Official Languages Committee on April 11th, 2016

[Donald Barabé]

Yes, it's the same thing, but this software is Canadian.

[Alan Bernardi]

This software has been loaded with federal government documents.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

So it could be very important for bilingualism across Canada among people outside the public service.

[Donald Barabé]

Yes, as long as everyone understands their limits.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

That's right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Go ahead, Mr. Arseneault.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Ultimately, can we say that a language would have to be fairly robotic for a translation to be accurate?

[Donald Barabé]

That is a prerequisite.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

So there shouldn't be too many metaphors or sarcasm.

[Alan Bernardi]

You raise an interesting point. One of the things we have recently started looking into is the life cycle of information. Let's use the example of document production. If documents are written in a much simpler manner, such as in simplified English, those documents will be much easier to translate, but also much easier to read for the vast majority of Canadians with literacy problems. So not only is the cost of the document's translation reduced, but the document is also made more accessible in both official languages to a large proportion of Canadians with reading difficulties.

That may be something to consider. It is not just a matter of official languages, but also of issues related to access to the documents and their transparency, and that is something that can be achieved by simplifying some texts. This would not apply to legal documents, but other documents intended for a general audience could be simplified from the outset.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Généreux, you have four minutes.

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

Thank you. Speaking time is increasing, so that's good. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

On page 6 of your document, we can see three important dates in the history of the bureau, including 1995, when costs for the Translation Bureau were considered. Are development costs part of that? There is a comparison between private firms, or translation agencies or phantom services, and the archaic service—I dare not use the term that was used earlier.

[Donald Barabé]

Me neither.

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

Does that include the cost of developing software?

[Donald Barabé]

Yes.

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

So it is unavoidably more expensive for the Bureau than for private companies.

[Donald Barabé]

Yes. There are various reasons behind that. You have to understand what the costs for the bureau are when it develops these kind of tools.

The question was asked earlier about Termium. The bureau's costs for developing and updating Termium, for example, are not part of the costs for which departments are billed, as parliamentary votes cover that.

There are development cost attached to a translation tool, so that is part of the costs that will passed on to departments. At the same time, those costs are not shared by the private sector, but the sector does benefit from those tools.

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

So the private sector does benefit from them?

[Donald Barabé]

Absolutely.

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

It benefits as much as if the software was Canada-wide, as much as it can benefit from Google.

[Donald Barabé]

I see.

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

It is basically paid by Canadians, through taxes.

[Donald Barabé]

Yes.

For example, when it was decided, with Parliament's approval, to make Termium and the entire language portal available to all Canadians, a cost was attached to the decision. In fact, anything posted on the web is accessible not only to Canadians, but to the whole world. So there is a cost to making the servers capable of absorbing the future demand.

So if the Translation Bureau does the same for automatic translation, there will clearly be a cost attached.

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

Do I have any time left, Mr. Chair? That's very nice.

I'm also a doubting Thomas, and the accent used on the islands will probably never come through in translation.

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I am not from the islands.