Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we heard a question of privilege from an NDP member with respect to a briefing that the Privy Council Office gave to members on the fair elections bill.
I spoke to my assistants to find out all of the details. The question of privilege was related to the interpretation services that are generally provided. The NDP members claimed that the service was not available.
I learned that instead of having professional interpreters, the representatives of the Privy Council Office gave their presentation in both official languages. These public servants were bilingual; some were bilingual anglophones, while others were bilingual francophones. This ensured that they were able to provide all the information in both of our national languages.
For briefings given to MPs and the media, all of the information sheets, press releases and the bill itself were provided in both official languages. The minister's office did not receive any complaints from the people there. I will add that the presentation given to the media, immediately after the one for the MPs, was very well received by those who attended. Furthermore, the francophone journalists had positive comments. I would like to share the comments that were made publicly by these francophone journalists.