Evidence of meeting #35 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rcmp.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:35 a.m.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
No, it is not a general requirement.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
At the outset, I am going to say that I agree with Mr. Rickford. I feel that the RCMP is doing a great job and they are true Canadian heroes. But, as Mr. Rickford suggested, this does not mean that I cannot question some things, especially since I feel that we are faced with a rather serious situation.
This is not working very well. It is working very badly. What would it take to rectify the situation within 60 days?
9:35 a.m.
A/Commr Daniel Dubeau
To rectify the situation, the commander made a comment yesterday. I wasn't there, but my colleague can perhaps tell us about his discussion with the commander.
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Supt Tim Cogan
The commanding officer was very clear: we must comply with the Official Languages Act 100%.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Will that cost anything? What resources will be needed to correct the situation quickly?
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Supt Tim Cogan
It will take a prioritization of resources to make this a priority, absolutely.
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Conservative
9:35 a.m.
Supt Tim Cogan
Absolutely.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Okay.
Can you say to us, the committee, that in 60 days, if you come to see us, we're going to have everything rectified?
9:35 a.m.
Supt Tim Cogan
With respect to our public communications through the website, which is the problem here, yes, we will.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
So if I go on your website in 60 days, it's going to be completely bilingual?
9:35 a.m.
Supt Tim Cogan
It is for the most part. Every divisional site right now is compliant with static information. The area in which we are running into trouble in E Division, in British Columbia, is with the posting of news releases. What we have said to them is, you will not post a news release unless it can be posted in a bilingual fashion simultaneously, and the CO has endorsed that 100%.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Okay.
Just for background information, how many personnel would you have in British Columbia?
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A/Commr Daniel Dubeau
I would say maybe 6,000 employees in total.
December 2nd, 2010 / 9:35 a.m.
Inspector Marc Richer Director of RCMP Media Relations and Issues Management, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Counting all employees, it's about 9,600.
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Supt Tim Cogan
Yes, I was going to say close to 10,000.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Okay.
There's a certain segment of that population that is bilingual, I'm assuming?
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Supt Tim Cogan
Of the membership, there is, yes.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
9:35 a.m.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
You want to know the percentage of bilingual people in the Pacific region?
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Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Of 95 employees in bilingual positions in the Pacific region, 76, or 80%, fulfill their obligations.
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Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
We continue to grow..., to put measures in place, like language training, in order to improve their profile.
