Official Languages Committee on Nov. 19th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

No, a screening point can have as many as six lines, which have four employees each.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

They'd better not go to the washroom!

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Mrs. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Good morning. This is very interesting, particularly since things are going very quickly for the Olympic Games. In light of what you've just told me, I hope no one will be rushed because that won't be any fun.

I'm a bit surprised that there is only one bilingual person per screening line. This is 2009 and everybody on the Standing Committee on Official Languages thinks it's very important that more than adequate service be offered in both official languages. It always surprises me to see that it is so difficult to find perfectly bilingual people in 2009. That being said, I know that everyone here is working very hard for service in French, when we talk about official languages. We often find it hard to get a response in French at certain airports.

We often talk about small airports that have less than one million passengers. I know that your agency recently conducted a survey to assess demand in both official languages at 71 small airports.

Can you give me any information on that survey? What changes do you intend to make in response to the results of that survey, especially at remote small airports? Often a “oui” and “non” are fine. However, when you ask for a coffee, they don't know that coffee and “café” are the same thing.

[Yves Duguay]

No, I'm not aware of that study. I can only tell you that 38 airports are identified. At least nine airports have traffic greater than one million passengers and bilingual services are required there. In the other cases, these are airports where there's less passenger traffic but where the offer of bilingual service is equal to or greater than 5%. I couldn't tell you where that study comes from or what the findings were, but I know that we have 38 airports designated under the Official Languages Act.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

In that case, I'll ask you another question. For you, how important is it for there to be bilingual officers at all security posts? Do you pay less attention and do you assign fewer resources to regions that aren't considered bilingual?

[Yves Duguay]

For us, active offer is part of the total approach to customer service. When we meet the screening officers, the contractors, we always tell them that, for people who are travelling through airports today, it's quite a stressful experience. One of the best ways to welcome a customer—because you're all being paid to be screened—is to say “Hello, Bonjour” with a smile. That relieves a little of the tension that may exist, particularly in the biggest airports. To my mind, active offer is important because it's not only an obligation, it's also a very good approach to customer service.

Do we focus more particularly on regions where we have to provide the service? Definitely. Do we have bilingual officers at other airports? Yes, but as I was telling you, our contracts are up for review right now. We're working on a call for tenders for 2010. The minimum requirements we referred to earlier, that is to say one bilingual employee per screening post, will be changed because that no longer bears any relation to the actual air traffic situation we're facing today.

I would like to change the contracts sooner, but processes have to be followed. I can guarantee you that, in the next call for tenders, the language requirements will be increased in the contracts.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

So, if it's not one bilingual employee per screening point, how many will it be?

[Yves Duguay]

We still have to establish the ratio per line, and I wouldn't want to speak too soon on that until I've had the chance to discuss it with my colleagues.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

All right. You'd make a good politician: you're skating!

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I have another question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You have 30 seconds left.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

It's over, only 30 seconds?

In the so-called orphan regions, is it possible to get service in both official languages at the small airports, on the Magdalen Islands, for example?

[Yves Duguay]

In the Magdalen Islands, I believe you have no problem getting service in French.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

I can tell you that I've had trouble, just asking for a coffee. In fact, it wasn't me; it was someone who was with me who politely ordered a coffee and who was told: “I don't speak French.”

[Yves Duguay]

We don't offer coffee service at the screening points; that might be someone else.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

No, but that was nevertheless on the Magdalen Islands. At the screening point, sometimes they don't even ask us any questions.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Ms. Boucher.

The members are in a good mood this morning. The fact nevertheless remains that we're advancing and we're moving forward. We'll go to our second round.

Mr. D'Amours, go ahead please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you for appearing before us, Mr. Duguay.

You talked about the requirement. I hope that when you're invited back to appear before the Standing Committee on Official Languages, you won't tell us you've increased the requirement from one bilingual employee to two. Once we've finished today, if there is one message that you should retain, it is that it's important to improve that.

You said we were paying for it. However, if I'm paying for it, as a New Brunswicker, why can't I get the service? You said so yourself. According to the requirement, the figure of 3.33% corresponds to one bilingual employee for 30 people. A little earlier, the jokes about the washrooms were all well and good, about whether a person goes to the washroom... That's nevertheless the reality. How do two francophones who arrive at the same time get served? You can wonder. Your corporation is a Crown corporation. At some point, you have to take this subject seriously. I also have to mention certain things today.

First, you say you're going to reassign employees from various places elsewhere. What will happen in those places? There's going to be a shortage of staff and no service will be offered in French there. The current situation with regard to this system is such that, if you do that, if you are compelled to make those statements, it's because you've been unable to meet the minimum requirements and to offer service.

I'm going to go a little further. I know this is going to make Mrs. Boucher smile. We wanted to refer to this earlier. This concerns an experience I had with Air Canada Jazz. It's a simple story. It was written on the door: “Do not smoke in the lavatory.” In French, it was written: “Ne pas fumer les toilettes.” After repeating that, I finally received a letter from Jazz telling me that they were doing a complete check of all their aircraft.

Today, I'm going to repeat what happened to me in Winnipeg. By repeating it, perhaps we'll ultimately get some service. I was lining up at the counter in Winnipeg, where there was a nice little sign stating: “Bilingual.” I've always spoken French and yet I've always been answered in English. As if by chance, I was the lucky one who had to undergo a manual search. It was quite limited because I kept my clothes on. When I was on a small carpet, I was told to raise my arms, and so on. The gentleman started speaking to me in English. I answered that I was sorry but that I wanted service in French. At that stage, anyone wants to ensure he understands what's being done to him or said to him; you don't want to get into trouble. This caused a whole drama: they had to go find a little gentleman who could come and speak to me. You've no doubt already heard about my story. I hope so. If not, someone hasn't reported the facts, because I've told it here at least 10 times. That gentleman then asked me if I wanted a “massage”!

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Based on your 3.33% figure, Mr. Duguay, of all the employees you represent, whether they are contractors or not, it was that person in particular who was supposed to be bilingual. Do you find that acceptable? Based on your 3.33%—one in 25 or 30 employees—that was the service I was given. Do you think that's bilingual service? I paid for that service.

[Yves Duguay]

May I comment on the first part of your question?