to sincerely thank the former chair of the committee, Senator Cormier, who has been very supportive. I hope that this will continue and that you will support not only me personally, but also the committee as a whole.
You will see that everything has gone well in the past and that will continue, that’s for sure. I hope we will all work in a very transparent and open manner and have frank discussions. So we will work as a team, not as individuals.
If I fail to meet your expectations, you can let me know and I will adapt, but it should work very well. I look forward to this committee getting started.
The next step is the election of deputy chair. I am ready to receive a motion to that effect.
Senator Cormier: Mr. Chair, I nominate Senator Rose-May Poirier for deputy chair of the committee.
The Chair: Are there any other nominations?
Shall the motion carry?
Hon. Senators: Yes.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
I spoke with Senator Poirier yesterday. Unfortunately, she cannot be with us today, either in the Senate or at this meeting, but she would have liked to be here. Senator Cormier has also spoken with Senator Poirier. So I think everything is fine on that front.
We now have a few routine motions to consider. The first is motion 3, on the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure, also known as the “steering committee.”
For this session, it has been agreed that the four parties and groups will have one representative on the steering committee, and the usual consultations on the membership of the steering committee have taken place.
Would a senator like to move the following motion—
Senator Moncion: Before moving the motion as it stands, I would like to propose an amendment.
Do you need someone to move the motion before discussing the amendment?
The Chair: Are you moving it now?
Senator Moncion: I will move it, but only if the amendment is passed; if the amendment is not passed, I will not move it.
The Chair: You can still propose the amendment.
Senator Moncion: It’s in the second part. The current wording is:
That the subcommittee be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the committee with respect to its agenda, to invite witnesses, and to schedule hearings.
I propose that this be replaced with the following:
That the subcommittee be responsible for considering and consulting with the committee with respect to its agenda, inviting witnesses, and scheduling hearings.
So there is a consultation process. This is done at the steering committee level and then, before decisions are made, they have to be ratified by the committee.
The Chair: Are there any questions or comments before we proceed? Since there are no questions or comments, we will now proceed to vote on the amendment as presented. Do you wish to adopt the amendment to the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the amendment carried.
Let’s now return to the original motion. The first paragraph remains the same:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be composed of the chair, the deputy chair and two other members of the committee, to be designated after the usual consultations;
The second paragraph is amended to say the following:
That the subcommittee be responsible for considering and consulting with the committee with respect to its agenda, inviting witnesses, and scheduling hearings.
Senator Moncion: I move the motion.
The Chair: The motion has been moved by Senator Moncion.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
For information purposes, before moving on to the consultation stage, I understand that the other two members of the steering committee are senators Gerba and Ince.
[English]
Is that news to you?
Senator Ince: Yes, it is news to me. Thank you.
[Translation]
The Chair: Motion 4 concerns publishing the committee’s proceedings.
Would someone move the motion?
Senator Cormier: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Cormier moved:
That the committee publish its proceedings.
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Motion 5 is about research staff.
Do we have a volunteer to move the motion?
Senator Gerba: I move it.
The Chair: Senator Gerba moved:
That the committee ask the Library of Parliament to assign analysts to the committee;
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to retain the services of experts as may be required by the work of the committee; and
That the chair, on behalf of the committee, direct the research staff in the preparation of studies, analyses, summaries, and draft reports.
Shall the motion carry?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
I invite the analysts to take their seats at the table. If I understand correctly, you all know Marie-Ève Hudon.
Expectations seem very high. According to the notes I have here, you have a lot of experience. You will surely be of great help to us. If I understand correctly, you have been assigned to this committee since its creation?
Marie-Ève Hudon, Analyst, Library of Parliament: Yes.
Senator Cormier: I would like to take advantage of Ms. Hudon’s presence at this organizational meeting to thank her for her work. She has been assigned to this committee since the very beginning. She has done a remarkable job in helping the committee carry out its work. I would like to take this opportunity to say that.
Thank you very much, Ms. Hudon.
Some hon. Senators: Hear, hear!
The Chair: The notes show that not only has she been here since the early days of this committee, but she has worked with five different chairs.
Welcome and thank you.
Motion No. 6 concerns the authority to commit funds and certify accounts.
Do I have a mover for the motion?
Senator Ince: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Ince moves:
That, pursuant to section 6(1), chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority to commit funds be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee;
That, pursuant to section 7(1), chapter 3:05 of the Senate Administrative Rules, authority for certifying accounts payable by the committee be conferred individually on the chair, the deputy chair, and the clerk of the committee; and
That, notwithstanding the foregoing, in cases related to consultants and personnel services, the authority to commit funds and certify accounts be conferred jointly on the chair and deputy chair.
Shall the motion carry?
Some hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Motion No. 7 concerns travel.
Do I have a mover for the motion?
Senator Mégie: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Mégie moves:
That the committee empower the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure to designate, as required, one or more members of the committee and/or such staff as may be necessary to travel on assignment on behalf of the committee.
Shall the motion carry?
Some hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Motion No. 8 concerns the designation of members travelling on committee business.
Do I have a mover for the motion?
Senator Cormier: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Cormier moves:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be authorized to:
1) determine whether any member of the committee is on “official business” for the purposes of paragraph 8(3)(a) of the Senators Attendance Policy, published in the Journals of the Senate on Wednesday, June 3, 1998; and
2) consider any member of the committee to be on “official business” if that member is: (a) attending an event or meeting related to the work of the committee; or (b) making a presentation related to the work of the committee; and
That the subcommittee report at the earliest opportunity any decisions taken with respect to the designation of members of the committee travelling on committee business.
Shall the motion carry?
Some hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Motion No. 9 concerns witness travel expenses. Do I have a mover for the motion?
Senator Moncion: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Moncion moves:
That, pursuant to the Senate guidelines for witness expenses, the committee may reimburse reasonable expenses related to the appearance of one witness per organization upon application, but that the chair be authorized to approve expenses of a second witness from the same organization should there be exceptional circumstances.
Shall the motion carry?
Some hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
Lastly, we have a motion on communications. Do I have a mover for the motion?
Senator Gerba: I so move.
The Chair: Senator Gerba moves:
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to direct communications officer(s) assigned to the committee in the development of communications plans and products where appropriate and to request the services of the Senate Communications, Broadcasting and Publications Directorate for the purposes of the promotion of their work; and
That the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure be empowered to allow coverage by electronic media of the committee’s public proceedings with the least possible disruption of its proceedings, at its discretion.
Shall the motion carry?
Some hon. Senators: Agreed.
The Chair: I declare the motion carried.
I would now like to introduce Sabryna Lemieux, the communications officer assigned to our committee.
Welcome. Are you new to the Senate? Here about a year?
Sabryna Lemieux, Communications Officer, Senate of Canada: Exactly.
The Chair: Welcome to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages.
You joined the Senate during the 44th Parliament. You bring a wealth of experience in parliamentary affairs and international diplomacy. Your rich background is in strategic communications involving public policy, public relations and intergovernmental relations. Welcome. This brings us to the end.
Before we adjourn, we have other business, such as the fact that the committee meets on Mondays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Is there any other business that the committee members would like to discuss?
Senator Cormier: I might want some information on the committee’s official meeting hours, which are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s a question for down the road. The committee often met from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. We had a two-hour time slot, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. I’m bringing this up because sometimes, on Mondays, senators who wanted to attend the committee meetings faced transportation issues. A 4 p.m. start time could pose a problem, even if the official hours are from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. In general, the committee met from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. so that all members could get to the meetings.
Senator Moncion: I have a suggestion. There are limited budgets for witness travel. I know that we approved expenses for witnesses. However, some witnesses come in from out of town and they’re here for an hour. I would recommend that these people be invited to participate in the meetings by video conference.
The Chair: Good point. Since Senator Poirier isn’t here, I suggest that we discuss this matter with her well before September. We’ll send out planning communications before September. I gather that we need to start preparing a work plan. We have certain matters on the table that we can go back to, if the committee wishes to do so, and other matters that have been discussed but not yet agreed on. We could start this work remotely by email before the September meeting if that works for you. Is there any other business? Perfect.
(The committee adjourned.)