Official Languages Committee on Nov. 5th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You still have two minutes.

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

That's okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. O'Neill-Gordon.

Mr. D'Amours, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Gauthier, a number of questions have been touched on, and Ms. Glover raised a point earlier. I would like you to provide some details, not about what happens when the Torch Relay comes through the municipalities and people are able to applaud all along the route, but rather about set, specific activities. Are the communities responsible for deciding who will be on stage?

[Jacques Gauthier]

Unfortunately, I am not aware enough of the details, in terms of how the activities are designed and programmed; however, I can tell you that we have a team specifically working on that. In fact, that is its only job. For the time being, as you probably guessed, it is travelling the country, given that the Torch Relay has already begun. I can assure you that there is no connection with what the government is doing.

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

Fine, thank you.

[Jacques Gauthier]

It is completely separate. The VANOC team is under Jim Richards.

Having worked with municipal representatives, particularly in Montreal, I can tell you that all the communities were asked to take part in organizing the activities. At every stop, the activities are being organized by the communities, in cooperation with the Torch Relay team.

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

So, you are in a position to guarantee that the government is not involved in the decisions?

[Jacques Gauthier]

Yes, absolutely. There is no involvement.

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

At the same time, I think it is important to come back to the point raised by Ms. Glover. This week, the Minister of State (Sport) sent us a letter in French to say that he wanted to assure us that our role in this historic event would be acknowledged and that we would be actively involved.

I hope the Minister's word will be borne out, because I would be truly insulted if I were not able to participate in events around the Torch Relay in my hometown.

[Jacques Gauthier]

Do not be concerned, the whole purpose is to involve the communities in these events. We all have that common goal. That is at the very heart of this 100-day celebration.

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

Otherwise, there will be some explaining to do, and possibly more.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have a minute and a half left, Mr. D'Amours.

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

I have that much time left? I usually don't have any left at all.

Mr. Gauthier, you were saying that the airports and security there are not within your purview. There is a problem there, however, and VANOC is the organizing committee. There are only a few weeks left before the Games begin. You say that signage will be in place between now and then, but time is marching on, and before we know it, the Games will have begun.

What can you do to ensure there won't be problems at the airports, in terms of services? It is easy to say that someone else is at fault, instead of asking oneself what can be done. We know people who have a real talent for that.

How can you guarantee that these services will be available, so that we will not realize, once the Games are all over, that things did not really unfold as planned?

[Jacques Gauthier]

To begin with, we began discussions on this several months ago; there is no surprise there. We want the Toronto and Vancouver airports to be in a position to provide adequate bilingual services, and there is no reluctance on their part either. So we are reassured by that spirit of cooperation and the commitments made thus far are reassuring.

To be honest, what we must do now is remain vigilant and ensure that in the months of December and January, in particular, the appropriate identification is put in place, as required. At this time, I have no reason to doubt the good faith of the federal agencies involved.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. D'Amours.

We move now to Mr. Gravelle.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

I have a question about the Paralympic Games. Will athletes and tourists attending the Paralympic Games have access to the same bilingual services?

[Jacques Gauthier]

The answer is yes.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Earlier, you were talking about RDS and RDI--

[Jacques Gauthier]

RDS.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

RDS will be broadcasting the Olympics. I can assure you, though, that the RDS network in Northern Ontario is not very extensive. Will Francophones in Northern Ontario be able to receive the Olympic coverage on another French-language channel?

[Jacques Gauthier]

When Mr. Frappier appeared before this Committee, he assured you that agreements had been reached with the different Canadian cable operators, including in Ontario, to provide access to the French feed. I cannot give you details in that regard. I am sure you will agree that I am not the right person to answer that particular question. However, I was personally guaranteed that services would be available everywhere.

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

The Commissioner's sixth recommendation says: “The Commissioner recommends that VANOC revise its communication practices as quickly as possible so that they comply with the requirements of Annex A of the Multiparty Agreement; this refers in particular to unforeseen situations and emergencies, all information made available to journalists on Info 2010, and all athlete biographies and updates”.

Has that been done?

[Francine Bolduc]

That is part of what we are currently defining, particularly the requirements Mr. Gauthier referred to—requirements that have not necessarily been clearly identified. That has been established and it is what we are currently working on, in order to put in place the appropriate translation services with the government team.