Official Languages Committee on Oct. 7th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you.

That concludes our discussion with the first panel. On behalf of the committee, Ms. Skup and Ms. Gagnon, thank you for being with us today.

We will suspend for a few minutes to allow the new panel to get settled.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Resuming the meeting.

I would like to welcome the second panel, who represent the translation bureau. With us are Jean-François Lymburner, president and chief executive officer; Lucie Levesque, vice president, policy and corporate services; and Annie Plouffe, vice president, services to parliament and interpretation.

You will have five minutes to make your opening statement. We will then have a question and answer period with committee members. You can share your time or designate one person to present your remarks.

You can go ahead.

[Jean-François Lymburner, Chief Executive Officer, Translation Bureau]

Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, I thank you for your invitation.

I recognize that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.

With me are Annie Plouffe, vice president, services to parliament and interpretation, and Lucie Levesque, vice president, policy and corporate services.

As you have all done, for which I thank you, I would like to thank our interpreters Karine Doiron, Tara O'Brien and Sara Vafai, who are in the booth today.

The translation bureau of Public Services and Procurement Canada is proud to meet the language needs of the House of Commons. During the last fiscal year, we translated 44 million words for you, which is equal to nearly 150,000 document pages; we also provided you with some 12,000 hours of official languages interpretation, covering all of your regular meetings. At the same time, we continued to support major events like the G7 summit in Alberta in June 2025.

Our parliamentary interpreter team consists of 60 employees supported by 70 private sector suppliers, who enable us to manage peak periods efficiently and adjust our resources during less busy times.

The health and safety of our employees and suppliers and of all of you in the room remains a priority for the translation bureau. We are currently preparing a study on interpreters' exposure to noise, and we are continuing to raise awareness about the protection of interpreters, as the committee chair did when the meeting started. Thanks to your collaboration and that of your colleagues, the number of incidents has decreased by 60% in comparison to 2020, and we are maintaining our efforts to improve our protective measures for interpreters and also for participants.

With respect to technology, we are exploring artificial intelligence in accordance with the AI strategy for the federal public service. The National Research Council of Canada has been providing the translation bureau with AI tools to support our parliamentary translators.

We also recently launched GCtranslate, a prototype, in six federal departments and organizations. This AI tool, which has enabled the translation of over 70 million words since we tested last summer, complements the work of our language professionals.

We are also investing in the next generation with new interpretation programs at Université Laval and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, which attracted 38 new students this year alone. Scholarships were also awarded in the amount of $1,000 to six first-year students and in the amount of $7,000 to 13 new graduates for a total of $97,000 this year. We are hiring five new graduates this fall.

Finally, we are renewing our procurement process for private sector interpreters who supply professional services. While taking into consideration consultations with the industry, health and safety requirements, and best practices, this process also targets financial accountability, as the costs of professional services have increased, as is the case in a number of sectors in our society.

Mr. Chair, honourable members of the committee, I hope that this information will be useful to you for your study. My colleagues and I are available to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Lymburner.

We will now go to the question period.

Mr. Godin, we will start with you, and you have the floor for six minutes.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Lymburner, Ms. Plouffe and Ms. Levesque, thank you for joining us and taking part in this exercise.

You know that our objective is to improve the services provided to parliamentarians. You have highlighted your accomplishments, the 44 million words translated and the number of conferences you interpreted. I don't recall how many meetings.

However, I would like to hear what you have to say about what did not get done. I don't want to know what you did well. I want to know how you could be better. Even if 44 million words were translated, could you tell us what did not get done? I ask this question because there is no such thing as a perfect system. What is missing in order for the translation bureau to score 100%?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

Providing services to Parliament obviously involves a daily gymnastic routine. We have a huge number of challenges to meet, particularly when meetings get extended or cut short.

As I said in my opening remarks, I took up my position at the translation bureau in January 2024. We had reached the end of the pandemic and the bureau's resources had become problematic. We heard the witnesses before us talk about times being cut. So that is another gymnastic exercise.

As we said, we have not had ordinary meetings cancelled since I have been at the bureau. We have to remember, too, that the bureau supports the Senate and the Supreme Court, and we have other clients outside the government as well.

Our priority is always to provide high quality services, provided by interpreters accredited by the translation bureau, to support your work.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

I'm going to stop you.

My question is clear. What part of your mandate were you not able to achieve when it comes to translation? Surely there are services that were not provided. Maybe some portion was not covered. Maybe there are groups that did not have the privilege of receiving this service. That is really what I want to know.

[Jean-François Lymburner]

You are talking about translation, but I think I understand that you want to know about the interpretation situation. In talking about the work the translation bureau does, I often refer to a team sport. We work with the clerks of the House of Commons to find out the weekly schedule. To come back to—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Forgive me for interrupting you, but I sense that you are dragging things out and not wanting to answer my question. So I will go on to something else.

What mandate did the department give you for the new interpreter services contract? What is the specific mandate you were given for renewing the contract?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

When the translation bureau contracts, it uses several types of vehicles, depending on whether it is for sign language, international languages or Indigenous languages. This morning, I heard about a contract renewal—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Forgive me for interrupting you.

You were here for the first hour of this meeting, when the International Association of Conference Interpreters gave its presentation. It said publicly that the government had initiated a contract renewal process.

Let's talk about that contract. What mandate did you get from Public Services and Procurement Canada? What is the mandate? Is it true that you are in the process of renewing it?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

We are in the process of renewing it. We are at the stage of consulting the industry. The contract has not yet been published, which is standard practice in contracting. We have consulted the industry. My colleagues in the Association—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Forgive me for interrupting you.

I don't want to get into a fight. I understand that you are in the process of renewing the contract and I am not asking for you to give confidential information. What I want to know is the mandate from the government that was given to the translation bureau. Is it a regular renewal? Did you get good, clear instructions from the government? The information we are hearing is that the only criterion considered is the lowest bidder. Is that the case? Can you be clearer about the mandate the department gave you?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

I will try to answer quickly.

The existing contract is expiring in December. So, like any good organization, we have initiated the renewal process. That is the usual practice with our colleagues in procurement. We consulted the industry over two days, not just the International Association of Conference Interpreters. There are a number of interested parties. I believe AIIC referred to this in its testimony. Most suppliers are sole proprietors. There were also companies that participated in our consultations. All of these people voiced their fears and their reactions to what we are proposing in order to move forward.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

You just said you are engaged in a consultation process and you consulted AIIC. Is that what you said?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

An AIIC representative was there. There were a number of people at the meetings—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

That was not my question. My question was clear: Did you consult AIIC?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

No more than the other suppliers who were present.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

What do you mean by “no more”? Did you consult them or not?

[Jean-François Lymburner]

The invitation process for industry days is open to everyone who wants to ask questions.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like the witness to answer my questions.

Mr. Lymburner, you are engaged in a consultation process. You are renewing your contract in December; that is what you just said. I have asked you two easy questions.

First, you said you have consulted people in the industry, including AIIC: Have you actually consulted AIIC? Second, is the renewal process the same as in the past? I want to know whether nothing has changed or you have received more detailed, specific instructions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Mr. Godin, you have 20 seconds left.

[Jean-François Lymburner]

I will answer quickly: It is a normal process.

You also talked about what has changed. You talked about the lowest bidder. I am sure I will have a chance to answer that in a question to come, but it is not the case.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Yvan Baker]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Deschênes‑Thériault, you have the floor for six minutes.