Evidence of meeting #93 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was interpretation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Deputy Clerk, Procedure
I don't have that detail. Sorry.
There is no direct view from the booth into the House. Probably a screen would be organized on which the person would see the individual talking in the House.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Why was that booth created and when was the decision made that this booth would be created?
Deputy Clerk, Procedure
I don't have that information. We can provide that to you.
Clerk of the House of Commons
I suspect it would have been some time ago, because I think Public Works as well as the administration of the House are aware of members' interest in exploring the use of additional languages besides English and French.
There was the evidence of what was going on in the Senate. In the same way the Senate has delayed televising its proceedings, perhaps the Senate jumped the gun with respect to the House in using third languages as a matter of routine.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
So you foresaw this and this is why we've accommodated with the extra booth, but whatever shape it takes is yet to be determined. We at least have it there.
Deputy Clerk, Procedure
There have also been occasions, as you may recall, when international figures address the House. Those individuals commonly and frequently spoke in another language.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
With respect to the problems and challenges that you faced in the Senate, that's good experience for us to have for you to answer questions today for us.
You talked about having this service available and the problem of maybe not being able to get the service on time. How is that handled in the Senate? For example, if someone were scheduled to speak and all of a sudden you couldn't get the interpretation, and that person had to be bumped, how did that play out?
Clerk of the House of Commons
Because it was experimental and an initiative done in good faith, the senators who were involved were understanding and co-operative. The real problem also comes from the fact that when we're dealing in French and English, we're dealing with highly trained, qualified individuals. Because French and English are the official languages, the training available for the work of interpretation and translation is provided through courses offered at universities. Are we sure the same sorts of services would be available to train interpreters to a high standard in the 40-some aboriginal languages that are spoken in Canada?
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Has the House taken any steps to determine whether those resources are there?
Clerk of the House of Commons
Again, I think that would basically be through Public Works rather than through us.
Clerk of the House of Commons
If I recall my history correctly, when Canada made a greater commitment to official languages, the federal government supported the establishment of training and courses, through funding to universities, to provide proper interpretation training.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Okay.
With respect to the language that you decided upon in the Senate, you said that was based on the indigenous language that was spoken by—
Clerk of the House of Commons
We had two senators who were from the north who spoke Inuktitut, Senator Watt and Senator Adams.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
If the House of Commons were looking at something, what would you suggest, having now gone through that experience with those two senators, about the model that we would adopt with respect to which languages?
Clerk of the House of Commons
I think you would want to do the preliminary work through negotiations with Public Services and Procurement Canada to determine who is available, and work out the modalities. We know that Mr. Ouellette has a real keen desire to speak in Cree. I suppose he would certainly be someone you would want to approach. There may be others who would like to use a third language. They don't need to be just indigenous, presumably. You could, I suppose, canvass them and see what's feasible and what makes sense.
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
Okay, so we could canvass the MPs to determine what languages they would like to speak in the House, indigenous languages specifically, in this case.
I appreciate the comment about the mileage and the car. Can you give us an idea of the cost with respect to the Senate's trial on this? What was the cost?
Clerk of the House of Commons
I don't recall actually seeing the cost, because we were under the mileage limit. We just negotiated that.
Clerk of the House of Commons
The cost was actually borne by the department, and because it had a commitment to provide the service, the negotiations were always fruitful, always moving in the same direction: how do we understand each other, to be able to meet your needs and provide a quality of service that is acceptable to us as a department?
Liberal
Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas, ON
With respect to our moving forward with this, what suggestions would you offer? One of the comments you made that is interesting to me is that the senators understood that this was a trial and so they were very accommodating. For the House of Commons, what suggestions would you make with respect to our moving forward in this regard?
Clerk of the House of Commons
I think you will come to an understanding of what your real options are once you start to explore with others. You'll have an idea from the members themselves how passionate they are in their desire to speak their maternal language. You will know from the department what its capacities are right now to provide them and how they might be able to be developed in the future, if that's the direction the House insists on taking. You will be able to work out, I suppose, a time frame that actually accommodates the needs of those members.
I would suggest to you that what is being considered is a very forward proposition that is meant to demonstrate clear respect. If it is to be meaningful, it has to be done correctly, and you have to properly explore what resources are available to you to put this in place.
As I mentioned at the close of my remarks, we in the administration are determined to provide you with the support that is available to us. If it is going to be implemented, like you, we would like to make sure it is successful.