Procedure and House Affairs committee  I suspect that the only real way we know this, because we don't ask the question, is when the members themselves insist on speaking that language.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That's a determination for you to make. You would find out whether you're ranging outside your comfort zone from the discussions you have with the interpreters who would provide you the service and can tell you how much is lost, and whether you're comfortable with that threshold.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Certainly. In fact, we would work with the clerk and the analysts to make sure that we follow the deliberations. The more time we have to understand what direction you might want to explore, the better able we will be to assist in informing you about how we could successfully imp

Procedure and House Affairs committee  That in fact is an initiative that also belongs to the government, not just the administration. The ceremony for the Speech from the Throne, the royal assent, and telling the House to find themselves a speaker are all ceremonies that really have some sort of control through the e

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Again, I think that would basically be through Public Works rather than through us.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If I recall my history correctly, when Canada made a greater commitment to official languages, the federal government supported the establishment of training and courses, through funding to universities, to provide proper interpretation training.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We had two senators who were from the north who spoke Inuktitut, Senator Watt and Senator Adams.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think you would want to do the preliminary work through negotiations with Public Services and Procurement Canada to determine who is available, and work out the modalities. We know that Mr. Ouellette has a real keen desire to speak in Cree. I suppose he would certainly be someo

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't recall actually seeing the cost, because we were under the mileage limit. We just negotiated that.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The cost was actually borne by the department, and because it had a commitment to provide the service, the negotiations were always fruitful, always moving in the same direction: how do we understand each other, to be able to meet your needs and provide a quality of service that

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think you will come to an understanding of what your real options are once you start to explore with others. You'll have an idea from the members themselves how passionate they are in their desire to speak their maternal language. You will know from the department what its capa

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. I remember once watching a program on the European Parliament and the 28 languages that are used there. The interpreters were having a hell of a time finding somebody who could do Danish into Greek. They found everything else, but that combination presented some difficulties

Procedure and House Affairs committee  What makes it successful is that they are trying to find everyone who can move into each language without a relay.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is no budget, at least when I was working on it in the Senate. I assume it's the same in the House. We have a memorandum of understanding, and they provide service. They will translate a gazillion words a year; they will produce so many pages. It's almost as if you're renti