Official Languages committee  I am the one who should be thanking you.

Official Languages committee  Obviously, if someone receives a text that they consider to be of lesser quality, then that person can always file a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. That has been done in the past. The fundamental principle of the Official Languages Act is the equality of both official languages, as I have said.

Official Languages committee  It seems unlikely that this would be taken to court right away. However, if the person felt that the text he or she received was not of the desired quality, then they could certainly file a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages and ask for an investigation.

Official Languages committee  As far as legislation is concerned, we have to keep one thing in mind, that federal legislation is no longer translated. Laws are now co-drafted. In other words, two groups of law clerks draft the text at the same time. Translation is still used for rulings and can be of very good quality.

Official Languages committee  Yes. I also worked for the Parliament of Canada in the 1970s, and I was often called upon to translate texts. I hated it because translation was not part of my job. I do not think that anyone could object to a tool designed for personal use that would allow people to understand texts.

Official Languages committee  Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question.

Official Languages committee  I cannot make any assumptions about how people will use the tool. That is why it is important to seriously examine the issue and to have very clear directives and guidelines. People need to understand that the tool must not be used to communicate with the public or even to communicate with other people within the public service.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  You will recall how laws were drafted bilingually in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s. They were written in English and the translator had to slavishly translate the English text. He or she did not take part in the process at all. In the case of a dialogical translation, the translator participates in the process and guides the author of the text to ensure that both versions ultimately are creative and very clear.

Official Languages committee  It is true that I am not speaking on behalf of the government. However, I would like to point out that there is a translation bureau, but that it is also experiencing cuts. Attempts have been made to send the work to the private sector. However, I have to say that, when official documents are translated within government, the quality of the translation is excellent.

Official Languages committee  There is a translation bureau.

Official Languages committee  Yes, translation can be sent to an outside company. For example, court rulings are obviously not translated by the Translation Bureau. In New Brunswick, all of those decisions are translated in the private sector by the Centre de traduction et de terminologie juridiques, which is part of the faculty of law at the University of Moncton.

Official Languages committee  To my knowledge, no translation tool is being used within the Government of New Brunswick. If government employees in certain departments have to communicate with me by email to answer a question, for example, rather than sending their text to the translation bureau, they may use the translation tools that we are familiar with and that are easily accessible, but I must admit that the quality is not good.

Official Languages committee  I think that people should already feel comfortable doing that. If I want to communicate with someone and I feel more comfortable doing it in French, I do not need a tool. I write the message in French and hope that the person receiving my message will find someone to translate it, if he or she does not understand what it says.

Official Languages committee  I was using that example particularly in the context of legal translation, the translation of court decisions. Earlier, I was asked a question about New Brunswick and the decisions of the Supreme Court, the Federal Court, and the administrative tribunals. Linguistic accuracy is very important.