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.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
We also have translators in the regions.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Unfortunately, I don't have the numbers with me.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yes, of course.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Do you intend to hire more translators owing to the complaints that have been received?
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
That's something that will be up to the regions to decide. We will have to ensure that we're meeting the requirements. We will do whatever is necessary to do so. If that means hiring translators, we will find a way to hire some. Translators from the regions have been helping out to ensure that we don't end up with a similar situation on our hands.
December 2nd, 2010 / 9:25 a.m.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Am I to understand that you remain unconvinced that there is a problem?
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
There most certainly is a problem.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
However, if I look at the document that has been provided to us, your need for qualified staff is clear to me.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yes. We will do what's necessary to ensure that the problem is fixed.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Great.
Earlier, Mr. Rickford asked what specific steps you will take. I'm not sure I understood exactly what steps you intend to take. Could you be a little more specific?
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Do you mean exact steps regarding translation?
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
We will meet our obligations. During our meetings, one of the measures that was implemented immediately was to use...
As a show of solidarity, the regions have offered the services of their translators. To date, one of the proposed solutions has been adopted, that is, having British Columbia use translators from other regions for its translations. Another solution that has been adopted is getting help from the Translation Bureau of the Public Works and Government Services Department.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yes. We are increasingly encouraging the use of Public Works services. As I said, the regions are sharing their translators. Job competitions have also been posted in British Columbia. We will certainly continue investing efforts into becoming compliant.
Conservative
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would regret it if I didn't share a little anecdote about one of my experiences, not in British Columbia, but at home.
Not even five years ago, I was in Saint-Jérôme—I have been an MP for that region for 17 years—and I was sent an RCMP officer to accompany me to the Remembrance Day ceremony. He did not speak a word of French. In a town like Saint-Jérôme, that's a rather rare occurrence, since 99.6% of its population is francophone. The RCMP officer didn't know why he had been sent there. Fortunately, I spoke English. When I asked him where he was from, he simply said that he was from Ottawa, that he was sent to accompany me and that he had no idea what he was supposed to do.
Imagine the scope of the problem. It shows that, in Quebec, it's quite important to speak some French. He was fortunate to have someone there who could speak to him in his language, as he could not even say “yes” or “no” in French. He was very happy that I could tell him what he needed to do during the ceremony.
Regarding the situation in British Columbia, it's very worrisome. I really didn't get the impression that you have an action plan in place. As far as the translation engine goes, I know that people use it. I often see my children doing their university homework with the help of the Internet and using Google, but they do correct the translation mistakes afterwards. It's faster that way, but they realize that the system is not intelligent and that they cannot use the translations as they are.
The fact that you use this tool is almost disgraceful. There are people who specialize in translation, and their services should continue to be used. If you don't have any professional translators, make cuts elsewhere and hire some because it's important, not only in British Columbia, but everywhere. The Official Languages Act was passed 40 years ago, and we still have serious problems with your agency. This is a serious problem. It's recurring constantly, so it's become redundant. We don't exactly get the impression that the RCMP is willing to truly abide by the provisions of the Official Languages Act.
The Official Languages Commissioner, Mr. Graham Fraser, maintained that Canadians shouldn't have to resort to machine translation. That's fairly harsh condemnation. I believe that you have a lot of work to do in this area, and the blame cannot be placed on a single person.
Because of the magnitude of the reaction, you're telling us that you will do something. However, there have been many reactions. We receive complaints regularly. There are also many people who don't dare speak up.
So, I would like you to give us a real action plan and not just some bits and pieces. We want to see a real action plan, a budget. If you don't have enough money in the budget, you need to tell us, so that we can look into what can be done. You have a budget and you can balance it. For instance, when I know that I need more money in a certain area, I balance my budget accordingly. Official languages, including French, should be among your priorities, which is currently not the case.
I would like to hear what you have to say about this, and I want concrete statements, please.
A/Commr Daniel Dubeau
The official languages issue has always been a priority for the RCMP. Regarding Google, as soon as we learned that this translation engine was being used, as you said, we immediately reacted to rectify the situation.
We explained to our people that using Google Translate was unacceptable. We will draft our action plan. Yesterday, we began identifying the needs. We tried to call upon translators. That was insufficient. That's why, yesterday, after receiving calls, the commanding officer said that this approach is inadequate and that the next step will consist in ensuring that we have in-house translators.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
What are you going to do to make your officers aware of the importance of learning both official languages and of providing the service to someone who speaks only one of the two languages?
We know we are talking about French in British Columbia. It is clear.
Director of Official Languages, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
At the Official Languages Branch, we have implemented measures to address the issue, including an awareness campaign. Our network of regional coordinators makes efforts to raise awareness among the officers and all RCMP staff.
Bloc
Conservative
