Official Languages committee  By using the word “bastard”, I was of course talking about the organization, not the people, the managers and senior executives. We have one foot in the public service using the government's way of thinking, and another in the private sector using the private sector's way of thi

Official Languages committee  I can only repeat what I said earlier. The Bureau has been given the monopoly over translation for the departments that don't choose to do business with the private sector. There are therefore two choices: federal departments and agencies can either do business entirely with the

Official Languages committee  Since 2011.

Official Languages committee  We are losing expertise, especially in scientific and technical translation. As I said just now, we had accumulated tons of expertise over the years and the decades. The veterans had that expertise, but they have left. Beforehand, when young people were hired, the experienced pe

Official Languages committee  Actually, the quality has stayed the same. As I said, people are going to great lengths to maintain the quality. However, they are increasingly under stress because of the employees retiring. At some point, something's got to give and we will no longer be able to maintain the qua

Official Languages committee  Exactly. Here is what already happened to me. Some time ago, I called a department to get some information and the person who answered said: “Good morning, Translation Bureau.”

Official Languages committee  It was not the Translation Bureau.

Official Languages committee  It gets worse. Once—this was before 2011—, the Bureau held an exam for new TR positions. Afterwards, we learned that the Bureau had contacted those who had failed the exam to offer them positions as revisers or language advisors.

Official Languages committee  Essentially, the private sector produces words. Commercial logic says that words must be produced as economically as possible. It may be that the private sector does very good work, but we should not be under any illusion: the objective is to make money or at very least not to go

Official Languages committee  It is a chronic problem. It has been talked about since I started my career here 29 years ago. When an office in any given department wants a text to be translated quickly, they prefer to have someone do it on the spot. Often, the texts are small, not briefing notes or reports.

Official Languages committee  I am a practitioner, a translator, actually. In our business, we are using computerized tools more and more, which is not a problem in itself. However, you really have to understand that those tools must be in the hands of professionals, people who know the area, not to just anyo

Official Languages committee  To be perfectly frank, I do not understand why Ms. Achimov said that. The truth is that people are under extreme stress, both administrative staff and translators. They are being pushed to the limit in order to do the work that they have to do. The organization itself is under st

Official Languages committee  Over the years, the Bureau has acquired great expertise in scientific and technical translation. Unfortunately, that expertise is fading away as people retire. As for multilingual translation, the Bureau’s expertise is now external, and provided at discount prices.

Official Languages committee  The first recommendation is to make the Translation Bureau the sole government agency responsible for translation services within the federal public service. If it were responsible for managing translation on behalf of all departments, the Bureau could plan in the medium and long

Official Languages committee  The Official Languages Act of 1969 gave the Translation Bureau the mandate to ensure linguistic quality throughout the machinery of government and to develop expertise and tools that would give it an international reputation. That was in 1969, and, at the time, it was a governmen