Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll start with the last part. The loud bang, which is not an example of the Larsen effect, could definitely have an impact on interpreters. It could be a laptop or a microphone dropping down or somebody banging on the table. As for the vicarious effects, maybe Matthew can discuss that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm going to turn the floor over to Ms. Trépanier, but I can tell you we've been involved in many training sessions with our Privy Council Office colleagues during government changeovers and new ministerial office appointments. So it should certainly be offered to our colleagues in the House as well.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much. We've posted a few videos online to familiarize people with what happens on the other side and with the highly specialized work that interpreters do. We'll make sure we continue promoting them.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Since I'm an industrial engineer, not an interpreter, I've had a fair amount of training in the field as well. Yes, we're considering a number of technical measures. You mentioned the earpiece, for example. There are ways to ensure that it mutes as soon as the user removes it. As for sound, we can reduce Larsen effects by digitizing the sound and thus limit the risk.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I would add that those 10 incidents were due to human error. The last mile is always the toughest one, so that's really where we are.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  May I add something, Mr. Chair?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Working conditions aren't the only reason. I would remind you that interpreters were always physically present on the job throughout the pandemic, although some of them may be working remotely now. There are many reasons that have to be considered. Their working conditions are quite intense and the work is fast paced.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'll be quick, Mr. Chair. Many measures to respond to the instructions we got were very technical, as you mentioned. Some of those were put in place all at the same time. I just want to reassure everyone that we're working with our colleagues to see if there are some measures we can adjust.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and they also have to do it within very short periods of time. As you can often see, it's harder to maintain a dialogue when the interpretation lags four or five seconds behind. So, on the one hand, interpreters have to consider the emotion, as Mr. Ball noted. That's the Canadian interpretation model, and it's a good one.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, it hasn't happened since I joined the translation bureau, but what I would like to maybe elaborate on today is that there are two or three people in the booth, and they are also replacing one another in the course of a conversation, and sometimes they would focus on something else, so maybe they won't have the entire view.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let me give you an idea of the number of employees we have. We have approximately 70 interpreters who are Translation Bureau employees. They work 50,000 interpretation hours every year, as I said earlier. We also employ freelancers. So we have roughly 100 interpreters. The interpreter pool is quite limited both in Canada and around the world.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There haven't been any official complaints as far as I know. I have to say though, as I indicated at the outset, that the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the department's code of conduct very much encourage informal conflict resolution. Some individuals might not have been heard, but that may be a matter of perception.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, as part of our measures that we've put in place, the sound is controlled behind the window as well, so we're trying to put in everything that we can to mitigate those situations. Interpreters can also adjust the volume they need to work with, for sure. Matthew, do you want to add anything?

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you very much for your glowing praise of the Translation Bureau's services. Since my arrival, the emphasis has mainly been on sound incidents. However, people frequently met with me to discuss preferences or to tell me about certain comments. I must say that the number is rather small.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We received a few official complaints about the translation of certain documents in which mistakes were found. You are no doubt aware of these. As for interpretation, I could ask Mr. Ball if he has any to report. The comments I've heard since arriving here sometimes had to do with things like the interpreters' tone of voice or the fact that one interpreter was speaking louder than another.