Procedure and House Affairs Committee on May 3rd, 2018

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Right.

In Ireland, assuming that everybody really does have the language ability that they claim—people can be generous in interpreting their own language ability, and that may be true of your Norwegian-speaking minister as well, I don't know—I'd have a one-in-four chance of being understood by an average member of the Dáil. That would be much less true of the Scottish Parliament, where you'd essentially have a one-in-fifty chance of being understood by a typical member there.

I assume the speakers are both from the Outer Hebrides—the members of the Parliament who are Gaelic speakers?

[Bronwyn Brady]

One is from the Outer Hebrides; the other is from the Highlands.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

All right.

Your electoral system is different from the one we have. This may be an unfair question, so if you can't answer it, just say so.

Has this appeared to have had any impact on the selection of candidates? Are they more or less likely to get people who are Gaelic speakers being put forward by their parties than would otherwise be the case, or has anyone indicated that this is the case as they select their list of candidates?

[Bronwyn Brady]

Gosh, not that I am aware of, no.

[Linda Orton]

Not that I am aware of either.

[Ruth Connelly]

We don't think so.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

That's a fair answer.

Our goal here in Canada is to try to find a way of incorporating our indigenous languages, languages spoken by the people who were native here before Europeans arrived. They all had spoken languages. None of them had written languages before Europeans arrived. One of the consequences of the fact that you often had a language group spoken over a wide geographic area that was settled by different groups of Europeans was that different writing systems were adopted for the same language group. This is a big issue for the Cree speakers, for example. The Cree are spread across an area the size of western Europe, and they have two writing systems, the Latin alphabet versus something called syllabics.

Of course, Gaelic has a long written history, going back to the Middle Ages. Is there consensus for a single form of written Gaelic?

[Bronwyn Brady]

Yes, there is, I think. I know that there is more of an issue with vocabulary, but there doesn't seem to have been any difficulty with establishing a writing system, certainly one that everybody who works with us on Gaelic can agree on. I'm not aware that there have been any problems with that.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

I raise this because you talked about oral testimony and you talked about someone submitting their remarks in writing in English for the benefit of the translator. Do you ever get written testimony in Gaelic?

[Bronwyn Brady]

Well, I'm not sure about Gaelic, but I think it is possible for witnesses to submit written evidence to committees in any language they like, and it will be translated.

That already happens, doesn't it?

[Linda Orton]

Yes, and the translation in English would be part of the record, not the original language.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Right. But presumably the original document would stay as part of the journals of the committee, if somebody absolutely had to go back to confirm the accuracy of translation.

[Linda Orton]

Yes.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Okay, That makes sense.

I think I'm just about out of time.

Mr. Chairman, if there's a possibility of a third round, I might ask to come back.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

We'll certainly add you to the list, if that possibility comes up, and I think it may.

Mr. Simms, we'll move to you next.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Williams, interpreters of course have to go through a lot of barriers, as far as certification goes and as far as your council is concerned. With the level of expertise of interpreters and translators, the wages are fairly high. Is there a pan-national organization or union, one that exists for the entire nation?

[Malcolm Williams]

No.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

What you're saying, then, is that there is a myriad of organizations that tie the interpreters together; is that correct?

[Malcolm Williams]

That's right.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

And is this...I can't say collective bargaining, but do they negotiate, in a way, for the rates that are—?

[Malcolm Williams]

That's right.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

They do, whether for the courts individually—?

[Malcolm Williams]

Yes that's a good example. The ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario has different rates for community interpreters. In B.C., the ministry of the Attorney General has established a higher rate for certified legal interpreters and a lower rate for legal interpreters who are not certified.

[Scott Simms, Liberal, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

So there are several levels of this, based on proficiency.

[Malcolm Williams]

There are two levels, based on certification or non-certification.