Mr. Speaker, in the report released by the Commissioner of Official Languages last May regarding the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, he states that unless drastic action is taken the Vancouver and Toronto airports will be unable to properly greet visitors in French. He also states that the administrations of Air Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency should work together with their parliamentarians to ensure that French is on an equal footing with English.
Last September, in his report “Raising our Game for Vancouver 2010: Towards a Canadian Model of Linguistic Duality in International Sport”, Commissioner of Official Languages Graham Fraser, pointed out, among other things, that ten or so federal institutions had dismal results in terms of the provision of services in French for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver. In addition, of the points of service that are designated bilingual under airport authority, only 10% are bilingual.
And yet, the Olympics are drawing near.
In its Constitution, Canada recognizes French and English as equal. Furthermore, French is one of the International Olympic Committee's official languages. The fact that we are nearing the end of October 2009, just three and a half months away from the games, and that we are still talking about serious shortcomings throughout the Canadian Olympic organization speaks volumes about the lack of respect for Quebeckers, Acadians and Franco-Canadians in this country.
The goal is a simple one: Canada, the host country, must be able to serve in French anyone who requests it anywhere in Vancouver, Whistler or Richmond, the cities in which athletes will be competing during the 2010 winter games.
A lot of questions remain unanswered. Where is the French signage and the French documentation for visitors, athletes, coaches and tourists?
Why is the City of Richmond still negotiating with Olympics organizers to determine whether it will have signage in French? The mayor of Richmond wants to go back to his municipal council for the next round of negotiations on the presence of French in the city. Why has the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, VANOC, not yet forced its partners to be reasonable about the French fact?
Will Vancouver Tourism and BC Tourism kiosks be able to offer services in French? Will they make an active effort to do so?
Will the supposedly bilingual volunteers, the 3,500 recruits, be functional in French at the C level for comprehension, B for written and C for oral? What about their housing and transportation? Will we lose officially bilingual volunteers because of shortages in these two areas? Will the 7.5 million words to be translated into French actually be translated?
The Cultural Olympiad will not be showcasing many francophone artists. That is a problem. We hope that francophone artists from British Columbia, along with Quebeckers, Acadians, and Franco-Canadians in general will be well represented.
A Vancouver Games that respects the French fact in a country where French is an official language would be a fitting legacy for the francophone community in British Columbia. Among other things, let us consider authentically bilingual signage.