Evidence of meeting #46 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 olympic.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:45 a.m.
Liberal
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Chong Conservative Wellington—Halton Hills, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Fraser.
I think the fundamental problem we're facing here is quite simply the fact that the games are taking place in a province where only 7.3% of the population is francophone or has knowledge of French. This is something that obviously contributes hugely, if not entirely, to the problem that VANOC is facing.
In the Vancouver Airport Authorities submission to you, as you've summarized it, they note that:
As a locally-based organization in a province where only 7.3% of the population has knowledge of French and English, the pool of Francophones and French-speakers for Vancouver Airport Authority to draw on is limited.
Clearly this is the root cause, and I think it speaks to the fact that our education system once again is not producing the graduates or the personnel we need to staff not only federal institutions but events such as VANOC 2010.
I know from past research that the number two language group in British Columbia is Chinese. It's also important to point out, before we blame newcomers to Canada for a lack of knowledge of the second language, that a recent article noted that in the Vancouver Lower Mainland it's Canadians of Chinese descent, Chinese immigrants, who are sustaining the French language. There was an interview with Erica Tao, the president of Alliance française in Vancouver. She noted that 80% of all the students who enrol in Alliance française courses are Canadians of Chinese descent, which far exceeds their proportion of the population.
Obviously Canada is changing quickly. It's interesting to note that newcomers to this country are picking up French as a second language more quickly than those who have been here for some time. Once again, I think it points to the fact that our education system is not producing the kinds of graduates we need. Indeed, if students are being forced to go to Alliance française to learn French, it's indicative that the public school system is not filling that need.
I want to ask you one broad question. What can our government do in the short time that remains before the commencement of the games? We are facing a situation where we have to treat the symptoms rather than the underlying problem, which is a lack of francophones and bilingual persons in British Columbia. In the short time that remains, perhaps we can better address some of the symptoms you've identified in your report to our committee. What can we do?
The Senate committee recommended that the Privy Council Office intervene to ensure that the games are fully bilingual. What can we do as a government, beyond what we've already done, to ensure that these games are fully bilingual?
9:50 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
I think one of the important things for the federal government and for federal institutions to do is to fill the gaps. There is a whole series of federal spaces--whether they are at airports, whether they are at post offices, whether they are at borders--where information can be offered in both languages. Whether that information is offered through interactive screens, through posters, through banners, through folders, it has to be offered in ways in which information can be made available. It's a stop-gap measure, it is a band-aid for a symptom, as opposed to a fundamental solution to the problems that you've identified, which I think speak to the education system.
There are a number of federal institutions that have responded in that kind of way. Canada Post is distributing bilingual leaflets to hotel lobbies to inform people at hotels where they can get bilingual service in nearby post offices. That is an approach that I hope other government institutions would use, not only to go to where their spaces are but also to go to where the people are, which would be in their hotel lobbies.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Guay said that she would not want to be searched according to a menu numbered from 1 to 100. Air Canada has even tried putting photos in its menu. In late October, I pointed to the food I wanted to order, but the flight attendant still told me that “I don't speak French”. Numbers are all well and good, but a picture should be enough, what with it being worth 1,000 words. There was a picture of my sandwich, and I pointed to it saying that that was the one I wanted, and she still did not understand. I say it is a lack of will. People can come up with all the excuses in the world.
Marie-France Kenny, who is the president of the FCFA, said that her organization recognized that the act was created 40 years ago, but people were still not very comfortable with it. We have still not made it to where we should be. There is a lack of respect toward our official languages. Nevertheless, people can come up with all the excuses in the world. For example, an organization might claim that it has no bilingual staff. But there are no excuses for the Vancouver airport officials when they come and tell us that their website is not translated. The same applies to Toronto, but their excuse is that things are just as bad in English as they are in French. That was an even more farfetched excuse in their defence. People who will be coming to Canada and want to consult the website, which they are now doing, will notice that there are no services in French at the Toronto airport.
I would like to know your thoughts about that and what you intend to do. This is not just for the short term, for the Olympic Games, it is also for the long term. If they are violating the law, it is because the government has tolerated their actions for all these years. It is not only up to the Commissioner of Official Languages to do his work, the government also has responsibilities. Parliament has passed legislation that should be upheld.
When you look at the posters in British Columbia and consult Tourism B.C., which has six websites, you find an absence of French. Our work is not done, we are not out of the woods yet.
Madam Chair, I would suggest that we call the RCMP to the Standing Committee on Official Languages in January, at the earliest possible date. The RCMP is one of the organizations that has yet to appear. That is disappointing; I find that regrettable.
I would like to hear your views, Commissioner, on the comments I have just made.
9:55 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
First, Madam Chair, I fully understand the member's frustration with regard to an order that should have been easily understandable, even for someone who did not study at the University of Moncton, the University of Montreal or at the Sorbonne. I know a Franco-Ontarian who, when on his way through Ottawa, ordered a meal at a restaurant's drive-through window and said: “J'aimerais avoir un Big Mac et un Coke”. He was told: “I'm sorry, I don't speak French”.
9:55 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
That, to me, appears to be resistance. As for the other shortcomings mentioned by the member, they have been corrected. To my knowledge, changes were made to the Tourism BC website in response to the member's intervention. I fully agree that it is unacceptable that the institutions with the legal obligations do not offer services in both official languages on their website, especially since the technology allows them to call on someone from outside their area to organize their website. Francophone associations in western Canada often do business with translators in Quebec. That is all done by electronic means. The original version is sent to the translator, who does the work and sends it back to the organization. The translator does not have to be on site, within the organization's offices.
I think that technology frees us from such problems as those mentioned by Mr. Chong. The institutions should have the know-how to use the technology in order to overcome some of those problems.
10 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Lise Zarac
Thank you, Mr. Fraser.
Thank you, Mr. Godin.
We will begin our third round with Mr. Rodriguez.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
You have twice succeeded in talking about your book Sorry, I Don't Speak French. You will be selling more copies. That said, it is an excellent book.
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Madam Chair, I was quoting someone else.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Yes, but at the same time, it is the title of your book, which is excellent.
One of the challenges is finding bilingual volunteers. Are organizers calling on the francophone associations in New Brunswick? Have they struck a partnership in that regard?
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
There have been discussions with the Government of New Brunswick from the outset. I think that a number of volunteers hail from New Brunswick. However, the problem is that volunteers must cover their own transportation and accommodation costs.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Are the organizers working with the local francophone groups, including the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique?
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Very well.
Where are things at with the websites? There was a problem with Tourism BC's website. Has it been resolved? And what about the problems found with other sites?
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
I did not check recently, but I have been told that the problems were corrected.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
We have seen that corrective measures have been taken by some official bodies. However, when we tried clicking on links that are directly associated to the Olympic Games, we found that things were not operational.
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
The challenge with regard to websites is that, even though many portals give access to information in French, you very quickly land on the sites of other institutions that do not have any language obligations and do not think in terms of linguistic duality. It is in the nature of the World Wide Web that you can pass very quickly from one website to another, without necessarily checking on whose page you are and who is responsible for the site.
Yes, Tourism BC has made corrections, but you can move from its website to that of a hotel, municipality or regional, municipal or provincial park that does not have linguistic obligations.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Approximately one week to 10 days ago, I heard the mayor of Whistler say that his municipality had not received the necessary funds to pay for all the bilingual Olympic signage. Do you think that can be resolved in the short term?
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
I thought that discussions had been held between VANOC and the municipalities of Whistler and Vancouver. Indeed, Whistler has made considerable progress. The mayor of Whistler himself speaks fluent French so—
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
The city did not have the funds to do it, but you are confident that Whistler and the other cities will have the funds needed for signage.
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
They will, yes. Thanks to the funding announced by the government last September, I have been assured that there will be no problem with respect to signage in Whistler.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
We have not mentioned the issue of bilingual broadcasting of the games throughout the country; where do things stand on that?
10 a.m.
Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
The consortium has worked very hard in the negotiations with cable distributors. I have been made aware recently of an impediment for Shaw, the cable distributor. I have the impression that the current conflict between broadcasters, networks and cable distributors is not advancing the discussion on the broadcasting of the games.