Official Languages Committee on March 8th, 2012

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Yvon Godin]

Order, please. Today I am chairing the 30^th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages on this Thursday, March 8, 2012. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f), we are continuing the study on the evaluation of the Roadmap: improving programs and service delivery.

This morning we have witnesses from the National Research Council Canada and representatives of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions and of Western Economic Diversification Canada. Each group of witnesses will have 10 minutes to make its presentation. Then we will move on to a period of questions, which will be asked in turn by committee members representing the political parties.

We will begin with Danial Wayner, Vice-President, Frontier Science, National Research Council Canada. He is here with Charles-Antoine Gauthier, Acting Director of Research Programs.

[Dr. Danial Wayner, Vice-President, Frontier Science, National Research Council Canada]

Mr. Chair, thank you for inviting the National Research Council to appear before the committee today. My colleague, Charles-Antoine Gauthier, and I are pleased to provide you with a report on NRC's initiative related to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.

With your permission, I'd like to start by telling you about the National Research Council Canada. As a research and technology organization, NRC is providing strategic research, as well as scientific and technical services to develop and deploy solutions to meet Canada's current and future industrial and societal needs. NRC has a mandate to undertake, assist or promote scientific and industrial research in different fields of importance to Canada. We do this by leveraging our talent and world-class facilities that reside across the country to create further value and wealth for Canada and to help raise the nation's level of innovation performance.

Now, more specifically about NRC's initiative on our share of the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, let me begin by providing you with some background.

In March 2003, the federal government announced the action plan for official languages, known as APOL. The action plan identified the need for the language industries to invest in language technologies to compensate for the increasing shortage of the needed qualified workers. It also identified that language technology and translation industries lack the R and D capabilities and financial resources to make significant investments in the development of innovative language tools and technologies.

From April 2003 to March 2008, NRC received $10 million over five years from APOL to increase investments in research and development in language technologies. To deliver on these commitments, NRC created the new interactive language technologies group and participated in the establishment of the Language Technologies Research Centre, which I'll just refer to as the centre. It is housed on the campus of the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

The Language Technologies Research Centre was created in partnership with the Translation Bureau of Canada and the Université du Québec en Outaouais. The centre is a not-for-profit organization with the mandate to incubate and help small and medium-sized language technology firms obtain funding and other resources for internal R and D projects. The centre is now operational, and NRC played a key role in launching the R and D projects.

Through the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, NRC renewed its commitment to expend $10 million over five years, meaning about $2 million per year, in R and D to support the language industry.

The roadmap includes a horizontal results-based management and accountability framework managed by the Department of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Secretariat. As such, NRC reports annually on its expenditures on R&D activities in direct support of the roadmap, as well as on its progress against the performance measures.

NRC's investment was used to create and operate its R&D programs and specifically to respond to the needs of two types of clients that constitute two different segments of the broader language industry. These are language technology companies and the end users of language technologies.

Language technology companies are Canadian SMEs in the information and communication technology sector that can license the NRC technologies with the intention of developing commercial products that will be, in turn, offered to the end users.

End users include translation firms, freelance translators, as well as users of language technologies.

NRC used the majority of the funding to produce a machine translation technology called PORTAGE that actually works, meaning that it is clearly among the best products available in the world today. It is used at the Translation Bureau of Canada and at CLS Lexi-tech, the largest private sector translation bureau in Canada.

Funding was also used to produce a translation aid tool called WeBiText, which is licensed to a Montreal-based Canadian start-up company called Terminotix. While targeted at translators, WeBiText also allows anyone to find a translation for a term by looking through millions of pages of multilingual parallel text on the web. It is particularly effective on French to English and English to French because it has access to the vast number of bilingual web pages of the Government of Canada.

Over the last three years, NRC's interactive language technology group has developed or improved six core technologies and tools. The group has also filed for four patent applications to protect the intellectual property generated by these research projects, and they continue to increase the commercialization of innovative technologies.

NRC has met its immediate targets specified in the road map logic model and results structure of the horizontal results-based management and accountability framework, and that was to strengthen the capacity of the Canadian language industries through the transfer of its language technologies. The transfer of the PORTAGE machine translation system to the Translation Bureau of Canada and to CLS Lexi-Tech promises to reduce the cost of translations, and could significantly increase the capacity of the government and the private sector to work in both official languages.

NRC played a pivotal role that no other organization in Canada can play in support of language technology industries.

The presence in Canada of a strong language industry is an essential factor in preserving Canada's linguistic duality. Clearly NRC's contributions to language technologies were a key solution to maintaining the competitiveness of the Canadian language industry.

In conclusion, I would like to say that NRC is proud of its accomplishments in this initiative. Together with our partners, we have built a world-class team creating jobs and bringing value to the Canadian language industry by providing them with a global competitive edge. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you for your remarks, Mr. Wayner.

Now we will hear from the representatives of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.

[Jean-Pierre Lavoie, Director General, Policy, Research and Programs, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Chairman, committee members, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here today.

First, allow me to introduce my colleague, Gilles Pelletier, Director General of Regional Operations. During our appearance, we will place the implementation of the Official Languages Act in the Quebec context, we will discuss the mandate of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and we will focus on how we are meeting our obligations under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.

First a word about the linguistic situation in Quebec.

Unlike the situation in the other Canadian provinces and territories, Quebec anglophones constitute the official language minority community, commonly called an OLMC. Quebec's anglophone OLMC's represent 1 million persons. Of that number, 600,000 have English as their mother tongue, 400,000 are allophones, and approximately 30,000 are aboriginal.

There is a notable concentration of anglophones in Quebec: 80% of them live in the greater Montreal area. They have networks, institutions and a critical mass in their own community; 10% live in other large urban areas such as Gatineau, Quebec City and Sherbrooke; and the remaining 10% live in remote or isolated rural areas such as Gaspésie, the lower north shore and northern Quebec.

Many of Quebec's English-speaking communities are finding it difficult to achieve economic integration. Through its activities, the agency encourages the communities to get involved in their economic development.

Our agency's mission is to promote the long-term economic development of the Quebec regions, with special attention to economic low-growth regions and those that do not have enough productive employment opportunities. Our long-term objective is to ensure that Quebec's regions and communities increase their development capacity, vitality and prosperity in a significant and sustainable manner.

The agency must also assist in achieving the objectives of the Official Language Act.

According to section 41, we must deliver on our commitment to support the vitality of communities and the linguistic duality of Canada. The agency is also among the departments that contribute to the attainment of the road map for Canada's linguistic duality. One outcome of the road map aims to reinforce the economic development of communities. As you see, this is directly related to the original economic development mandate of our agency.

One of the positive measures we have taken to fully discharge our obligations under the act and roadmap is to develop and implement an action plan. The purpose of that results-based action plan, which meets the requirements of part VII of the act, is to promote the economic integration of the OLMCs. The plan is divided into six action areas: awareness, consultation, communication, coordination and liaison, funding and service delivery and, lastly, accountability. We developed this action based on a renewed approach to the OLMCs.

We have been forging ties with those organizations for several years now, and our meetings have led to a better understanding of the needs of the OLMCs and enabled them to gain a greater understanding of the services the agency offers and of the specific measures designed to enhance their vitality.

The purpose of this ongoing dialogue is to promote the integration of this community within the Quebec economy. Like the other federal departments, we also took action to fulfill our obligation with respect to parts 4, 5, and 6 of the Official Languages Act.

To respond to part IV, we have made a considerable effort to increase the awareness of our staff and to enhance our capacity to respond to the public in both official languages where required. Those efforts have been acknowledged by the Commissioner of Official Languages, who gave the agency a high mark in his more recent report card. The commissioner also gave us a good mark on part V, which concerns language of work. We invested $41,000 in 2010-2011 to maintain linguistic gains and to establish the required linguistic profiles for the 322 bilingual positions out of the total 365 positions at the agency.

The agency now intends to take the necessary measures to try to increase anglophone representation in our organization and thus to improve our ranking on part VI of the act. We have already carried out promotion and recruitment activities aimed at anglophone university students. Lastly, with regard to part VII and section 41, I am pleased to inform you that the commissioner has given us an exemplary mark for the positive measures we have taken. In recent years, the agency has implemented an approach involving ongoing dialogue with the OLMCs.

Through the many activities we have introduced, we have been able to gain a clearer understanding of the OLMCs' needs and to communicate information on available programs and services more effectively so as to support the vitality of those communities.

In the spirit of the commissioner's recommendation, we worked to take more integrated action with the other federal organizations in Quebec. For example, we collaborated with Industry Canada in organizing the dialogue with the English language minority of Quebec.

These distinctions do us credit and reflect well on the organization as a whole. The Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality has made it possible to provide stronger support for economic development projects in the OLMCs. Through this pan-Canadian initiative, the agency received $10.2 million allocated over five years to enhance the activities we were already conducting.

This initiative has helped fund projects presented by non-profit organizations and businesses. The agency approved nine new projects in 2011-2012, totaling $2.6 million in financial assistance and $9.3 million in investment. For example, the agency supported a pilot project of the Youth Employment Services agency. The purpose of that project is to provide support to young anglophone entrepreneurs located in the regions.

In its efforts to promote linguistic duality, the agency also supported a project led by the Committee for Anglophone Social Action. The project will help get the two linguistic communities to work in tandem, develop alliances, and share their know-how so as to increase their contribution to the regional economy.

Our business offices have also taken various initiatives designed to promote the vitality of the OLMCs in their areas. For example, our Gaspésie-Magdalen Islands office has supported various economic development projects in the past year and attended many meetings designed to support the community in structuring its tourism sector. In addition, the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality also provides for a performance measurement strategy implemented by the partner departments and agencies in the initiative. To do this, the agency is integrating that strategy into its own departmental performance measure. In this way, we will be able to provide data and periodic reports on the performance of projects being carried out under the initiative.

As can see, we are contributing to the vitality of the OLMCs by supporting actual economic development and diversification projects related to our mandate. We will continue providing our assistance to the OLMCs, not only under the roadmap, but also through our programming and action plan, as well as ongoing dialogue. Our contribution will enable these communities to take an active part in their economic development and to integrate more effectively into the Quebec community, regardless of the official language they speak.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Lavoie.

Now we'll go to Western Economic Diversification.

[Daniel Watson, Deputy Minister, Western Economic Diversification Canada]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is my pleasure to appear here today before the committee. I am accompanied by my colleagues, James Meddings, Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy and Strategic Direction and the departmental official languages champion, and France Guimond. Ms. Guimond, who is Director General of Operations for the Manitoba office, has direct experience in this area as she works with the communities we are discussing today.

As you know, Western Economic Diversification Canada is the regional development agency responsible for the four western provinces. WD's primary mandate is to promote economic growth, development and diversification in western Canada. Since its creation in 1987, WD has worked diligently to deliver on this mandate through focused programs and activities designed to support jobs and growth among small and medium-sized enterprises, encourage trade and investment, foster innovation and strengthen community economic development.

In our day-to-day work, WD recognizes that part VII of the Official Languages Act and the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality are invaluable to achieving our goal of a more competitive and diverse regional economy that is inclusive of all communities.

Canada's official language minority communities make a substantial contribution to our nation's economic strength, both domestically and in international markets.

Although French is the mother tongue for about two per cent of the west's population, seven per cent have knowledge of both official languages. That is almost 700,000 people.

However, the importance of linguistic duality surpasses its numbers. The roots of many francophone communities throughout western Canada are deep and formative in Canada's history. The rich history of francophone communities in the west represents a significant economic asset for the region and an additional dimension to the western Canadian presence on the global stage. It is important that the youth in these communities have the opportunities to be productive and to keep these communities thriving.

As well, immigration is contributing to the vitality, both culturally and economically, of francophone communities in western Canada.

My department is determined to cultivate these assets. WD's 2011-2016 Action Plan for Implementation of the Official Languages Act is the means by which we ensure that the act and the roadmap are well entrenched in WD's day-to-day management of its business activities.

I am proud to say that the four francophone economic development organizations—the FEDOs—members of WD's Western Canada Business Service Network are key players in this regard, having been members since 2001, and we are pleased to support their work, and WD's staff—in particular, the department's official languages team—consult with them closely to respond to the needs of western Canada's official language minority communities.

WD, from its core funding, provides FEDOs with an annual budget of almost $2.2 million, which they use to provide a wide range of business and community economic development services. This is above and beyond EDI funding. The types of services that were provided by FEDOs, or the francophone economic development organizations, are information services to 3,358 clients who have come in, in this period of time; 1,652 technical advisory services to people setting up and running businesses; and training for almost 1,500 clients.

The Commissioner of Official Languages has said that FEDOs are a best practice and something that could be looked at by other institutions.

My department is currently working with francophone communities in the west and FEDOs to develop projects, both under the road map's economic development initiative, or EDI, and under WD's core programming. For example, Manitoba's FEDO organization,

le Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or the CDEM,

as it's known, is playing a central role in ensuring francophone entrepreneurs in Manitoba have access to the capital, training, and information they need to start or grow their small businesses.

More specifically, the CDEM is investing in youth entrepreneurship and attracting youth to return to rural communities, once they have graduated from postsecondary institutions. Also in Manitoba, WD recently approved a proprietary program-funded project with the Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba—ANIM—to lead and organize the Centrallia 2012 event in Winnipeg.

Centrallia is a trilingual international business-to-business forum that will bring together over 600 business leaders from around the world to Winnipeg .

In Saskatchewan, we are working closely with the FEDO organization there, the Conseil de la coopération de la Saskatchewan, also known as the CCS, to identify a potentially EDI-funded project to support francophone entrepreneurs in that province, and Alberta's FEDO organization, the Conseil de développement économique de l’Alberta, is helping to promote the francophone tourism industry across the west.

It is developing a technology application tool to inform Canadian and international users about francophone tourist attractions as well as tourism-related businesses offering services in French across western Canada.

Finally, I am most pleased with the Place de la Francophonie event at the 2010 Winter Games which was led by the Société de développement économique de la Colombie Britannique. This was a resounding success where our federal EDI funding brought together the local francophone community, the FEDOs, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympics, and the BC province to showcase francophone tourism and agrifood industries to an international audience.

The beauty of this event was that internally it allowed the four FEDOs from across western Canada to work collaboratively as one western partnership, leveraging a whole range of resources. Externally, it helped build a partnership with the B.C. government, which has since increased the recognition of the economic contribution of francophone communities.

These are just a few examples of how federal support such as the road map, along with the strategic partnerships, can promote the vitality of francophone communities both economically and culturally.

We continue to work closely with organizations, to raise awareness and to develop our department's "Official languages lens". This tool was praised by the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages when we first developed the concept in 2009. The "OL lens" has since been rolled out and it embeds OLMC considerations in the due diligence review that WD's officers undertake in project development.

Each project considered by WD employees is assessed using the "OL lens" criteria that have been developed by the department. Initiatives such as those I have mentioned today, have contributed to the high ratings WD has received from the Commissioner of Official Languages. WD was given an "exemplary" rating recently in recognition of our work in developing official language minority communities and promoting linguistic duality. We are proud of that assessment, but we are also aware that we can aim to do more.

In conclusion, we believe that, by supporting these communities, we are honouring the past and helping francophone entrepreneurs, including French-speaking newcomers and youth, foster economic growth in their communities. We are also positioning the west for the future.

Thank you for your time today. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Watson.

Welcome, everyone. I apologize for being late.

Thank you for starting the meeting, Mr. Godin.

We have about an hour and a half for questions and comments.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will be putting my questions to the CED representatives.

Mr. Watson, earlier you said you were proud of the 2010 Olympic Games. I believe we could say that we missed the boat at the outset, at the opening. The Francophonie was not present, and that's unfortunate.

I know the government wants to conduct a major study for the 150^th anniversary in 2017. It also wants to conduct a major study on how not to make the same mistake again. You don't have to make mistakes. It's easy; you make them and that's all. I don't see why we should study that for weeks on end. To ensure respect for both official languages, the two founding peoples of Canada and aboriginal peoples, we are being forced to spend more hours and weeks conducting a study to ensure that we do that without frustrating anyone. I don't know whether that's the idea.

I will be coming back to your economic organization from the west. You deal with the francophone communities, but, as you know, there is considerable job mobility today. Let's talk about that. Employers no longer want to set up new villages or to be responsible for them. That's what used to happen. They operated a mine somewhere and a village was set up there; they founded a village or a small town. Companies no longer do that. They bring in people from everywhere. I read an article on the subject in the newspaper yesterday. It stated that the government had said there was an incredible labour shortage in Canada, more particularly in the west. What is your agency doing to help Canada's francophones?

People will say that things are the way they are to: it isn't anglophones who have a problem. Canada's francophones are prepared to go and work out west. What is your organization doing to talk to companies like Suncor and those major companies where, with all due respect, francophones aren't welcome if they don't speak English? Let me explain. For example, back home on the Acadian peninsula, there've been a lot of closings in the forest industry. Paper mills have shut down in Miramichi, Bathurst, Dalhousie and New Richmond, in Quebec.

In the northeast and part of eastern Quebec, there are skilled labourers ready to go to work, but the companies say… I'll give you an example; I'll give you the background to what is really going on. It's possible to go and take security exams, but you have to go to Miramichi to do it, and they ask people to take the exam in English only. If candidates don't speak English well enough to take the exam, they will be disqualified.

A number of people from back home went out west last week. One qualified individual—a janitor, no less—went. He didn't need a lot of qualifications; I say that with all due respect. However, because he was unable to take the exam in English, he lost his job. He didn't get a single chance to sweep or wash a floor. He had the qualifications to do it. However, they brought in people from other countries. The article in yesterday's newspaper provided some statistics. They're bringing in people from the Philippines and China who have translators to help them take their exam. Go and check it out. I believe it's your responsibility to go and check that.

What is your agency doing to help Canadians, the first ones, get jobs? We need to break down the myth that, if you don't speak both languages in the west, if you don't speak English, you won't get it. However, the evidence is there. Foreign workers are being brought in and people say they are forced to recruit them because there aren't any workers in Canada. Back home, there are people who are prepared to go. They are aware of the reality of worker mobility; they take a plane. They call that a 20/14 or a 14/7. I made people laugh: I said I was doing 4/3s. I'm in Ottawa for four days a week and back home for three.

I would like you to tell us about worker mobility. I believe the agency could help members of the francophone communities who are prepared to go and work. These are brave souls who want to work but who have no place to go.

[Daniel Watson]

Thank you for your question.

Mobility in Canada is obviously a very serious matter. It is in fact extraordinary to see all the workers who travel from east to west and, in some instances, vice versa.

Within the mandate of the Department of Western Economic Diversification, we work with small and medium enterprises. We try to support them when they attempt to develop ideas for economic diversification in the west. So our work is about innovation and the development of new investments and new markets outside Canada and, in some instances, in Canada as well. We mainly work with small and medium enterprises and with the organizations that support small and medium enterprises. We provide our assistance mainly to francophone economic organizations with which we work very closely and which also involve small and medium enterprises that need employees, particularly for growing markets or to develop businesses. That is how we provide support in this area. We do not work directly with anglophone or francophone employees; we work with businesses, mainly small and medium enterprises. Suncor lies somewhat outside that area—

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

However, a number of small and medium enterprises work for Suncor.

[Daniel Watson]

There are a number of them, yes.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

What is your involvement in that area? You say small and medium enterprises. I met the representatives of the francophone section of the Alberta Economic Development Authority. They are at a disadvantage relative to anglophones because they only have funding and they are alone. They don't have three or four organizations helping them, as anglophones do. They are alone; that's what they told me.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Please be brief, Mr. Watson.

[Daniel Watson]

Yes, that's fine.

When Suncor decides whether to buy its products from South Korea, the United States, Japan, Germany or Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, we want it to decide to buy its products from Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, not South Korea.

We will work with any entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs that can sell their goods or services to Suncor. We will help those people develop better products, which they will sell to Suncor. We won't work directly with the employees, but rather with the businesses.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Watson.

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Gourde, go ahead, please.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses for being here.

My first question is for the representatives of the National Research Council Canada. In your opening remarks, you mentioned language technologies. I'm very much interested in that.

Can you say a bit more about that? You're on version 1, version 2 and version 3, if we are talking about translation software. We know that the quality of the first ones was mediocre, but I believe that has improved today. Can you tell us a little more about that?

[Charles-Antoine Gauthier, Acting Director, Research Programs, National Research Council Canada]

Thank you for your question. I am not sure exactly what you are looking for. If I don't have the right answer, we can come back to this.

For a number of years now, we have been working on the problem of machine translation to support translators. In most translation firms, translation is done in two stages. In the first stage, there is a draft, which is generally prepared by a less experienced translator.

That first draft is then revised by a more experienced individual, who prepares the final version.

The idea is to develop a technology that produces a machine-generated first draft. That would free up human resources to do much more work and to do the final revision.

We have added something to that basic work to make it possible to produce something of high quality. This is a learning system that will examine the translator's corrections at the end, and the machine will learn to correct its own mistakes based on what people do so that the system improves over time.

I don't know whether that answers your question.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

You're telling me that you are now on the second or third generations of those products. As I told you, the first ones that I saw produced translations in which few corrections had been made. One simply wondered what the translation meant. It is difficult for a machine to replace a professional translator who understands what the sentence means. When you translate word for word, you change the meaning.

These new technologies are delicate. That's why I wanted you to say more about how they have improved. There is a current shortage of translators in Canada, and these new technologies are increasingly being used. In some cases, this produces results that are not always satisfactory. From time to time, I receive drafts, and, sad to say, I have to reread them and correct myself. Sometimes you have to reread the English version to understand the meaning. Do you think this will rise to an acceptable level in two or three years?

[Charles-Antoine Gauthier]

I believe we have already achieved an acceptable level within our organization. The idea is not to replace human beings, but to help them.

We have done a lot of work to "train" the system. It is very important to select basic documents to improve the machine. Consider Google's translation program. The entire system uses what the machine finds on the Internet. If you mix up legal texts with medical texts, for example, the machine is no longer able to produce a sensible translation.

We help translation firms select the right documents. We can have several versions of the translation software, a legal version or a medical version, for example. They will be intended for specific clients. This enables the machine to learn how to handle texts that come from such and such a client, for example.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Do your clients work with you to develop these new products? Or is the National Research Council Canada working alone?

[Charles-Antoine Gauthier]

The research is done first at the National Research Council Canada. Then we work directly with businesses to help them implement the technology. This isn't something we can simply give a business in a box.

We really have to work with people, explain to them how it works, do part of the training for them and train the company's people so they can take charge of the technology. It's not very simple. We are working toward producing a new, slightly more automated version, but we aren't there yet.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Is this an initiative of the National Research Council Canada? Did the private sector ask NRC to take this initiative? This meets a need, but who took the first initiative?

[Charles-Antoine Gauthier]

The need was identified in the Action Plan for Official Languages, which very clearly stated that there was a shortage of translators and a need for technologies to assist translators. That's why we focused on this problem first and foremost. It was the biggest problem identified at the time.

Now we have reached a point where we are starting to make this technology available to the private sector.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Will this technology be partly available to the public? If not, will it be reserved solely for the businesses that developed it?

[Charles-Antoine Gauthier]

I don't believe the technology could be used by just anyone because of the need to train the machine. That being said, it is possible to supply the system in a particular field and to provide this in a box. So it might be possible to have a legal translator in a box, another translator in a box for the airlines and a medical translator in a box. That would be possible, but it would not be possible for the basic technology.

You also have to understand something else. In translation companies, work that has previously been done represents an enormous amount of value for those businesses. That's where their intellectual capital lies. To be able to train a translation system using those documents gives them a lot of value. They are not particularly interested in sharing past work. That would be like giving their competitors access to their own translations.