Official Languages Committee on Oct. 20th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Good morning everyone and welcome to this meeting of the committee.

I would also like to welcome our two newcomers, Mr. Massé and Mr. Nault, who is the chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

We will now start the meeting. As per the agenda, we'll spend the first half hour on committee business, specifically, as regards the translation bureau.

Mr. Choquette put forward a motion on the subject. It reads as follows:

That the Committee invite the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, the Honourable Judy Foote, as soon as possible so that she can present and explain the government's official response to the Committee's second report entitled, Study of the Translation Bureau, and that this meeting be televised.

I will now turn the floor over to Mr. Choquette, who introduced the motion.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Allow me to briefly explain the reason behind the motion.

Like all of you, I saw and read Judy Foote's response to the committee's report on the translation bureau. We worked very hard on the file, even to the detriment of other issues, because it was important to dig deep in order to deal with the issue properly.

Unfortunately, the government's response does not follow up on any of the recommendations made by the committee. It should be noted that the report had the unanimous support of every committee member and party. We worked very hard on the issue, and we produced recommendations based on the input provided by experts.

All you have to do is read a few newspaper headlines to see where things stand, for example, headlines proclaiming that the status quo will continue at the translation bureau or that the changes requested have been rejected.

Other organizations in the translation sector were also very disappointed by the government's response. We asked a lot of questions about governance at the translation bureau. Who is responsible for the state the translation bureau is in? We didn't have a chance to speak to Judy Foote as part of our exhaustive study, and I was quite disappointed, indeed. She sent us a response, but I think that, had she had been here during our study, she may have given us other answers and perhaps paid closer attention to our recommendations.

Important issues were also raised regarding reinvestment at the translation bureau, particularly in terms of succession planning. We did not get a response on that matter, either. I think the push to cut 140 translator positions in 2017-18 is still on. That worries a lot of people.

Therefore, we would like some answers. As I said last time, I'm prepared to work on the issue as a team because it's an effort we worked on together, as a team.

That is the reason I put forward this motion, and I am ready to discuss it and make any changes the committee considers appropriate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Choquette.

Ms. Boucher, you may go ahead.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Choquette, for putting forward your motion.

I, too, read Ms. Foote's response. I went over the recommendations we worked so hard on together, and nowhere in her letter does she mention funding.

I would like to meet with the minister to find out why she gave the response she did. Why did she completely disregard the recommendation to give the translation bureau more money? It's important that we meet with her to find out why she responded the way she did.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Ms. Boucher.

Ms. Lapointe, you may go ahead.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Further to Mr. Choquette's motion, we, of course, would also like to understand why the minister responded the way she did. That's why we support it. We want to understand the position the minister took in the letter she sent to the committee.

Clearly, we will have to work around Minister Foote's schedule. We may not be able to meet with her next week, but I would imagine that we could find a time before the end of the fall sitting if that suits the committee. The important thing is that we meet with her to understand her response.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Do I gather we have a consensus on the matter?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Very well.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We dealt with that quickly.

Since we have a few minutes left before we meet with the witnesses, I'd like to hear your comments on the committee's work.

It was brought to my attention that some groups had not been heard, including the Quebec Community Groups Network. I asked the clerk to make sure we heard from representatives of the network as well as its member organizations.

Do the committee members have any comments on the progress of our work or any suggestions on how to settle the whole thing? We had set the end of November as a deadline.

Ms. Boucher, you have the floor.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

The end of November is next week.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

No, the end of November isn't for another month.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Of course, it's the end of October. I thought the time was flying by.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We still have some time available to us.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Chair, the committee invited representatives from the Quebec government to appear, but they seem reluctant and nervous to meet with us, probably because of Mr. Lisée's election. I have friends over there, but I'm not as well-connected as other committee members. It would be helpful to know what's happening and why the Quebec government officials are reluctant to meet with the committee. The situation concerns me because the Government of Quebec could have proposed another way of doing things, which would have been very useful to our work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I will ask the clerk to fill us in on those discussions.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Christine Holke]

I have been talking to people at the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion du Québec for at least two and a half weeks. To be perfectly frank, initially, I was speaking with a receptionist who refused to give me an email address. She said she wasn't allowed to give out specific information so that I could contact the minister's office. After a few tries, I finally got the opportunity to explain that the committee wanted to meet with the minister or at least a department official. I managed to get through to Minister Weil's chief of staff directly, and I explained what the committee was working on, what it wanted to do, and what it wanted to know.

I sent an official invitation on behalf of the committee by email, and I'm supposed to get a response from her today or tomorrow. I asked her to accept or decline the invitation by today. She was hesitant. I didn't get any specifics, but I did pick up on some hesitation on her part.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

All right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Lefebvre, you may go ahead.

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Do we have a set schedule for the people who will be appearing? I know the clerk is doing a good job. We have a work schedule, but we don't have a witness list. You're saying there is one, but I didn't receive it.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

There is one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We should hand it out right now.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

The women are organized, and the men should be too.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You'll have to add this to your schedule. On November 1, we will be hearing from the Quebec Community Groups Network, as well as its member organizations, for both hours.

[Linda Lapointe, Liberal, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

November 1, you said?