Evidence of meeting #39 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vancouver.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
On December 3.
That being said, we will now move on to Mr. Nadeau.
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
Mr. Chairman, I will be there.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, ladies and gentleman.
I was in Vancouver during the week of October 14 to meet with one of your major partners in order to follow up, in light of the September report issued by the Commissioner of Official Languages, Mr. Fraser. My questions to you are intended to reassure us that we will not discover, once the Games are all over, that there were gaps here and there.
You said that you have taken certain steps. That is good news; it had to be done. Yours is an important and monumental task; these are global Games. The fact remains that we had seven years advance notice of the fact that the Games would be held in Vancouver.
One of my concerns is the Cultural Olympiad. We were told, as of October 14, 2009, that not many Francophone vocal artists had been invited to participate. It's great to have visual artists and dancers involved, but there also have to be artists there who can sing in French or perform recitations, depending on their art form. There should be as many Francophones from British Columbia and Alberta as Acadians or Quebeckers.
Could you forward the list of artists to us as quickly as possible? Also, I would like to know which French-speaking artists will be taking part in the activities referred to earlier by Ms. Wilson.
Executive Vice-President, Workforce and Sustainability, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
Monsieur, what I certainly can say about the cultural Olympiad 2010 is that 25% of the Olympiad is francophone artists of various types.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Ms. Wilson, I only have five minutes for both my questions and the answers. Do you have the list with you today of the Franco-British Columbian or Franco-Albertan artists who will be participating?
Executive Vice-President, Workforce and Sustainability, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
I don't have the list with me today. It's on our website. But we can certainly get you that list of artists. It's on our website, though.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Fine, thank you. My understanding is that an effort has been made to ensure there will be a Francophone presence from Western Canada, the Pacific region.
One other thing worries me. Richmond is one of the Olympic cities. And yet, on October 14 at 11:45 p.m., I found out that the Richmond City Council had yet to decide whether there would be signage in French in that city. You say you have the power of persuasion, but to be perfectly frank, I am not terribly impressed with that power. During the Olympic Games, will signage be in both French and English in Richmond, British Columbia?
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
First of all, your colleague pointed to the power of our conviction, but we are not saying we have unlimited powers. It is important to understand what VANOC's role is.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
I want to know whether there will be signage in French in Richmond.
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
At the present time, there are ongoing discussions between the Municipality of Richmond, the federal government and VANOC in order for bilingual signage to be available as soon as possible; however, I should add--
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Correct me if I am wrong, but even though you are making an effort, the City of Richmond does not appear to be on side.
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
I should add, however--
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
I am sorry, Mr. Gauthier, but there are other points I would like to address and I only have five minutes.
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
I simply want to add that signage will be bilingual during the Games. Rest assured that that will be the case.
Bloc
Richard Nadeau Bloc Gatineau, QC
Sorry, but I only have five minutes.
I would also like to talk about the 3,500 bilingual volunteers. It is commendable that you have made an effort in that regard. I know that 60,000 people applied, that you preselected 25,000 and that only 3,500 made the final cut.
In terms of bilingualism, will it amount to more than “bonjour” or are we really talking about bilingualism? Will I be able to have a conversation with someone working at the Games if I am a spectator or am in one of the Olympic cities?
Director, Official Languages, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
When we selected the 3,500 bilingual volunteers, we made sure they would at the very least be able to carry on a conversation in French, and hopefully have an even higher level of proficiency. So, these individuals will be able to say much more than just “bonjour, voici la direction pour tel site”. That is absolutely clear.
Conservative
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Gauthier, Ms. Wilson and Ms. Bolduc, thank you for meeting with us once again. Welcome to the Committee.
To hear you tell it, there has been a great deal of progress. But although there has been progress, there is still more that needs to be made. This is what I would like to know: what progress has been made with respect to television broadcasting of the Games in both official languages all across the country where Canadians live?
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
As you know, the President of RDS appeared before your Committee. Separate agreements have been signed with cable companies across Canada with a view to providing television coverage in French which is different from CTV's English-language feed.
As I mentioned a little earlier, we are talking about more than 850 hours of live television programming in French during the Games on a variety of channels, but always using the RDS platform, since RDS will be producing the French-language coverage. That is a highly satisfactory solution, since all of Canada will be covered.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I would like to quickly tell you a little story. Last weekend, I was in Prince George, British Columbia. I was in my hotel room and wanted to watch the arrival of the Olympic torch on television. It was on every channel, but I was only able to watch it in English. The only French-language television station available was Radio-Canada. There was absolutely nothing being broadcast with respect to the arrival of the Olympic Flame. So, I had no choice but to watch it on the English channels. I took the time to call my office, back in Ottawa, to find out what was on RDI. There were only the speeches, and you could still see the plane before the door opened. So, thanks a lot for service in French here in Canada.
Chair, Official Languages Advisory Committee, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
As I mentioned, we are talking about the Games; we are not talking about the Torch Relay. The agreements we referred to were signed for television coverage of the Games.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
I guess that means that Francophones were not important enough to be shown the arrival of the Olympic Flame.
