Official Languages Committee on March 7th, 2016

[David Schwartz]

I would also like to focus on the reductions. About 60% of our employees are translators and 40% are not translators. This somewhat ties in with the CEO's comments. We have changed our internal processes; we are more efficient. We are in the process of modernizing. We are maximizing the tools in order to reduce the number of people we need, in fact.

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

Do I still have some time, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

No.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We will come back to you.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You have the floor, Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank and congratulate the committee interpreters, who are doing an excellent job literally as we speak, as you pointed out, Ms. Achimov.

As I listen to you, you give the impression that you are the owner of a business that is outside government. As a businessman myself, I find that very interesting. Your language reflects it. You are talking about the number of words. Your financial picture is quantified by the number of words. That is the unit of measurement that tells you whether your sales figures are good or not. I sell paper, but that is another story.

You call yourself a CEO. You are talking about a business; you used the word “business” before.

Once again, I find that very interesting.

Do you consider the bureau to be like a company?

[Donna Achimov]

Thank you for that question.

The structure is a special operating agency. The way that was created, in the mid-1990s, was really to take a look at many organizations, not just the translation bureau, and to instill in those organizations some of that business discipline that we've heard about. That business discipline is understanding what it costs to actually do the work that we do. I have to say I am incredibly proud of my colleagues and my employees. I think we are the new brand of public servants.

We are what Destination 2020 is asking of us. They want us to manage taxpayers' money responsibly, as if it were our own. They want us to make sure we have the best and the brightest and most capable people to do the job, and they want us to do that with the values and the ethics that are primarily part of what is core to the public service.

I'm very pleased that people are hearing us talk about our costs, about being efficient, about creating workplaces that are respectful and innovative.

I will take this opportunity to say we're one of the largest employers that allow and encourage our workers to work off-site.

I am talking about teleworkers. Each month, the number of people working from home increases.

That gives us the ability not only to save on office space, but also to improve the working, home, family, and workplace conditions to make sure that we have a vibrant workforce that is happy to continue to work with us and be part of our future.

The short answer to that question is yes. We have the business acumen; we have the public service values at heart; and most importantly, we have the official languages capability and obligations.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Ms. Achimov, your words are sweet music to my ears. Let me say that to you again: sweet music to my ears.

What you have just said is very important. Whereas there might have been some concern about that problem with the translation bureau, speaking personally, you are reassuring me.

Things are not always perfect here below. You said just now that you had stepped back to a degree in order to watch other ways of doing things elsewhere in the world, both in the private sector and in various governments or countries. You adapted, and you did so quickly.

Did the fact that you adapted so quickly bring with it some difficulty in terms of the quality of service that tool you have designed provides? In other words, did you move too quickly as you put this tool in place?

But I want to bring up something and it is important for me to do so before you answer. If you wait for something to be perfect before you release it, you probably never will. When you start using a tool, as I and a number of others do in our businesses, the tool evolves. That is my perception. Am I wrong to say that?

[Donna Achimov]

Let me tell you a little story, Mr. Chair.

When I started working at the translation bureau four and a half years ago, I looked over some old org charts. I remember one from October 1976 specifically. The chart had a box marked machine translation. Since 1976, the bureau has been perfectly able to evolve in a stable way. But in the last five or six years, the world has completely changed because of how quickly all the new tools are being put into place.

I'm not sure if members here have iPhones. iPhones now have voice recognition, Siri. A colleague of mine who's British and who's in the private sector was saying that six months ago, Siri could not understand his accent. Today Siri is understanding his accent; there's interactivity.

The availability of the tools has hit us so quickly. Would I have wanted, would all of us have wanted to have a gradual uptake in terms of change? Absolutely. Is change disruptive? Absolutely. But we're doing our best to manage that responsibly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you.

Mr. Samson, you only have four minutes left because Ms. Lapointe used two minutes of your time earlier.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

That's fine.

Your last answer ties in with my next question.

One of the things you see on iPhones and BlackBerrys is the symbols you can use to communicate in English or in French.

In minority situations, there is great concern about the use of symbols like “lol” to communicate in both English and French. In one school board, I did a little experiment, trying to find whether we could find symbols that meant the same thing, but were in French.

A project like that would be interesting and would put us on the cutting edge of having both official languages represented. It is often said that, if you do not speak a language, it is because you do not have the tools or the information or the documentation you need. Could something be done along those lines? Perhaps my question is off-topic, but it is certainly very important for me.

[Donna Achimov]

Trends come and go quickly and young people are using symbols all over the world. Why? Because it is their way of communicating with each other.

I am extremely proud of two things at the bureau.

First, TERMIUM Plus is now available worldwide as an app. We find it very exciting to see that a number of Canadians, as well as schools, are using TERMIUM Plus each month. It is great. It is free and it is available in real time.

Second, the Language Portal of Canada. It contains millions of terms, games and documents. We are working closely with the provinces and territories to share documents and to encourage young people to use English and French in a more modern, user-friendly way.

We're going to be starting some work on the language portal to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, working with schools, targeting schools to encourage young people to give us their desires in terms of how they want to see language, and allowing us to work with them to make sure that this language portal is robust for the future.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Ms. Achimov.

It is almost 5:30 p.m.. So we will end this session immediately, except for inviting Ms. Achimov, Mr. Gibson and Mr. Schwartz to continue this discussion at a future meeting. I sense that was what all the members of the committee wanted.

We have a number of suggestions for witnesses to call. You are working in an area that generates interest, to say the least. Mauril has suggested some witnesses we could hear from. If other members of the committee would like to submit the names of witnesses, send them to the clerk. François has already done so too.

So we will have one or two more meetings on the subject. We would be grateful to you if you could make yourselves available in case we want to hear from you a second time.

Yes. Mr. Choquette?

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

I will do this quickly because time is getting on, as you said, Mr. Chair.

Would it be possible to get a plan for the upcoming meetings and email it to us, so that we know who will be our next guests in the coming weeks? I understand that some have already confirmed. It would be good to have a calendar of how the next meetings will roll out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

You are absolutely right. We will get it to you shortly.

On Wednesday, we will be hearing from two groups: the Quebec Community Groups Network, followed by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne. We are also having the Commissioner of Official Languages here on March 23, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage on April 20.

Mrs. Boucher, you have the floor.

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

This is not actually a point of order, it is a question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Go ahead.

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

Since I was previously the parliamentary secretary for official languages, I'd like to know how things work with you.

I gather that the parliamentary secretary has an observer's role.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Yes. That is the new way of doing things.

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

Okay, but what does he do as an observer?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

He observes.

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

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

He does not have the right to vote.