Official Languages Committee on April 28th, 2009

[Jacques Gauthier]

No. My personal opinion is that things should be in French and English. I am speaking on behalf of VANOC and not the committee I represent. We have no jurisdiction in this area.

However, we brought it to the attention of the Commissioner of Official Languages and asked him to do something, if he could. And he did. We are trying to use that kind of proactive pressure rather than being on defensive.

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

Where translation is concerned, we have heard rumours that they want to hire students. With all due respect for students, they do not have professional qualifications. That is why they are still students. They do not yet have their degree.

Have you entered into agreements with the federal government for translation services?

[Jacques Gauthier]

This has been an active file for several months. Before the election, we brought our translation needs to the attention of Public Works Canada and the Translation Bureau. Those needs have evolved since then, in that we have managed to reduce our translation needs by getting sponsors to give us some access to translation, etc.

We met once again with people from Public Works Canada two weeks ago. We will also be meeting with the Translation Bureau this afternoon in order to specify our translation needs clearly. An official request has been made in order to cover the needs we still have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

We will now go to Mr. Lemieux.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you for our presentations here this morning.

I would certainly like to highlight that Canada has two official languages, as everyone knows, and that Canada is a model for English and French, where bilingualism is concerned. So we need to reflect that positively at the Olympic Games since those games are very important for our country.

You may not be able to give us details about the opening ceremonies. Nonetheless, those ceremonies are very important because the world will be watching. And as I have mentioned, we need to project a positive image of our country.

Can you reassure me that we will see a good reflection of our linguistic duality at the opening ceremonies?

[Jacques Gauthier]

I am very confident in the people on the committee supervising the preparation of those ceremonies.

It is true that the performance marking one year 'til the opening of the games was not exactly what we were hoping for in this regard. I admit that I was disappointed. But it enabled us to take a stand and remind those in charge of our expectations.

Having Nicole Bourget on the committee is very reassuring to all of us. We met with her to make sure that our objectives were the same. She reports to Judith LaRocque. We need to be confident. And I am certainly not talking about blind confidence. She provided us with her specifications and her expectations. Everything is in place for... There is also regular reporting to monitor that things are progressing properly. In my opinion, we are in a good position.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you. As I said, this is very important, since the opening ceremonies will certainly be watched around the world.

From a practical and realistic standpoint, I would like to know how things will work, for example, if a Franco-Ontarian from my area or I myself, not as a member of Parliament of a member of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, but as a Canadian, asks to be served in French at the games. The first person I meet may be an anglophone and unable to speak to me in French. But what happens immediately after that?

I think that it is very important to deal with people directly, and I would not want to speak on the phone with a manager in French. I would want to address my questions to the person right in front of me. How will that work? The challenge will be to find enough volunteers who are bilingual or able to speak French, and I will want to be served in French. Can you answer that question?

[Francine Bolduc]

Certainly. We have received over 11,000 applications from bilingual people who have indicated that they can hold a conversation or even more.

We are in the process of checking their level of bilingualism and assigning them to positions where they will be able to speak directly to the public and answer questions. In addition, we have identified all the positions dealing with the public, for such activities as welcoming people, providing information and issuing tickets.

And all those who speak French will wear a special pin. So it will be easy to identify the people to ask if you want service in French. All that will be organized.

If ever a French speaker does not report for duty or there is no one available who can speak French, a mobile team will be sent to deal with last-minute needs. The plan that we are preparing will ensure that at all times—100% of the time—on every shift, there will be someone who works with the public and who will be able to answer questions in French. That is our commitment.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Lemieux.

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mr. D'Amours.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Gauthier, I would like to come back to something. You answered questions earlier from my colleague, Mr. Rodriguez, about the committee. The only reason you gave for not moving more quickly was that you were waiting for the Official Language Commissioner to give his recommendations.

But the parliamentary official languages committees, from the House of Commons and the Senate, have made recommendations. How many times have the committees talked about official languages? From your answer, that does not seem to matter. I understand that the Commissioner of Official Languages is the supreme authority, the watchdog, but when things get to his level it means that someone has not been listening. Can someone somewhere explain to me why what we say is not important?

Are the Senate recommendations to the effect that francophones and everyone else need to be well served not important? I live in a francophone community in New Brunswick; approximately 80% of the people in my riding are francophone. Is that not important? Are my comments to the organizing committee not important? Do things absolutely have to get to the level of the Official Languages Commissioner before anyone listens? This is a serious problem.

That was the answer you gave earlier. This is deplorable. You say that things were being organized and planned earlier but we parliamentarians did not make a ripple and our recommendations were a lot of hot air, since we were not doing anything important and no one was listening to us. That's what you seem to be saying.

When the committee last met, I asked whether there was going to have to be some badmouthing, where the committee was concerned.

Mr. Chairman, it looks like you did not understand. I mean this in the sense of criticizing or complaining. Once the Olympic Games are over, will we need to start badmouthing, since we are not being listened to once again?

If it takes the involvement of the Official Languages Commissioner to put mechanisms in place to ensure that francophones can be heard at the Olympic Games... We won't hold these kinds of games here again in two or three years, much less tomorrow.

That was more of a comment and it was in connection with your answer. I made a comment on that.

You mentioned earlier that Ms. Bourget had been appointed by Canadian Heritage to help oversee the opening and closing ceremonies. Can you tell me whether Ms. Bourget was also given other responsibilities? Was she also on the VANOC committee for the countdown?

[Jacques Gauthier]

I don't know. Personally, I cannot answer that question this morning.

[Francine Bolduc]

No, she did not sit on that committee. There was no specific committee, but for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as for the Olympic Torch Relay, committees were formed.

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

It seems as if there are all kinds of committees. I can't remember who it was, but someone said earlier that you were not responsible for the partners. There's a committee for this and a committee for that, but in the end, if your Advisory Committee on Official Languages has no link with the rest of the machinery, how are we going to be able to convince the partners, the volunteers, the countdown committee, and the opening and closing ceremonies committee? It's as though everyone sits on a committee, everyone does a different task, but ultimately, your Advisory Committee has no contact with many of these people. It's as though you are relying on other people.

[Jacques Gauthier]

Look at the bigger picture, Mr. D'Amours. I have said on several occasions that the committee was formed just over eight months ago, but the work that is being done to honour the multi-party agreement on bilingualism within VANOC began several years ago. It is part and parcel of all our actions—

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

Mr. Gauthier you say that it began several years ago—

[Jacques Gauthier]

—and of all the committees of the board.

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

You say that it began several years ago, but francophones' rights were not even respected during the countdown ceremonies. The work has been going for several years, but one year before the opening of the Olympic Games, those rights were not respected.

I have doubts. You are the Chair of the Advisory Committee. I am a francophone from outside Quebec. When the rights of francophones from outside Quebec are not respected in this country, that triggers something inside me that causes me to stand up and speak out. I don't necessarily get that same feeling concerning the Advisory Committee.

[Jacques Gauthier]

Our mission is just that: to ensure that our commitments with regard to bilingualism are respected.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you Mr. D'Amours.

We will now continue with Mr. Paillé.

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I will take advantage of my colleague's question to continue in the same vein. Could you describe to us your chain of command or organization chart? You said that there is an official committee that is responsible for official languages within VANOC. So if I understand correctly, you make recommendations to VANOC, which in turn makes recommendations to the Commissioner of Official Languages, who in turn sends them to the minister.

Could you please explain the chain of command to me? There seems to be some confusion as to the role of the various committees.

[Jacques Gauthier]

No. Rest assured, we are in direct communication with the decision-makers. I mentioned earlier that we made sure that everyone who is responsible for the French language during the Games work together. We work closely with the federal secretariat and with the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique, the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Canadian Heritage. We are in contact with the Commissioner of Official Languages, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the International Olympic Committee. All these partners, who want to ensure the presence of bilingualism and the French language during the Games, work with us on the Official Languages Advisory Committee, an organization that reports to the board of directors.

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Could you send us that organizational chart? I don't have much time, but I would like to consult it.

I would like to ask you other questions.

[Jacques Gauthier]

It's not an organizational chart, it's an explanation.