Official Languages committee  We haven't prepared the costing but it's definitely something that we can work on, and we can establish some parameters for making the translation bureau, the service, embody what it should embody for the Canadian public service as a whole. We can work on models. We have plenty o

Official Languages committee  The Translation Bureau had more than 1,200 TR positions, compared to about 800 now.

Official Languages committee  The report on plans and priorities was probably one of the factors that led the committee to undertake this study. It seems to claim openly that the bargaining unit representing translators will continue to be eroded, translation will be sent to the private sector and attrition w

Official Languages committee  Maybe I can specify what she meant when she said that there have been no cuts. What she probably implied was that nobody left involuntarily. There was no one who was given a letter to say that they were out the door, but she used the demographics to basically erode the core staff

Official Languages committee  We now come to the machine translation tool, which Mrs. Brunette talked to us about at length. I am going to add something to her very eloquent comments. The broad use of a tool designed for language people is having a clear and detrimental impact on the Bureau’s image.

Official Languages committee  Sure. The Bureau will have to ask itself whether its basic mandate is to achieve savings for the government or to uphold linguistic duality and the Official Languages Act. Mr. Picotte will talk about our first recommendation and I will talk about the second.

Official Languages committee  Second, we suggest that the Translation Bureau be given all the financial and human resources it needs to fulfill its mandate. It is important to put an end to the policy of attrition at the Bureau, to give it the resources required to fulfill its mandate to support Canada’s ling

Official Languages committee  Another major blow to the Translation Bureau is the result of all the budget cuts imposed on various departments. For many of them, translation is the first thing to be eliminated due to budget cuts. The number of documents being translated is therefore reduced. Francophones are

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Forgive me, I hope that I am not going to have a huge coughing fit. I am not in very good shape today. Thank you for inviting us. The Canadian Association of Professional Employees essentially represents a large group of 12,000 members who work in economi

Finance committee  I can say, for example, that in many private sector firms, particularly large ones, there are no limits to the number of sick days that employees can take. My cousin works at IBM. He's been working there for several years. There's no limit, so he.... Like you distinguished MPs, i

Finance committee  If there is wage replacement. Right now, the current proposal that's on the table has a waiting period, which actually is a deterrent to staying at home when you're sick. Based on public health data, we know that where workplaces do not have paid sick leave or salary replacement,

Finance committee  What I'm saying is that there are systems in the private sector that ensure salary replacement when people are sick. That's what we need.

Finance committee  If the government has the goodwill to bargain it and not impose it through a legislative hammer that is not required and that is unconstitutional....

Finance committee  The end result has already been predetermined by booking this $900-million saving. Basically, what the government is saying—

Finance committee  —is that there is no way to discuss—