Evidence of meeting #15 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was elections.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC
Perfect. Thank you.
Madam Chair, how much time do I have left?
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC
I won't be able to get into my question at length. I know Madam Sahota has questions, but I'm not sure if she'll just take it in her next round.
Thank you.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
I will add the 30 seconds to your next round.
We now go to Ms. Gaudreau for two and a half minutes.
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm going to ask my question in quiz form, and I'd like the witnesses to answer with a yes or no.
Ms. Mack, Mr. Dunbar and Mr. Fredlund, you know how federal elections work.
Are you aware that Elections Canada can provide election materials in 16 languages?
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Okay. I'll move on to my next question.
I've learned that, in indigenous communities, the meaning of a word can depend on the culture, even in the same language. French, for instance, has a number of similar words that do not mean the same thing.
I was surprised to learn that the translation of the word “vote” differed depending on the community.
Is it possible to translate words in an accurate yet culturally specific way?
11:55 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Northwest Territories
That's something we are certainly working on and is one of the areas of discussion we'll be having with indigenous governments. Some indigenous governments are in the process of trying to standardize language; others are not. They're trying to respect the dialects in those communities. It's an ongoing discussion.
I suspect that for some regions of the Northwest Territories, we will have a more uniform translation and for others, it might be community-specific.
Thank you.
11:55 a.m.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you, Mr. Dunbar.
What do you think, Mr. Fredlund?
11:55 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Nunavut
We have lots of different dialects within Inuktitut-speaking communities. Our translations come straight out of Rankin Inlet. Our Inuktitut is from a small town just north of Rankin Inlet. It doesn't meet the standard of Grise Fiord. It's a separate dialect, but amazingly, Inuktitut speakers understand each other enough that the gist, the ideas, the names of things are accurate. We don't have to do it in 25 different dialects.
Thank you.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
11:55 a.m.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you.
Those language issues are very important to us, as we know. Why do you think places like Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are able to provide language services in four different languages for municipal and territorial elections yet Elections Canada struggles to provide those same services in federal elections?
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
To the interpreters, we did not get the substance of what was said. I would just like to give a moment to the interpreters to provide us with what Ms. Idlout has shared with us.
11:55 a.m.
Bloc
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
I have a point of order, Madam Chair.
I'm not getting the French interpretation.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Can we please have the question read into the record in English, with translation, please?
11:55 a.m.
A voice
Okay. I'll try again.
11:55 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bardish Chagger
Why do you think places like Nunavut are able to provide language services in four different languages for municipal and territorial elections, yet Elections Canada struggles to provide those same services in federal elections?
11:55 a.m.
Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Nunavut
I can speak for Nunavut's experience. We live and breath Inuktitut, so for us it's not a question of difficulties or challenges. This is what we do, so I can't speak to what Elections Canada's challenges are.
Thank you.
11:55 a.m.
NDP
Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU
[Member spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
We understand what your issues are. What feedback have you heard from indigenous communities regarding the languages act for elections? Have you heard suggestions about how access to voting can be improved in this regard?