Evidence of meeting #17 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 43rd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was recommendation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Maybe, Andre, you can put in something in terms of recommending that sound checks be done as often as possible.
Committee Researcher
I just added Mr. Richards' language, which was “where possible”.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
Maybe a small stickler.... The main point at the top says, “Recommendation regarding injuries and fatigue”. Shouldn't it be “Recommendations to prevent injuries and fatigue of interpreters”? It's unclear the way it's stated, and I would say it should be a bit clearer.
Committee Researcher
Thank you, Madam Chair.
For the committee's information, I've been going through all the recommendations, as we go, to phrase them as recommendations, because sometimes they aren't. All recommendations have to say “that”, because they're motions. In this particular case, this one would say, “That the House adopt standards to help safeguard simultaneous interpreters against injuries and fatigue, including”, and then “ensuring compressor”, “undergoing a sound check where possible”, “increasing”, etc.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
That's going to be way better than what it looks like right now.
The association's name is the International Association of Conference Interpreters. Just in case they're watching, here's a shout-out to them. Thank you for all your recommendations. We appreciate them.
Are we okay with adopting LIB 16?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
We are on BQ 5: “That the Committee recommend that francophone members and witnesses make their representations in French during committee meetings in order to relieve the pressure on interpreters who interpret from English to French.”
Yes, Ms. Blaney.
NDP
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
I understand the intention of this recommendation, but I also recognize that the first clause of our Official Languages Act says that both languages are the official languages and that everyone has the right to use either. I wonder if this could potentially be seen as an infringement on parliamentary privilege.
Bloc
Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
The goal is for the francophone members to be aware that this can help. They are not obligated to speak in French. This is only so they know that it can help out the interpreters. It is absolutely not an obligation, but it is at least brought to their attention.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Okay. I think it could probably be reworded to state that more accurately. Maybe it's very similar to the last one we did, “where possible”, or it could state that it would be helpful for French members to speak French as much as possible.
Yes, Mr. Turnbull, maybe you have a suggestion, and then Mr. Alghabra.
Liberal
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
I don't know if this is useful, but maybe we could soften the language to say “encourage”: “That the committee encourage”. I think this is an informal practice, rather than mandating it as a rule. That's the thought.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Okay, that would be instead of “recommend”.
We have Mr. Alghabra, and then Mr. Richards.
Liberal
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
I was going to take a different route and suggest that we keep the word “recommend” but we say, “That the committee recommend that all members and witnesses be considerate to interpreters”, including the suggestion of selecting one language throughout their speech.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
The problem is not just selecting one language, Omar. I think they also mentioned that the bulk of the work that's done by interpreters is English into French. If francophones could choose that language as much as possible, then the load would get shared.
Liberal
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Perhaps we would say “including recommending that francophone members and witnesses speak in French”. I was just making it broader at the beginning and then adding the word “including” and being specific in the follow-up.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Can you repeat what that would look like? I got mixed up with the suggestion about “encourage”, and now this is a new suggestion that takes it out. Could you just read that?
Liberal
Omar Alghabra Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Okay. I was saying, “That the committee recommend that all members and witnesses be considerate towards interpreters, including the suggestion that francophone members and witnesses make their representations in French during committee meetings”.
Liberal
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
Madam Chair, no, I believe I was on the list. Prior to this, you had indicated I was next to speak.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ruby Sahota
Okay, yes. Your name is down.
We have Mr. Richards, and then Ms. Petitpas Taylor.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
I'm sympathetic with what the Bloc is trying to achieve here. I do understand there is a far greater demand for the English-to-French translation than for the French-to-English. I understand that trying to balance that makes some sense. However, I will point out that the Constitution guarantees the right to speak in either French or English during House proceedings. What we're suggesting here would, potentially, be unconstitutional. I think that would apply slightly less so if we were to say that we recommend it, but I still don't think we should be recommending something that runs contrary to the Constitution.
Although I understand and I'm sympathetic toward what they are trying to achieve, I think we should be mindful of the fact that the Constitution does guarantee the right to choose to speak in either English or French. To go down the road where we are even suggesting that maybe we give some encouragement to speak one language or the other could be perceived as going against someone's rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution.
As a result, I think we should stay away from this.