House of Commons Hansard #197 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was process.

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Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:25 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Sudbury for his speech and his work on the Standing Committee on Official Languages. Ordinarily, we are quite effective at protecting the Official Languages Act and ensuring the vitality of official language communities everywhere in Canada.

The recent partisan appointment of Ms. Meilleur caused major problems for us. Sadly, the crisis continues on again this week. I asked the Minister of Heritage what she intended to do, given that the term of the acting commissioner of official languages was ending on Saturday, as she was very well aware. She told me that we would know when the time came.

The problem is that it is now Monday and we have had no commissioner since Saturday. Commissioners are not accountable to the government; they are accountable to all parliamentarians in Parliament.

My rights and my colleagues’ rights have therefore been violated, because we do not know whom to approach if we need to seek assistance from an official languages commissioner. The report said there was a lack of leadership and people did not know whom to approach. Unfortunately, the first recommendation has not been implemented. It was that the Translation Bureau be given responsibility so there would be a leader in the area of official languages. In fact, there is no chief quality officer, since the position has yet to be filled.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON

Mr. Speaker, clearly official languages are a priority for the government. I have full confidence in the Minister of Canadian Heritage when it comes to official languages, which are part of her mandate. She is responsible for ensuring continuity and making sure that everything gets back to normal thanks to our investments. That is not something that can happen overnight. There have been significant investments in human resources and the positions that should be filled shortly. I am satisfied that this will happen in the very near future.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Sudbury for his excellent speech.

We are demonstrating leadership. Let us recall that the former Conservative government refused to believe in the existence of bilingual judges. In fact, it told us that it was impossible to find a bilingual judge in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we found one.

In terms of the roadmap, budgets were frozen for over 50 years, which has had a harmful effect on communities, particularly francophone communities outside Quebec. We have committed to holding consultations with all francophone communities outside Quebec.

With respect to the recommendations concerning the Translation Bureau, what recommendations were made and which ones have been adopted by our government?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:30 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON

Mr. Speaker, several recommendations have been adopted and several of them have already been implemented.

First of all, a CEO has already been hired. A chief quality officer will now have to be hired, but that will be up to senior management, obviously. Furthermore, hiring 50 students a year for the next five years is very important, since this measure is intended to ensure the sustainability and quality of the Bureau.

These are just some of the recommendations that have been made and have already been implemented in a timely fashion. Nothing like this ever happened in 10 years under the Harper regime. Instead, there were repeated cuts.

My colleague also mentioned the bilingual Supreme Court justices. This is obviously a priority for our government. We have already appointed bilingual justices. We even reinvested in the court challenges program.

There have been many advances in official languages in the 18 months since our government came to power, while absolutely nothing positive happened in the last 10 years under the Harper regime.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:30 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of listening to my colleague's remarks on the massive new investments that the Liberals have made. He began by providing an exhaustive list of them. These massive investments total $25 billion, and it is our children and grandchildren who will have to pay for them. My colleague seemed to be proud of that.

I would like him to explain to me how our children are going to pay for these massive investments.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:35 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Lefebvre Liberal Sudbury, ON

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has proven something beyond reasonable doubt: investing in official languages was far from a priority for the former Harper government. Our priority is to ensure the sustainability of Canada's official languages by making major investments.

Is Canada a truly bilingual country, yes or no? Under the previous government, that was not the case. The official languages were not at all respected. That government kept making cuts. For us, official languages are a priority, and our investments prove it.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:35 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today.

I thank my colleague from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup for talking about this report, because it is very important. It is one of the first reports we prepared at the Standing Committee on Official Languages, one of the first ones we worked on together.

We were hoping to reduce partisanship on the committee and to work together to ensure that the Official Languages Act is respected and that the vitality of all our fine official language communities is maintained and improved across the country. I visited some of these communities in Alberta and British Columbia. On the weekend, I went to Acadia and met with stakeholders in education, health, and arts and culture.

I say all of this to show that the francophonie and official language minority communities, including anglophone communities, like the many wonderful anglophone towns in my riding, need our support so they can remain healthy. Our country is built on bilingualism, which in turn is supported by official language communities. We must therefore ensure that those communities are always at the heart of our considerations.

When we did our study on the Translation Bureau, we asked ourselves what its role was. I would like to take a moment to congratulate and thank all the interpreters, translators and terminologists, those experts who work at the Translation Bureau and who do an excellent job. They not only allow us to have texts in both official languages, but also to have quality, accurate texts, as well as accurate interpretations that allow us to do rigorous work. This is extremely important.

We heard from witnesses who explained the importance of translation and linguistic duality. Among others, I would like to quote Mr. Delisle, who said:

We all know that a lot of translation goes on in Canada. Translation is part of this country's DNA, even though many Canadians consider it to be a necessary evil of Confederation. The same could be said of official bilingualism because translation and bilingualism go hand in hand. Translation is not a by-product of bilingualism; it is a manifestation of bilingualism.

I have here another important quote about the role of bilingualism and translation in Canada. Mr. Doucet stated:

The translator plays a very important role for unilingual people, bilingual people, and for the Canadian public as a whole. People can rest assured that the texts they receive are of very high quality.

We cannot expect a translation that has been hastily thrown together to be a text for the ages that can be used in law, in committee, or as a law that will be interpreted by legal experts. Those texts need to be written by experts, qualified terminologists with a lot of expertise.

There is a problem at the Translation Bureau in that regard, and it is not going away, contrary to what the Liberals are saying. It is true that the Liberals have begun to reinvest in the Translation Bureau. However, as they are reinvesting, they are continuing to go forward with the planned cuts.

The situation is partly good and partly bad, but mostly bad. In 2011-12, the Translation Bureau had 600 translators, and now it has less than 500. It is the same thing for translator-language advisors. There were 347, but we lost about a hundred.

We are going to lose 150 more in the next few years and only a few dozen a year will be hired. If we lose 100 and hire 20, the net outcome is not positive; it is negative. The problem is that the ability of the Translation Bureau to do excellent work is continuing to atrophy and be diminished. At one point, the morale of the troops at the Translation Bureau hit rock bottom. The union leaders came to see us and explained how badly things were going at the Translation Bureau.

I cannot seem to find the quote, but what came through loud and clear was that there was a major problem at the Translation Bureau.

The Translation Bureau is an institution whose expertise was recognized internationally. People from a number of countries in the world came here to Canada to learn about the quality of the Translation Bureau, to get a sense of its expertise, and to learn from how things were done here.

Unfortunately, over the past several years, all that expertise has haemorrhaged out of the bureau. It is no longer there. Now, we no longer have that expertise or the international reputation we once had. We need to reinvest in order to regain that pride and base our country on bilingualism and, of course, on the two official languages.

When we talk about bilingualism and official languages, we always neglect the First Nations. I would like to digress for a moment. We must never forget that the First Nations are central to our country. I think we must always remember that and uphold it. Even though we have an Official Languages Act, we must never forget the First Nations. I know that a Liberal colleague said he would like to be able to speak in the language of his nation. That should be a right that is absolutely recognized here in the House of Commons. I would even say it is a shame that it cannot be done in the House of Commons. We must respect the First Nations. They are the ones who built this country. I hope we will be able to have speeches in the languages of our colleagues. In my party, there are colleagues of aboriginal origin who speak their mother tongue. I hope we will be able to hear them speak it one day, as I also hope to hear their speeches simultaneously interpreted.

That was a digression, but I felt it was important. It is really important for us. I am the official languages critic, but it is still important to me that aboriginal languages be recognized and ultimately promoted. We have a lot of work to do in that regard.

I would like to come back to official languages. The first recommendation that everyone agreed on was:

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada mandate an existing federal authority to ensure that the Official Languages Act is properly implemented with regard to such aspects as the Translation Bureau.

The committee came to that conclusion. It was not just me; it was the entire committee. This is the part that everyone signed. It was not the supplementary report that I subsequently made—because I made one on the record. This is the section that everyone signed, the Liberals and the Conservatives. It says here that there is a leadership problem when it comes to official languages. I have asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage about it on several occasions. I asked her how it is that there are still problems at Parks Canada regarding access in both official languages and the hiring of bilingual guides.

The acting official languages commissioner visited us last week, and she told us that of the nine recommendations in her last report, only two had been implemented by Parks Canada. Two recommendations out of nine is not even close. She brought it up again in her last report to indicate that this needs work.

When I ask the minister questions about this, she tells me that I need to ask the Minister of Environment because a horizontal approach is used, and there is no “boss” when it comes to official languages. Each person has their own leadership. Things do not work like that. We need someone strong enough to really turn up the heat whenever things are not moving along, someone that could say that we need to get to work at Parks Canada because the current approach just does not work.

It has gotten to the point where, when we tell the Minister of Canadian Heritage that things are not working at Parks Canada and ask what is happening, she tells us to ask the Minister of the Environment, who is responsible for Parks Canada. That is not leadership. That is why this recommendation was made.

It is the same thing with the Translation Bureau. The Translation Bureau is not within the purview of Canadian Heritage. It is within the purview of Public Services and Procurement Canada. I am not saying that the minister does not know official languages, but she has so many things to take care of. The Minister of Public Services and Procurement does not have time to deal with official languages. It took several months before she had time to testify in committee. She did not know what to do with the Translation Bureau file and so she sent the CEO to testify in committee. However, the CEO is not the minister. She is not accountable to Parliament. We had been asking the minister to testify in committee for a long time. She is very nice and very responsible, but she has a lot on her plate. She does not have time to deal with official languages. As I said, the Translation Bureau is about more than just translation. It plays an important part in our Canadian identity.

We recommended that Canadian Heritage or the Treasury Board show some leadership and call out those who are not meeting their obligations. Unfortunately, that recommendation was not followed.

The situation is the same when it comes to hiring. However, before we talk about hiring, I would like to say some more about leadership. We saw leadership today. Last week, the Minister of Canadian Heritage appeared before the committee. I asked her whether she knew that the acting commissioner’s term was ending four days later, on June 17, which was last Saturday. She replied that she knew it. I asked her when we would have news about the next process. I also asked her whether the acting commissioner’s term would be renewed. She replied that we would get the information in due course. I said that it was in four days, which was very soon. I wanted to know when we would get the information. She told me we would get the information in due course. I asked her not to forget that it was soon. While we wait, we are in a state of insecurity, because we do not know what is happening. She again told me we would get the information in due course.

In my opinion, it is too late to be saying “in due course”. Since last Saturday, we have had no commissioner of official languages. Today, there is a breach of parliamentary privilege because members no longer know whom to turn to. The government does not want to tell us whom we should refer to. The Minister of Canadian Heritage does not want to tell us who is responsible for presenting reports—who is accountable to parliamentarians when it comes to official languages. She does not want to tell us, and that is a violation of our privileges. It shows a lack of respect for the Official Languages Act and for the official language minority communities throughout Canada.

I hope the minister will fix the problem immediately. It is too late to be saying “in due course”. That is what we mean by leadership. I cited Parks Canada, but I could have cited immigration. The committee heard from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship last Wednesday. I asked him who in his team was the person responsible for immigration in Canada’s official language minority communities. He said that he was. He is? For heaven's sake! Someone on the team, someone neutral, said he was taking on a lot of responsibility. That makes no sense. That is an enormous workload. This is extremely important, and, at present, Canada is not meeting its targets for immigration in official language minority communities. This is a major problem. All of the communities in Canada need to be revitalized, and immigrants are not going to our official language minority communities, which are in decline.

There is a problem with the percentage of francophones everywhere in Canada, for example.

When I asked the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship who was in charge of this file, he replied that he was. However, one recommendation in our report is that there be someone in charge. We asked that there be a person who can be identified, who can be asked what they are doing to be accountable to the committee, to improve what is a catastrophic situation at present. One person on the committee said that the minister was taking on a lot of responsibility and he would have to work hard, because there was a lot of work to be done at present in the immigration file.

I would like to come back to the work done on the subject of the Translation Bureau. At present, a lot of things have been announced when it comes to the Translation Bureau, but there are still more to come. For example, my colleague from Sudbury just now spoke of the decision to create the position of chief quality officer. That is all fine and dandy, but that position still needs to be filled. A CEO has been appointed, and that is a good first step. To my knowledge, however, the position of chief quality officer has not yet been filled.

I will not speak at length about the Portage tool, which is an automated translation tool. This software was released without much fanfare. The former CEO, who was present, said it was a tool for translating emails and so that people could exchange short texts between themselves. That is false, as was said just now. When it comes to translating and interpreting, you need professionals. We are not professionals ourselves, we members. Public servants are not language professionals. It takes professionals: terminologists, interpreters, and translators.

We therefore cannot simply leave it in the hands of the average person. People can use this software as a reading tool, and thus a comprehension tool, but we must never forget that if a document is to be used in the long term, the services of translators will be required. We have excellent translators in the Translation Bureau. We have to use those services in order to get high quality documents that will carry the same weight in French and English.

I would like to return to another subject. I know that a Liberal member spoke just now about bilingualism among Supreme Court judges. If the Liberals are serious when it comes to these judges being bilingual, they will vote in favour of a bill that was introduced by Yvon Godin, the former member for Acadie—Bathurst. That member waged a battle for 15 years for there to finally be legislation on the bilingualism of Supreme Court judges. Unfortunately, the Liberals are now resorting to pretexts for voting down the bill, which will come before us next October.

The Liberals used the excuse that it could be unconstitutional, which is incorrect. All the major constitutional scholars who appeared before the committee over the past weeks and months said that while some requirements were essential, others were not.

One may ask the question: is appointing a unilingual judge one of the essential requirements? Is it part of the essential requirements for appointing a judge? No, it is not an essential requirement to appoint a unilingual judge or a bilingual judge. However, it is necessary and it is an absolutely essential skill for a Supreme Court justice. In fact, as I said earlier, legislation is drafted at the same time, legislation is equal in English and in French, and that is why I am calling on the Liberals to stop their petty games, to stop saying that it is unconstitutional and to vote in favour of this bill.

Once again, I thank all the members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, since they produced a very good report. However, the recommendations need to be implemented. In this respect, everyone on the committee, Conservatives, Liberals and I as the New Democrat, did a fine job on this report.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC

What a delight it is, Mr. Speaker, to watch this soap opera on official languages unfold. Honestly, it is always very interesting to hear my colleagues speak about official languages.

As for the report on translation, I heard some very good comments. In fact, one interpreter was delighted about all the work we had done. I am sure that the member recalls people who told us that when we use Google Translate for translations, we lose ownership of our data. That was another reason why we had to ensure that we had solid translation tools.

Earlier, my colleague said that the committee members were neutral, but he was not. I just learned that he was not neutral and that he was partisan. I am shocked to learn that. When the report on the Translation Bureau was prepared, we were all in agreement. I am surprised to learn that he prepared a supplementary report.

Why did you do that?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I would remind the members to address their questions through the Chair and not to other members directly.

The hon. member for Drummond.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

June 19th, 2017 / 4:55 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer that question, because, in fact, we have done very good work, almost from the outset, in a non-partisan manner, and I include myself in that. We have also produced a very good report.

However, it is always possible to add a supplementary touch to any good report. I tabled a supplementary report to highlight not only the importance of the Translation Bureau, but also the need for leadership on official languages. On that point, I will reiterate the examples I mentioned earlier, because they are important.

For example, when it comes to Parks Canada, how can it be that only two of the nine recommendations were accepted, when this is Canada’s 150th anniversary? Entry to all of Canada’s parks is free of charge, but we did not do everything in our power to ensure that services are offered in both official languages. That is why we added a supplementary report, because there is no leadership at present.

It is the same thing on the subject of the Translation Bureau. I asked several times to have the Minister of Public Services and Procurement come before the committee to explain the situation. However, she always sent us the CEO, who always wanted to make cuts. They were really not moving in the right direction. That is the problem.

In addition, I recall that we had to request two answers from the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, because the first was not satisfactory. It seems that the minister does not have a lot of time for official languages and has a lot of other fish to fry. That is why we want responsibility to be assigned to an institution that has more leadership when it comes to official languages.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, last week, I received a letter from the Minister of the Environment that was solely in English. It was sent to me shortly after the minister appeared before the Standing Committee on Official Languages, where she once again patted herself on the back, saying that the Liberals were wonderful, they were doing a good job, and they were happy to make sure that everything was going well when it comes to official languages. As she was saying those words, my office received an email from her written solely in English.

As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, and our country is officially bilingual, a minister’s office is still sending communications in English only. What does my colleague think about that?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup for his question, because, in fact, it goes to the heart of the problem we have at present when it comes to official languages.

First, we need a minister responsible for official languages who will demonstrate leadership, who believes in what he or she is doing, and who does not leave official language minority communities by the wayside. Second, we need an official languages watchdog, and that person is called official languages commissioner.

As I mentioned earlier, what we are dealing with here is the fact that the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Liberal government wanted to make a partisan appointment. We have all proven that. Everyone saw that, which is why she withdrew her candidacy in the end. She could see that her strategy was not working. The Liberals wanted to make a partisan appointment, perhaps because too many Canadians are filing complaints against the Prime Minister. A number of Ontarians filed complaints against the Prime Minister because he went to Ontario and spoke only English, even though there were people from francophone minority communities who wanted to speak French and hear the answers in French. The Prime Minister said that since they were in Ontario, he would speak only English. Later, he travelled to the Sherbrooke area in the Eastern Townships, but did not know that there are anglophone communities there, because when he went, he said he would speak only in French since he was in Quebec. He was told that there are anglophone communities in Quebec.

He is supposed to be the Prime Minister of all Canadians, French-speakers and English-speakers alike. It is totally mind-boggling.

I lodged a complaint along with many citizens, because people were shocked. The complaint was received and the government was reprimanded. They were told to implement the recommendations. Maybe the Liberals did not like that and decided to appoint a commissioner who would side with them. Unfortunately, it did not work.

The worst part of all this is that since Saturday, we no longer have a watchdog. This lack of leadership means that we can receive communications from ministers in just one official language, which is unacceptable.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Drummond for his remarks and for the important work he is doing at the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

I wonder if he can give us an explanation to the best of his knowledge. For some time now, the Liberal government has been making a mess of the official languages file. My colleague from Drummond said it is important not to leave francophone and anglophone minorities out in the cold, but it seems to me the Liberals dropped the ball. The appointment of a new official languages commissioner turned into a total fiasco. Their pick was too partisan for a Senate seat, but suddenly not too partisan to oversee official languages in this country. It was so ridiculous that even she realized it and decided to withdraw her candidacy.

The interim commissioner's mandate ended last week. My colleague from Drummond very kindly informed the minister of this fact, just in case she had not seen it coming. He made her an offer and urged her not to forget because there were just four days to go. Saturday passed, midnight came and went, no commissioner. We now have no official languages commissioner. Can my colleague from Drummond tell me if this is either negligence or incompetence on the Liberals' part?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. Is it incompetence or ignorance? I would say that it is a lack of leadership. That is a good answer, is it not? I strongly believe that it is a lack of leadership. I do not understand what happened because everyone knew what was going on. Everyone knew that the interim commissioner's term was scheduled to end on June 17. It is not true that the minister did not know. She was well aware of that fact. She found me quite tiresome last Wednesday when I reminded her not once, twice, or three times but four times that she should not forget that the interim commissioner's term was ending on Saturday, June 17. I also asked her what her plan was and what she intended to do.

Unfortunately, we are now in a situation where the government seems to have forgotten that the official languages commissioner is accountable not only to the government but to all of Parliament. When Madeleine Meilleur was appointed, the government forgot that it was supposed to consult the opposition leaders, namely, the leaders of the NDP and the Conservative Party. It says so in the Official Languages Act. Subsection 49(1) stipulates that, before an official languages commissioner can be appointed, the government must consult the opposition leaders. However, we learned in April that someone from the Department of Justice had called Ms. Meilleur.

There has been a lack of leadership in all this.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:05 p.m.

Liberal

Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to take part in this very interesting debate.

I would first like to thank the Conservative member who raised the matter. Honestly, I find that a little ironic. Perhaps my colleague simply wants us to talk more about the areas where the Conservatives had little success for the last 10 years. If that actually is his objective, I would take the opportunity to point out to him the consequences that the cuts have had on minority anglophones and francophones over the last 10 years.

First, I will talk about the court challenges program. The first decision of the Conservative government was to eliminate that program to ensure that minorities could not challenge it and that it could impose its will. That was not at all appreciated by the official language minority communities.

Then the Conservative government took issue with the long form census. They said that it was complicated, too expensive, and of no use, although the data could assist certain people, certain communities, or certain provinces. It was a tool that supported minorities, which the government did not consider to be particularly important. Accordingly, that was set aside.

Then the government turned to the Translation Bureau, another place where it could undermine linguistic duality. It decided to make major cuts, claiming that official documents would have very little long-term value. Once again, official language minority communities found themselves in a mess. That did not matter, though, because the Conservative government did not care much about these communities and said this would continue.

I will go on because the cuts to the official language minority communities in the past 10 years were very significant. I am really pleased that my colleague raised the issue.

Now, let us talk about the roadmap. It was the action plan. I think the only solid plan we had was the Dion plan. It was a true action plan. It included measures and data and provided for investments in communities to ensure their success. However, what did the Conservative government do? It held two rounds of negotiations. The first one took place nine years ago. The Conservative government decided not to increase funding and maintain the status quo for four years, when there was was normally an increase of 2% or 3%. In the end, investments in official language minority communities were reduced by 12%. The government said that it was not serious, because that would be renegotiated in five years. However, five years later, the government again decided to maintain the status quo for another five years.

Did the Conservative government have a vision? Yes, to weaken official language minority communities. Maintaining the status quo for another five years meant another 12% decrease in funding. They therefore provided 30% less funding than what was in the roadmap, an instrument to ensure the prosperity, vitality, and sustainability of our communities.

This is the kind of situation we went through for 10 years. However, we finally have a government that is interested in the issue and wants to make a difference for official language minority communities.

Not only do we need to work on a new action plan, on a new roadmap for official languages, but we also have to correct all the mistakes and ill intentions of the past 10 years.

I am very surprised that my colleague gave me an opportunity to speak to this fundamental issue.

The Conservatives decided to attack the Translation Bureau. They believed that it did not take an expert to work at the Translation Bureau—we can translate well enough; that should be all right; that should do it. They told all sorts of stories. For the House and for the country, there is no more important instrument than the Translation Bureau. We must ensure that official documents are translated perfectly.

As my colleague said earlier, countries from around the world come here to study the effectiveness of the Translation Bureau. What did the Conservatives do? They made cuts. They claimed that expertise was not necessary here or for their party. Instead of developing expertise, they made cuts—one cut, two cuts, 100 cuts. Not only will there be fewer people to do the work, but it was decided to give less work to the experts and to make more cuts. What will we do? We will send documents to firms with less subject matter expertise, and these firms will use terminology that we have never heard of. We will almost need to hire a firm to understand the terminology used by the other firm. That is what it will take. They do not believe that quality is essential. How can we be a centre of excellence if we do not have excellent expertise? It is both astounding and discouraging.

The Portage machine translation software was not about cuts. It was just a strategy to ensure that official language minority communities came out the losers once again. The previous government decided to once again make these communities the losers by creating a software called Portage, thanks to which translators would no longer be needed. Public servants could simply use the software application. They would enter the information they wanted translated into the software and hope that it produced an excellent translation.

Not one, not two, but hundreds of witnesses had to come and say that this was not a translation tool but a comprehension tool. It is shocking to see what a government that is not interested in and has no desire to help official language minority communities can do. If it is not a priority of that government, it gets ignored, and these communities often get ignored.

The Conservatives do not place a lot of importance on expertise. I would like to draw a little analogy. A few weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. Congratulations Penguins, and congratulations to the best hockey player in the world, who is, of course, from Nova Scotia: Sidney Crosby. Even Don Cherry, who did not really like him because he is from eastern Canada, is now starting to love him because he is the best, but I digress. Did the Penguins go out and get members of their families or fans to play on their team so that they could win the Stanley Cup? No, they did not. They went and got experts, hockey players who could deliver the goods. That is exactly what we have done for the Translation Bureau. The previous government did not seek out experts, but the current government, the Liberal government did. Why? To make sure that we have the best translations, the best product. Translation is much like our Stanley Cup.

Now, let us talk about how we are going to ensure that our plan for translation is followed. Once again, as a result of the recommendations of witnesses and the great work of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, we are going to be able to find a way to do that.

I am beginning to lose my voice, but that is okay. Losing one's voice is not a problem when telling great stories about our government and bad stories about—

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Order. If hon. members were not screaming at each other, I am sure that the hon. member would not be losing his voice. So, please, I would like the member to continue his speech so that we can hear what he has to say.

The hon. member for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS

Mr. Speaker, once again, they are trying to weaken the minorities, but they did not succeed in the past and they will not succeed in the future.

To ensure that expertise is passed on, this government has made a recommendation that is extremely important. Fifty students will be hired each year for five years; that is a total of 250 young people who will become experts. Will they be chosen just from the University of Ottawa? No, absolutely not. Some of the 50 students will come from the University of Ottawa, while others will come from the Université de Moncton, from Acadia, and from the Université de Montréal in Quebec. We will seek universities to help us train the next generation and ensure we keep the expertise that is essential in this area.

One very important recommendation that I also like is from the President of the Treasury Board. If he were here today, I am sure that he would want to add something. The request is to make it mandatory for government departments to use the services of the real, improved Translation Bureau.

The Translation Bureau will be improved because our government wants to ensure that the quality is going to be there, because it is mandatory. We certainly cannot simply have interpreters whose work is almost accurate. I know my colleague from Drummond could add to my list, because he was also there when the witnesses appeared. It was even difficult to hear how the previous Conservative government was able to slowly cause this destruction over 10 years and wreak all this havoc.

Our government is going to invest $7.5 million a year to rebuild the Translation Bureau and to ensure that we will have experts who can do the job. Then, we did not just say that we would ask the CEO to ensure quality. We said that the CEO would be responsible for working with his team to build a vision, to hold consultations, and to work with the communities to ensure that we will be the best not only in Canada, but perhaps around the world.

That person therefore has this extremely important task. However, to take it a step further, our party decided to hire a chief officer, or a director if you will, who will be responsible for quality. This clearly shows the government's commitment. It could have simply made the changes without taking an extra step. My Conservative colleague must admit that even the Conservatives, in 10 years of so-called work, never imagined that someone could be responsible for ensuring better quality.

I am baffled. I really like my colleague who sits on the committee. His comments are always interesting and relevant. I want to thank him one more time for giving me the opportunity to make the points that had to be made. The government will do what it takes in the future to ensure the quality of translation in the House and in all the offices.

Real success does not come from cuts, but rather from investment. Our party wants to invest in Canadians, in the departments, and in the communities. That is how we will build a structure that will not only ensure our country's economic development, but also demonstrate that the official languages are essential to our government.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's presentation, but he will have to answer a simple question. After all the money the government is in the process of investing in official languages, all the improvements and all the bells and whistles, how is it that his colleague, the environment minister, sent me a unilingual email in English just last week?

Can you explain that to me?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I think the hon. member failed to address me and directed his comment to his colleague. I would remind hon. members to direct their comments through the Chair, and not directly to their colleagues.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

The simplest answer I can give is that he probably opened the wrong file. The letter in French was in the other file.

The important fact is that our government is taking the steps necessary to ensure success. As a government, not only do we have a vision, but we are also introducing measures to promote progress.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

NDP

François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook for his speech.

It is a pleasure for me to work with him, particularly on the recent issue of how rights holders are counted. This is an extremely important issue, to ensure that all the people who may be entitled to instruction in French, everywhere in Canada, are able to obtain it. We have a big problem at present with the census. We worked very hard together. I hope we will succeed in addressing this issue before the next census, because it is very important.

Let us come back to the Translation Bureau. I understand that things have happened in the past. However, my hon. colleague has to understand that it is his party that is in government.

On this issue, for 2017-18, while my colleague’s party is in government, it is predicted that 140 translator, interpreter, and terminologist positions will be eliminated by attrition. That is equivalent to 17% of the staff. Obviously, 50 students can be hired, but that will not replace all of the expertise. The 15 translators hired every year are not going to fill that void. That is why there must be investment.

I think my hon. colleague sees very clearly that there is still work to be done. To accomplish that work, we need an official languages commissioner.

I would like my hon. colleague to answer this question: how can it be that the interim commissioner’s term was not renewed on Saturday? What happened? Who forgot to call her, and who forgot to make the announcement? What is going on in this government?

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I am really happy that you raised the entire question of rights holders, because I had forgotten it. I should have added that.

When the census was eliminated, what they did was arrange it so that the data that would respond to paragraph 23(1)(b) and subsection 23(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which relate to counting students, was no longer collected. That is another problem that we have to raise and for which we have to find solutions. We are going to find them.

Also, regarding hiring, we are in the process of restructuring. We have a new CEO and we will shortly be hiring a new quality chief. After that, there will be development, and we will have the staff and expertise needed to restore the bureau’s excellence.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I would remind members to direct their questions to the Chair.

The member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

Official LanguagesCommittees of the HouseRoyal Assent

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, there are no drawers in my telephone or my computer. Last week, I received an email from the minister in English only, with no attachment. There is no hidden drawer or a drawer underneath, on top or to the side. Emails are the only things exchanged on the Hill.

Obviously, my colleague is taking the matter lightly by saying that I did not find the right drawer. This is not about drawers, but it is extremely important, because the Liberals claim to be an exemplary government. Therefore, if that is the kind of example they set, we have a serious problem, a huge problem.

I will ask my colleague again: after 150 years of history—which we will be celebrating a week from now—how is it that even now this government is unable to send emails from its ministers’ offices in both official languages? How can that be?