Official Languages Committee on Dec. 1st, 2009

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

Okay.

[Paul Levy]

But there are many others, including the agencies, the car rentals, and the airlines. All of them have a responsibility because they ultimately touch the passenger--

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

You have no control over those people; by that I mean in no way are you requiring them to meet certain official languages commitments. There is a considerable deficiency. There's a risk we'll have a serious problem in that regard in particular.

We can meet in this committee after the games and tell each other everything that didn't work. However, we would like to meet before the games, to work with you so that it works, even though there's little time left. That's our choice. Afterwards, we'll bawl out the government, it will bawl us out, everyone will bawl each other out, but that will result in absolutely nothing. Changes must be made immediately.

Do you need more money or services from the government for training? Can we do something to change this?

[Paul Levy]

I'm confident. We will continue to work with all of the business partners. We have to reach out to the francophone community and the school board to bring in additional resources.

We have a plan in place to assist those organizations around the airport that may not have the language capability. We'll continue to remind them of their obligation, but we will assist them and provide staff who can go there to provide translation services.

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

I'm not very reassured, Mr. Levy.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez.

Mr. Petit, you have five minutes.

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

Good morning, madam and gentlemen.

Vancouver Airport is the second largest airport in Canada, after that of Toronto. So it's really a big airport at all times, not just during the Olympic or Paralympic Games. I understand that you're trying to make efforts. We realize that. We're not saying that you aren't making any efforts; we're trying to understand those you are making. Don't forget that, after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they will attack us and tell us that you didn't do your job. I don't want to be following behind you. Today it's important that we understand each other clearly. We want this to be done. I want that. I'm a francophone, and I want this to be done. Money was handed over so that you could work toward success. However, the answers you're giving us scare me. I don't find this amusing at all.

Ms. Moore, we haven't heard a lot from you. It's true that you were hired only four weeks ago. I would like to know whether you believe in this or whether this is just a snow job. Do you really believe we'll be able to provide suitable service in French? Do you see the coming criticisms, before we've even started? What can you do?

[Danielle Moore]

Mr. Chairman, honourable members, I answered the question that was put to me. The fact is that I've been doing this job for a month. I've been an employee of the Vancouver Airport for 32 years. I moreover started when we were under the federal government's responsibility. I was responsible for official languages programs for a number of years.

The reason I've been doing this job for a month, as Mr. Levy mentioned, is that we have a number of employees who have been working on it for a number of years. Official languages are part of our day-to-day work. I became a full-time but supplementary employee, and I must ensure that all the work that has been done is well coordinated. I admit that I spend part of my time working with my colleagues from Toronto, Ottawa and the Canada Border Services Agency. That has been my main job in recent months. I ensure that all the efforts that have been made are coordinated. I've had a lot of meetings with the airport's employees and companies. I hope that, if you went to our airport today, you definitely wouldn't hear “I don't speak French” at the information counter.

People have started to say “Hello, bonjour.” In case people forget, as the Ottawa airport people mentioned, the identification panels will be at all counters. We're working with the airlines and the franchisees, so that they also have at least one visual offer. I don't want to waste your time by explaining the percentages to you again, but if the person on site doesn't speak French, we also have an immediate telephone interpreter system. People who say bonjour will have direct assistance in French. We adopted the Lunch and Learn idea. I have a number of colleagues who, as you mentioned, are embarrassed because they think their French isn't good enough. However, it is good. I simply want to try to help them brush it up a bit and encourage them to speak French, to say bonjour. Many are simply embarrassed. So we're going to try to improve that aspect as well.

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

Ms. Moore, I repeat to you that your airport is the second largest in the country, after that of Toronto. You seem to be saying, and I'm relying on you because you are before the committee, that what you see seems to make sense. We'll see whether it does afterwards, but I'm relying on you. You've been there for 32 years, so you're able to see the difference.

What will remain afterwards? Will everything you're saying stay in place after the Olympic Games?

[Danielle Moore]

As regards the work we're doing now, you're right; there have been difficulties. Some companies are not doing what we would like them to do.

I'm a francophone like you. When I talk to them, I talk to them from the heart. I can explain to them why French is important in Canada. I hope the work we're doing today for the Olympic Games, which, as you say, will only last two weeks, will continue after the Olympic Games. With some of my colleagues, I see people who realize that it's going to continue after the Olympic Games. That's a large part of what I do. I'm working solely based on the Olympic Games; I want those people to continue, to realize their responsibility and the fact that this makes a lot of sense.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Lennox, you let it slip that English-speaking Quebeckers are having problems in Quebec. There is an excellent document that you should read: the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages. On page 93, it states that one in two employees at Montreal airport actually offers bilingual service actively, or 47%. In Toronto, the percentage is 2.7%: one employee out of 33, or out of 50, offer bilingual service actively. So don't compare the situation of Franco-Ontarians with that of English-speaking Quebeckers because you aren't really in your field. You should stick to making Toronto a place where every francophone, Canadian or Quebecker, can feel comfortable going and receiving service in French.

In Vancouver, Ms. Moore, I would like you to know that the percentage, according to the report of the Commissioner of Official Languages, is 0.0%. You don't need a doctorate to actively offer bilingual service; it's “Hello, bonjour.” You're telling me that people have been doing that for some time, that they have learned. It's about time. So much the better; it's improving. However, I hope that you refer them to people who speak French.

At Ottawa Airport in October, I was asked, “Don't you speak any English?” That was CATSA, I admit, but nevertheless there was the old triangle stating “English/Français”. There were young people there, a man and a woman, and another, and they called the security officers. And yet it wasn't complicated. It isn't true that I was taking an extra step if I didn't get service in French: it's a right. So we still have to fight, with boxing gloves on. You experienced the situation as a Franco-Columbian, so you know. I've lived in Saskatchewan. I'm originally Franco-Ontarian, and, as a Quebecker, I still have the same job to do. There's nothing official. Institutions like yours should be allies. It's too bad, but I don't sense that.

Ladies and gentlemen from the airports, you have the long end of the stick. When a passenger arrives at your airport, you can deny him access to his flight, you can search him, and rightly so. The law is on your side and, in view of all the paranoia that there can be internationally, as though we were all bad guys, from the outset, before boarding an aircraft, you can do a lot of things. If you also put pressure on francophones, if we don't even feel at home in an airport and get the impression that the trip is starting there, you see all the difficulty involved in the situation. And that comes as much from the security people as from franchisees, once you're in the aircraft, or when announcements are made in French, or not, depending on the approach.

Telling us that a lot of new Canadians who were born elsewhere are working in Canada and don't understand French isn't a good answer. Active offer is simple. You just have to be able to say, “Hello, bonjour” and, if passengers want to be served in French, to refer them to a person who speaks French. This has to be an automatic reflex.

Going back to what Mr. Petit said, it's not true that we're going to single people out. However, we are going to criticize the situation, as we're doing now. Ms. Moore, you've occupied this specific position for four weeks. Although you've given the airport excellent service for 32 years, the fact nevertheless remains that this entire situation should have been resolved 300 weeks ago, as soon as the Olympic Games were awarded.

These are not good answers, when you tell us that English-speaking Quebeckers are suffering, that everything is being done and that you have been thinking about this for four weeks, or that it isn't your fault that new Canadians have arrived at Ottawa Airport. There is an act; there are rights. Make your recommendations to the federal government to get more money to train your staff. Do it. Come and see us; we'll work with you. The Official Languages Act has been around for 40 years. Assimilation has been going on in Canada since perhaps 1763, if you want to specify a date. So you have to come here with proactive measures and not tell us that you're in a bad way, stuck. It is your responsibility to be highly critical with us parliamentarians, and to tell us that what you need for the act to be complied with.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

You were just nine seconds under the limit, Mr. Nadeau.

[Richard Nadeau, Bloc, Gatineau, QC]

I'm happy about that, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Steven Blaney]

We are going to begin the fourth and final round, but first I would like to point out that, if short-term measures are planned to improve service in French in the airports, committee members will definitely be interested in learning about them.

Ms. Glover.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to welcome all the witnesses here today.

It was Mr. Benoit, I believe, who talked about the reality we're dealing with here in Canada. I have been a member of this committee for one year. We looked at postsecondary education and determined that it was hard to find bilingual employees in Canada. There are 5,000 positions to be filled even in the federal public service. All committee members have understood, through listening to the witnesses, that the reality in Canada is as follows: there aren't enough people who speak both official languages.

Thank you, Mr. Benoit. I want to focus on the reality of the situation. You have 26,000 employees and you have to find bilingual staff. That's really a tough job. Imagine: we can't even find enough to fill 5,000 positions in the public service.

As I like statistics, I would like to know what you have done, in concrete terms, over the past year. I would like you all to tell me how many employees and volunteers you have found in the past year, how many you have now and how many you'll have once the Olympic and Paralympic Games have begun.

[Toby Lennox]

As I explained earlier, Pearson International Airport is slightly different from Vancouver. Because we staff to handle 100,000 to 110,000 passengers a day, the increased traffic we're going to experience during the Olympics will not require us to staff up. In fact, we're not adding any staff. We don't have any volunteers, nor do we have any requirement for them. Our staffing levels are such that, as I say, 75% of our front line staff is bilingual.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

If you're just going to repeat the stats--

[Toby Lennox]

I'm sorry.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I only have five minutes.

The problem I have with that, sir, is that we have had VANOC here several times saying that Toronto is going to have more volunteers.

[Toby Lennox]

That's right. We will. No, well--

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

That's what we've been told: that you will have more in both areas.

[Toby Lennox]

No, I'm sorry to correct that, but on a busiest day during March break we will have 110,000 passengers, and we don't add any staff for that. We anticipate, based on the traffic that's coming through Pearson airport, that we could be up to 100,000. All of those are connecting passengers, so we won't be... It's a very different situation for us.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Okay. I'm going to go to the next ones, but I'm disappointed to hear that because I think we got some conflicting messages from VANOC. Because Toronto will be a major player--

[Toby Lennox]

Oh, there's no question about it. Fifty per cent of the traffic... But just understand that relatively speaking it actually won't be that much different from what we handle on a busy day. We're staffed up to do it.