Second, we suggest that the Translation Bureau be given all the financial and human resources it needs to fulfill its mandate. It is important to put an end to the policy of attrition at the Bureau, to give it the resources required to fulfill its mandate to support Canada’s linguistic duality and to stop making it bear the brunt of untenable budget cuts.
In many of its mandate letters to new ministers, the present government has indicated that they must help to protect the Official Languages Act. This is just wishful thinking unless this desire is matched by concrete actions, such as restoring the budget so that the Bureau can fulfill its mandate.
In addition to hiring new employees once again, the Bureau must implement a program to restore its lost expertise in the areas of technical, scientific and multilingual translation. It must also develop a succession plan that will make it possible for experienced employees to pass on their expertise by helping to train new colleagues.
The time has come to make wise budgetary choices and to stop sacrificing the official languages on the altar of austerity.
Thank you very much.