Official Languages Committee on May 29th, 2008

[Michelle d'Auray]

Yes, sir.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

That's clear.

Mr. Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Chairman, with regard to this audio recording that is being proposed to us, I want to draw your attention to this. The audio recording must be relevant, as it is in the case of Mr. Coderre's motion, which states that we are here to study bilingualism within the Coast Guard in situations of distress. If that were not the case, I would grant what Mr. Coderre says. This could perhaps even become a criminal matter. In criminal matters, the person must know that it is being recorded, or we must have that person's authorization; otherwise it is rejected by any court. We aren't a court; we're here to determine whether the bilingualism rules are complied with on the boats. This isn't a criminal matter, and it's relevant if it is to prove to us that the services are bilingual or not.

That said, however, I don't know what it contains.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Petit.

It only remains for us to hear the viewpoint of the Bloc Québécois representative.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Perhaps it's to calm things down, but I'd like to put the matter back in context. I had the opportunity to talk to Micheline Aucoin a few minutes after that conversation. Listening to my colleagues, I get the feeling this is becoming what Ms. Aucoin especially does not want, that is to say a spectacle. It should not be possible to rebroadcast that conversation to the public, for the media to eventually use it and for it then to pop up again in one way or another. She's already had to live through the events described in the conversation. The search was abandoned and her son disappeared. He is still missing; he has not been found. She is still grieving. Imagine if she hears those remarks on the radio, television or any public medium. That would do her an enormous amount of harm. So I ask committee members not to allow that conversation to be used publicly.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Blais.

I believe that all the political parties have had the opportunity to speak. Some parliamentarians wish to speak again.

Mr. Coderre.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I entirely approve of what my colleague Mr. Blais just said. We met the families. We saw them. They don't need more grief and don't have to be a central part of the reason why the Coast Guard is here. I also understand why you want us to hear a conversation in an attempt to contradict what has been said in the media. There has been an enormous ordeal, and the Coast Guard unfortunately contributed to it in a way. That is why we have asked representatives who are central to the situation to come and explain to us what happened.

I entirely agree with what Mr. Blais has said. However, the fact that, in a search situation, a federal institution records telephone calls without the person at the other end of the line being aware of the fact concerns be enormously.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

All right—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

No, there's no “all right”, Mr. Chairman. I have a right to speak as much and as long as I want. I can speak until 11 o'clock; so please show a little respect.

I want to protect Ms. Aucoin's rights. This recording clearly won't be heard in public. I don't want it to be a spectacle. These people shouldn't have to grieve again.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You'll have your speaking time, Mr. Coderre. I'd like us to give the witnesses the time—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, this matter concerns a fundamental principle. Are we respecting a person's privacy?

If all my colleagues think we can listen to this in camera, I'll bend to their wishes, but I want it to be clear that, if a federal institution makes recordings without a Canadian citizen's knowledge, that's a very serious problem. There's also the fact that members of Ms. Aucoin's family and other persons who spoke to her will contradict that conversation. That's why I want us to be prudent today.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Lebel, do you want to raise a point?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I think there is unanimous agreement that this should be done in camera. When I call a coordination centre... But I don't want to fuel the debate. I think we agree and that we're going to do this in a manner respectful of Ms. Aucoin to avoid having her relive the event. I agree with Mr. Blais.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Very well.

We'll now proceed with the hearing of witnesses.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman. This matter must be studied in camera, and I see a number of individuals whom I don't know.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Pardon me, Mr. Coderre, but it is only the screening of the video that will be done in camera, not the meeting as such.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

You mean the audio recording.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Yes, I'm talking about the audio recording.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

When we come to the hearing of the audio recording, I will ask that only committee members around this table and one assistant per party be able to remain in the room.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

The usual in camera procedures will apply, but, for the moment, we are in a public meeting and we will be as well after we have heard the audio recording.

That point being clarified, I thank committee members for their sensitivity to the individuals involved in this ordeal.

This morning, we have Michelle d'Auray, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She is accompanied by Mr. George Da Pont, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, and Lieutenant General Marc Dumais, Commander, Canada Command. Without further ado, let's begin the hearing of the witnesses.

Ms. d'Auray, welcome to the committee.

[Michelle d'Auray]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We thank you for this opportunity to be with you this morning. We'll be making a few preliminary remarks, each in our turn. I will begin and will be followed by Lt. General Dumais, then Commissioner Da Pont. We're going to explain the roles and responsibilities of our various components and provide you with an overview of how communications for search and rescue operations function. To conclude, before the hearing of the recording, I will provide some brief background to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

We necessarily appreciate that it is unfortunately the after-effects of the tragic incident involving the fishing boat L'Acadien II that occurred in the night of March 28 to 29 last, during the seal hunt near Cape Breton, that have brought us before your committee today. In the wake of that incident, questions have been raised about French-language communications during the rescue operations.

Allow me first to acknowledge and emphasize how difficult this incident has been for the families and friends of those who were lost, for the survivors and their families, and for the community at large. I sympathize and I am sure my colleagues also sympathize with them with all their heart.

I must also tell you that, as you said, Mr. Chairman, three investigations into this incident are currently underway. One is being conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to assess whether a criminal investigation is warranted; a second is being conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which has a legal mandate to determine the causes and underlying factors that led to the accident; and, lastly, a review by the Coast Guard was launched immediately following the incident, to examine whether the relevant policies and procedures were followed.

We have retained an independent investigator for this review, Retired Rear-Admiral Roger Girouard, who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this task. He began his investigation a few weeks ago and intends to complete it and make his report public this fall.

As the committee can appreciate, I am not at liberty to get into the details surrounding the incident while the investigations are ongoing. Once the reports are completed and issued, we will be able to comment on the findings, results, and recommendations.

The government has committed to making public the findings of all the reports. As my minister, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, has indicated, Mr. Girouard's report will be shared first with the families of the deceased and then more broadly with Canadians.

My minister, the commissioner, and I have committed to ensuring that any recommendations stemming from Mr. Girouard's report are addressed expeditiously.

As regards the delivery of services in both official languages, I want to emphasize that my department, which includes the Canadian Coast Guard, is fully committed to the acts and obligations in this area. With more than 10,000 employees across the country, we are very much aware of the importance of delivering bilingual services in the designated areas.

Before turning to the language of service, I would ask General Dumais to speak to his responsibilities on the federal search and rescue program. Mr. Da Pont will then address how bilingual search and services are provided.

[LGen Marc Dumais]

Thank you, madam.

Mr. Chairman, members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, good morning.

I am Lt. General Marc Dumais and I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. In my opening statement, I wish to inform you on my responsibilities and why I am here.

First, to echo the comments of the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, I would like to extend my sincere condolences, on behalf of myself and everyone in the Canadian Forces search and rescue organization, to the families, loved ones and friends of those who passed away in the tragedy of L’Acadien II.

My current appointment is the commander of Canada Command. As such, I have the responsibility for commanding all Canadian Forces operations that occur in Canada and in North America, with the exception of the NORAD aerospace defence mission. Hence, all Canadian Forces missions, whether in defence of Canada or providing military assistance in support to another federal or provincial authority, come under Canada Command.

I report directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Hillier, and my headquarters are here in Ottawa. I have six regional commanders across our country as well as one commander in Winnipeg who provides air capability and who reports to me.

As you may know, the federal search and rescue program is led by the Minister of National Defence. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for delivering the maritime portion and this is done through the Canadian Coast Guard. As Commander of Canada Command, one of the missions for which I am responsible is providing the Canadian Forces Search and Rescue response across Canada.

With respect to the Search and Rescue role, three of the previously-mentioned commanders also have responsibilities for the three Canadian Forces search and rescue regions in Canada. They are the commander of the Joint Task Force Pacific region, responsible for the west coast, the commander of the air capability, again located in Winnipeg, who is responsible for the central part of the country, and the commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic region, who is responsible for the east coast.

So, to summarize the search and rescue chain of command related to today’s discussions, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax coordinates Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard responses to search and rescue events on the east coast. This centre reports to the Commander Joint Task Force Atlantic, who reports to me, as Commander Canada Command.

While the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre comes under the military structure, it is a joint organization with both Coast Guard and Canadian Forces personnel working together. The Coast Guard personnel are managed through their own reporting chain, and responses to marine incidents are generally dealt with through the Canadian Coast Guard organization. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre’s responsibility is to coordinate the best possible response to search and rescue situations between our two organizations.

Hence, for the search and rescue mission, my responsibility is the command and control of Canadian Forces search and rescue response. However, in the Canadian Forces other organizations are responsible for the training, education, career progression, and posting of the personnel who are in the search and rescue organizations. Hence, the individuals in the search and rescue system are managed by the environmental chiefs, primarily the chief of the air staff and the chief of the maritime staff. Also, the chief of military personnel, who has already appeared before you, is responsible for developing and maintaining the policy framework required to apply the Officials Languages Act within the Canadian Forces.

Of course, as the one responsible for the delivery of the search and rescue capability, I have a responsibility for ensuring this response is adequate. That is why I am here today. To respond to any concerns there may be with respect to the level of service in terms of the Official Languages Act provided by the Canadian Forces following the tragic events of L'Acadien II.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Dumais.

Commissioner, perhaps you would like to address the committee.

[George Da Pont, Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

Thank you.

If you will allow me, I would like to begin by stating for the record that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard are fully committed to the letter and spirit of the Official Languages Act and to implementing all requirements flowing from the Official Languages regulations and policies.

Like my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families and friends of those involved in the capsizing of L’Acadien II. The issue has been raised on a broader scale about whether the Coast Guard delivers consistent bilingual search and rescue services. I would like to take a few moments to put this concern to rest.

It may be useful to begin by stating for the record that the Official Languages Regulations require the Coast Guard to deliver bilingual SAR services at offices or facilities where, over a year, there is at least a 5% demand from the public for services in English or French. The Regulations also state specifically that bilingual services be delivered in the Halifax SAR Region. I want to assure the Committee that we meet those requirements.

Mariners will most often use their radio to engage the search and rescue system. In a limited number of situations, they will also use automated signalling systems to communicate. However, for the majority of mariners who make a radio call, they will contact one of the coast guard's 22 maritime communications and traffic service centres. Nine of those centres offer bilingual services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All positions in these nine centres are designated bilingual at the BBB level. One is located in Newfoundland, two in the maritime region, four in the Quebec region, and two in our central and Arctic region.

If a call is received at one of our non-bilingual MCTS centres, a conference link is established immediately with a bilingual centre. When one of our MCTS centres receives a call from a vessel, it maintains communication with the party on the other end while critical information is relayed immediately to the most appropriate joint rescue coordination centre, or JRCC, that General Dumais spoke about, or to one of the two marine rescue subcentres run by the coast guard.

All JRCCs are staffed, as General Dumais noted, jointly by DND and the coast guard, and offer services to the public in both official languages at all times. The two coast guard subcentres, one located in Quebec City and the other in St. John's, Newfoundland, also offer access to bilingual services at the B level.

Access means that where and when bilingual service is not available at a centre, and that would be the case in our St. John's centre, callers are immediately connected by conference call to the MRSC in Quebec, where French language services are available. While it is part of the standard operating procedure for the centres, I want to emphasize that this does occur very rarely. On average, our MCTS centres field about 950,000 calls a year. Generally, about 10 of those calls on average are relayed to the maritime rescue subcentre in Quebec.

Overall, we respond to some 8,000 marine search and rescue incidents a year. Of those, on average 3,000 lives in those incidents are at risk, and we save about 2,900, a success rate of about 97%.

Once a request for assistance has been received by a joint rescue coordination centre, a response is launched as quickly as possible. All available possibilities of assistance are used, including any vessels of opportunity. That could mean that commercial vessels, fishing vessels, or recreational vessels, whoever happens to be closest to the scene, will be tasked to respond and assist.

Our success as a service organization depends heavily on our developing and maintaining strong links with the community we serve – whether that community speaks French or English. This is very important to us, and why we are committed to fulfilling our obligations under the Official Languages Act.

I would now like to turn back to Ms. d'Auray to continue with her remarks.

[Michelle d'Auray]

Thank you, Mr. Da Pont.

As I indicated at the start of my presentation, we have noted that some issues were raised in the media in the days following the capsizing of L'Acadien II about the language of service provided to the mother of the missing sealer, Carl Aucoin.

As I indicated, we have brought the audio tape exchanges with Ms. Aucoin and we had planned to play them for you. The search for Mr. Aucoin was reduced on Saturday, March 29, which is to say that the active search effort was stopped. The divers had spent an enormous amount of time trying to find Mr. Aucoin's body and, after a fairly extended period of time, the search effort was reduced. It then became an operation directed by the local police force.

Before the search was actually reduced, the coordinator of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax asked the Sûreté du Québec to contact the family of the sealer to advise them of the change in posture. I want to emphasize that it is normal operating procedure to have local officials on the ground contact the families in these situations. The Sûreté du Québec later confirmed that they had unfortunately not made contact and apologized to the family members.

As a result, and most unfortunately, the mother of the missing sealer learned about the change in posture from media reports. She contacted the Coast Guard's Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre in the Quebec region the next day, Sunday, March 30, to seek information. She was provided with the 1-800 number of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, which she called the following morning. In this instance, the Canadian Forces Aeronautical Coordinator, who possesses an EBB level, answered the call. As you can hear, Ms. Aucoin wanted to know whether search efforts to find her son had been stopped and was informed that the RCMP was now responsible for the matter. She was also given a telephone number in order to reach the RCMP.

Later that same day, Mr. Aucoin's aunt contacted the Coast Guard Regional Operations Centre in Halifax for additional information about the search reduction. The Acting Director of Maritime Services, who is bilingual, returned that call and provided additional information. The next day, on Monday, he flew to the Magdalen Islands, where he remained for a period of time and became the prime contact for all further communication with family members.

You will therefore hear the exchange between Ms. Aucoin and her respondent. As we stated, we have obtained Ms. Aucoin's permission to play this recording to you. I would like to express my thanks to her for that. All that remains for us is to listen to the recording.