Official Languages Committee on June 5th, 2008

[Graham Fraser]

Indeed, we are covering all aspects: allocation, management, translation, interpretation, signage and reception. In order to successfully stage the Olympic Games in both official languages over a rather brief period of 17 days in February 2010, you need to be prepared. We are helping in the preparation, and to our knowledge, there is currently a very good relationship between the francophone community of British Columbia and VANOC.

I would like to add that I am fully convinced that Mr. Furlong is determined to ensure the respect for both official languages.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much, Mr. Malo.

We have taken good note that your recommendations and study on the games will be ready by the fall.

Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have also met with officials at CTV and RDS and I must say that I was impressed by all that they have done so far. I might be proven wrong, but they certainly impressed me. However, their broadcast coverage will not reach all francophones. It does not make sense to install transmission towers across Canada to reach all those Canadians who do not have access to RDS at this time. You said so earlier, some people cannot have cable service at home, or pay for the Internet.

Would you agree that CBC/Radio-Canada, given that it is a public television network, has a national mandate? It has a mandate, and that should be part of it. The corporation tells us that it is not up to us to make programming decisions. It is very firm about that, but does it not have a duty to reach an agreement for the sake of Canadians and both official languages? CTV, RDS, TQS and the cable companies are all working together. Some of them are even going so far as opening up free, public channels. I am sure you have all heard about that. But what is CBC/Radio-Canada doing about this issue?

[Graham Fraser]

As it now stands, the CBC has said that it made the efforts and put in a bid, but that it did not win the contract because CTV's bid was about $60 million higher. There was an exchange of correspondence between CTV and the CBC. But I don't think that discussions are ongoing right now.

As far as the mandate is concerned, which is a problem in this discussion, the broadcasting contract for the Olympic Games was signed by the International Olympic Committee and the company which put in the highest bid, and...

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

That's fine, thank you.

CTV was awarded the contract, we all know that. If CTV was able to sign contracts with TQS and RDS, it seems to me that the CBC could put its pride aside and agree to help Canadians.

Do you agree with me on that? If Radio-Canada did not exist, people, francophones, would not have access to French television, and it would be completely impossible.

[Graham Fraser]

Mr. Chairman, we all saw the figures on the number of francophone households which do not have access to cable in Canada. I hesitate to put out those figures, because it is very difficult to determine the exact number of people affected. Under IOC rules, the successful bidder must be able to reach 95% of the population, and CTV claims it can do this. It is not up to me to define the mandate of the CBC and Radio-Canada. I don't see how, given the fact that a contract was signed between the CBC, TQS and RDS, we can target the 9,000, 20,000 or 40,000 households—based on the figures—without competing with the people who paid to get the contract. I think it's fairly complicated. However, there is another possibility...

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

You see problems, but they never told us whether it was hard for them to reach an agreement. Representatives from the CBC said that they did not get the contract and that they did not want to get involved. No one told us that there would be competition. TQS never said that it did not want the CBC to be involved. Really, I don't understand where you're coming from.

[Graham Fraser]

It was a problem raised in the course of some of the conversations I had. That's when I raised the idea of bringing in satellite TV in community centres in communities which, for one reason or another, have a considerable number of people who do not have access to television by either satellite or cable. We can always explore that idea. I also said, in the course of my discussions, that I did not want to exclude any solutions which had been rejected in the past. I am not rejecting any potential solution, but I recognize the fact that it might be complicated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, gentlemen.

We will now move on to the government side with Mr. Denis Lebel.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Fraser, Ms. Scott and Ms. Tremblay, Mr. Dussault, thank you for being here this morning.

We have read what you have written and listened carefully to what you have told us this morning. We will continue as always to assume our responsibilities, to do our work, and show leadership, of which you would like to see even more. We will continue to do that. We will also continue to be very committed to the official languages of our country, to take our responsibility seriously as a government and to fulfil our promises like we always do.

I feel that there has been leadership shown up to this point on the issue of the Vancouver Olympic Games. Mr. Furlong and his organizing team made a presentation before us, and we were impressed by the efforts they are making. Mr. Emerson is also showing great leadership on this in terms of government representation. For preventive reasons, as you said earlier, it is quite reasonable, and I understand this very well, for us to carry out an analysis and make recommendations at this point.

I understand that the report will be presented in the fall, but from what you have seen so far regarding how things are developing from an official languages standpoint, what is your view of things?

[Graham Fraser]

To begin with, I feel that there is a determination to succeed and an atmosphere of cooperation. Like you, I admire Mr. Furlong and I am impressed.

That said, I have the impression that VANOC started out using the Turin Games as a model. They then realized that the Turin Games had had serious difficulty representing the Olympic Games' two official languages. So we are trying to figure out exactly what would be needed for interpretation at all sites, translation of documents as well as the availability of volunteers.

There is work to do in all those areas, and additional resources will probably be needed at some point to ensure success. There are technical considerations, such as the need to find enough interpreters for quite a limited period. That requires some amount of planning. I have begun discussions to make that happen. I think that the report will indicate where work is still needed for a successful outcome.

I would like to express my appreciation for the spirit of cooperation we have found in working with Mr. Furlong and his team. In my annual report, I talked about the new ombudsman role, but it is not just a formal role. We can use studies as an example of our desire to work in cooperation with institutions. This collaborative effort between ourselves and VANOC is a good illustration.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

I think it would be important at today's meeting to remind the VANOC people that we are aware of their efforts to ensure that Canada's two official languages will be well represented. The event should be a showcase for the world to show Canada's bilingual status. The francophone community in British Columbia also needs to be aware that we value their contribution to the preparation underway and that we will continue to work with the community to improve the situation and ensure that the results meet our expectations.

You talked earlier about broadcasting rights. I would just like to remind everyone of the background on this, since it is quite important. When the International Olympic Committee receives bids, the countries and municipalities involved already know that the broadcasting rights will be negotiated by the IOC itself. It calls for bids—correct me if I am wrong, Mr. Fraser—and companies and consortia are invited to tender, which is what happened in this case. A consortium offered $60 million more than the CBC on a strictly business basis. The consortium initially involved CTV and TQS and it looked at how to provide coverage to the whole country. The consortium needs to take into account what is happening at TQS, but I am not assuming that TQS will withdraw. The consortium will therefore have to continue these discussions from a business standpoint, since it is having discussions as well with other partners.

You mentioned earlier that the CBC was among those partners, but I think the discussions right now are focused on the business side. Is that correct?

[Graham Fraser]

That's what I understand about this matter, but Ms. Scott heard other things that you haven't mentioned.

[Catherine Scott]

Exactly. What was clear from our meeting with CTV is that the discussions with broadcasters were positive and that it will be possible to get a free signal from those companies so that RDS can be broadcast in places where it is not currently available. However, discussions with small broadcasters have not yet taken place.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Our government wants all Canadians to have access to the Olympic Games in their language of choice. So, we will continue to hope that these discussions... I want to thank you for the steps that you have taken in advance to ensure that this objective can be achieved.

How is the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver reacting to the need for volunteers from all regions in Canada so as to provide services in both official languages? We are asking people to take two or three weeks' holidays to provide those services. How did this committee react when you told it that you would recommend an increased number of bilingual volunteers?

[Graham Fraser]

It has reacted positively. It is becoming aware of the scope of the challenge. It is visiting schools and making contacts with minority communities. For example, we hope to see the implementation of an assessment process to verify whether people who say they are bilingual are really able to serve people in both languages. We are trying to do a follow-up on the nature of existing problems.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser.

We will now begin our second and final three-minute round with Mr. D'Amours.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Fraser, and thanks to the people accompanying you.

Given the ambiguity concerning the broadcasting of this event and the current situation with regard to TQS—and we don't know in which direction it is headed—the Liberal members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages will be tabling a motion asking the consortium responsible for broadcasting the Olympic Games to testify before the committee in order to explain itself and perhaps to reassure us, as well as to tell us what the problems are.

We are aware of the problems that can affect the RCMP when it comes to providing services in French to francophones. No doubt, you are aware of the recent case of Ms. Paulin in New Brunswick. The Olympic Games will be held in Vancouver.

Are you concerned with regard to the ability of the RCMP or any other police force to respect the official languages policy so that francophones in Canada and throughout the world will be respected and will not be forced to make 25 calls before finding somebody who can speak adequate French, and that after this event, they won't need to appeal to the Supreme Court in order to ensure their rights are respected?

[Graham Fraser]

Mr. Chair, that is exactly why we are raising the issue of the Olympic Games when we talk to other institutions, such as the RCMP or National Defence.

Renald, perhaps you could speak about the discussions we have had with other institutions, with regard to the Olympic Games.

[Renald Dussault, Assistant Commissioner, Compliance Assurance Branch, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages]

As the commissioner pointed out, we have already begun discussions with a number of federal institutions, for example with airport authorities at Pearson, in Toronto, the headquarters of the Canada Border Services Agency, in Ottawa, and individual airports. Mr. Fraser met with the RCMP Commissioner recently, and that is one of the points that he raised.

We intend to increase our preventive efforts with all those institutions. As the commissioner said earlier, this is an opportunity for us to take advantage of the Olympic Games to make federal institutions which are the point of first contact, more aware of their responsibility to provide services in both official languages.

This work has already begun, and we certainly intend to increase our activities in this regard over the coming months.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, gentlemen.

We will now go to Mr. Daniel Petit.

[Daniel Petit, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you very much.

My question also concerns something that you referred to a little earlier. My colleague Mr. Chong had asked a question. I am referring to page 74 of your report. Could you tell me when your report on second language learning opportunities in universities will be ready? You know—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Point of order. Mr. Chair, we had this discussion at the beginning. I asked for and I wanted for us to be given two full hours on topics of our choice. You refused. This question is not relevant and has no connection with our agenda. I would ask my colleague Mr. Petit to ask questions about the Olympic Games.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. Coderre, I had not had time to hear the entire question because you interrupted Mr. Petit. On the one hand—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I am not trying to start a fight. You know, he is reading the report. Personally, I would not have had a problem with that. The official opposition, Mr. Petit—