Madam Speaker, I am going to quote a brief article published in the French newspaper Le Figaro, on November 9, 2009:
French Snubbed at Vancouver's Olympic Games
With 100 days to go before the opening ceremonies of Vancouver's Winter Olympic Games, the organizing committee's performance when it comes to bilingualism is a sorry one. Fewer than 15% of the 25,000 volunteers will speak French. The fact that they will be deployed in strategic locations and will wear a pin saying “Bonjour” is small consolation.
We are now on the eve of the February 2010 Vancouver Games. We have known for seven years that the Games were coming, but we still do not know whether French and English will receive equal treatment.
Needless to say, French will once again be the loser.
In September, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, stated that about 10 federal entities evaluated in a report before the 2010 Vancouver Games showed dismal results in terms of their ability to provide services in French. He said that out of the points of service under airport authority responsibility that are designated as bilingual, only 10% are bilingual.
Many questions remain unanswered regarding the fair treatment of both French and English.
Will Toronto's Pearson, Ottawa's Macdonald-Cartier, Halifax's Stanfield, Montreal's Trudeau and Vancouver's International airports be in a position to welcome travellers in both French and English?
Will the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, CATSA, and the Canada Border Services Agency actively interact in French and in English with all travellers? Will these agencies be able to communicate orally in French with anyone who requests it?
Will Air Canada be able to actively use French and English on all its flights in the air corridors that require the use of both official languages of Canada? Will personnel also be able to communicate orally in French with anyone who requests it?
Are francophone travellers going to be able to get services in French wherever they request it at the Olympic venues?
Will the City of Richmond, where the Olympic Oval is located, finally agree to put up Olympic information signs in both official languages?
Will the translation of the 7,500,000 words that have yet to be delivered by the organizing committee in order to provide documents in both official languages be finished?
Will the Cultural Olympiad actually present 25% of all its shows in French?
Will the Tourism BC and Vancouver Tourism booths be able to provide equal services in French and English?