At this point, it is not necessarily about maintaining the status quo.
On the question of interpreters' assignments, we currently use five criteria: availability, language profile, security clearance, quality index and professional domicile. Obviously, we start with people who live in the national capital region.
The quality index no longer exists in the new version, or is not mentioned in what we were presented with in the RFI, the request for information. We are not sure how the evaluation will be done.
For assignments to the various jobs, we have interpreters who have worked on Parliament Hill for a very long time. They have a law degree or have expertise in different specialties. It would therefore be logical for them to be assigned to committees that have a connection with their various subject fields, rather than just taking the list and choosing the lowest bidder. Interpreters would have to be assigned to committees in that order.
In addition, if it operates that way, the interpreters with the most experience will simply not be here in Parliament, because their rates will be too high, based on their experience, their various degrees, and everything else. They will no longer be included in the pool of available interpreters.