Evidence of meeting #31 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bureau.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:40 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
It depends on the mandate entrusted to it by giving it that responsibility.
11:40 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Perfect. Thank you.
In your brief, you say that many departments use unqualified resources. Can you give some concrete examples?
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
I’ll give you an example. In late August, the Université de Montréal received a request for interns from 13 federal departments and agencies, which I will not name. According to a Treasury Board directive adopted in 1995, departments are not allowed to hire translators; only the Translation Bureau can do so, yet all departments now employ translators. That is one of the major shifts I mentioned earlier. So there is a need, because we have returned to the exact same situation that existed before the bureau was created in 1934.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
What you just said refers to the passage in your brief where you mention the existence of a second translation bureau created by the departments, right?
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
That's right.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
I'd prefer not to name them, but I can if necessary.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
If it's necessary, we can find out.
I have another question along the same lines. You also say in your brief that many departments have stopped having some of their documents translated. Is that the case? How do you explain that situation?
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
To explain it, I have to tell you what happened in 1995. In 1994, the Translation Bureau had an appropriated budget. In 1995, when it was decided to charge for the bureau's services, the parliamentary appropriations that were allocated to the bureau were distributed among all the departments according to their previous use, minus a commission retained by the Treasury Board. This has never changed since 1995, while demand has more than tripled. Since departments don’t know where to find the money, they save as much as they can. One way to save money is to stop having documents translated or to have them translated on request.
I’ll give you an example. My daughter applied for a bilingual position in the public service. She had to request a translation of the job posting and the job description because they hadn't been translated. Incidentally, this happened in the Translation Bureau's home department.
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
I've just given you a hint.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Noted. Thank you.
You just mentioned the shortage of interpreters. What do you suggest for the short term? Can an amendment be made to the bill on that?
I find your idea of increasing university capacity and creating a third opportunity interesting, but how can that be done quickly and in the short term? We are in a unique situation.
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
Help should be given to the Translation Bureau in the way of funding so that it can set up a computer system that would include a schedule that would allow interpreters in Canada to view and register for work opportunities. The bureau does not have the financial means to create such a system.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
At the outset, you talked about amendments. We’ve been discussing them for a while now. Can you confirm that you'll be able to send us those proposed amendments in writing?
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
Yes, of course.
11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Richard Lehoux Conservative Beauce, QC
Thank you very much.
You might still get questions about what the department names are. I, myself, would like to know which departments we are talking about. Internally, we share our observations, but I'd like details on the various departments.
11:45 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
Very well.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal René Arseneault
Thank you, Mr. Lehoux.
Mr. Iacono, we now go to you for five minutes.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My questions are for Mr. Barabé.
In your brief, you say that the federal government is a hub where francophones and anglophones come together to serve Canadians, and that the implementation of the government's language of work obligations still has gaps.
Besides giving the translation bureau back its exclusive mandate and making its services free of charge throughout the federal government, what can we do to strengthen the role of translation workers? Can you give us some concrete examples?
11:50 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
The best example I can give is using the federal government's translation buying power. Proportionally speaking, the federal government is by far the largest purchaser of translation services in Canada. That purchasing power could be used to strengthen the private translation sector.
Right now, Canada is the biggest supplier of translation services in the world. Canada's translation firms should be buying foreign companies, but the opposite is happening. Foreign firms are the ones buying up Canadian firms. The reason for that is the decision that was made in 1995 to take the federal government's buying power and divvy it up among the departments, which, in turn, divvied it up internally.
Consequently, a director of a unit can tender a small translation contract. What happens is that large translation firms can't compete. What we've ended up with is a majority of freelancers, when we used to have translation companies with the ability to buy foreign firms and do business in foreign markets.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thanks for explaining that.
What are the main things you think absolutely need to be in Bill C‑13, as opposed to being implemented through an administrative change?
11:50 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
It is essential that the bill recognize the importance of the role of translation and the translation bureau. Since you asked, I will prepare some provisions that could be included in the bill, for the committee's consideration. You can count on me.
11:50 a.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Barabé.
We want to promote high-quality translation in both languages. Against the backdrop of rapid and constant technological change and its impact on the translation sector, what can we do to ensure high-quality translation?
11:50 a.m.
President, Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec
The elephant in the room is machine translation. It's an extremely valuable tool for those who know how to use it. Machine translation is done by a computer, and what computers do is calculate. They don't think, and they don't understand. A machine translation tool is a calculator of probabilities. For example, it determines that there is a high probability that a certain word means X or Y. It's an extremely useful tool, but it needs to be used with great care. Above all, it should be used by professionals and should not be used to translate Government of Canada documents for the public.