Official Languages committee  The best thing would be to enforce the Translation Bureau Act effectively. In other words, give the bureau back its mandatory role and make it free for departments to use the bureau's services again. As I said in my opening remarks, that approach would cost the government a lot l

Official Languages committee  When the Official Languages Act was introduced in 1969, public servants were told that they would have two bureaus serving them: the language bureau, which helped to deliver language training, and the translation bureau, which provided translation services. The language bureau is

Official Languages committee  The best example I can give is using the federal government's translation buying power. Proportionally speaking, the federal government is by far the largest purchaser of translation services in Canada. That purchasing power could be used to strengthen the private translation sec

Official Languages committee  It is essential that the bill recognize the importance of the role of translation and the translation bureau. Since you asked, I will prepare some provisions that could be included in the bill, for the committee's consideration. You can count on me.

Official Languages committee  The elephant in the room is machine translation. It's an extremely valuable tool for those who know how to use it. Machine translation is done by a computer, and what computers do is calculate. They don't think, and they don't understand. A machine translation tool is a calculato

Official Languages committee  It's important to recognize the vital role that translation plays in the constitutional rights of Canadians who do not speak the other official language.

Official Languages committee  I’ll give you an example. In late August, the Université de Montréal received a request for interns from 13 federal departments and agencies, which I will not name. According to a Treasury Board directive adopted in 1995, departments are not allowed to hire translators; only the

Official Languages committee  That's right.

Official Languages committee  I'd prefer not to name them, but I can if necessary.

Official Languages committee  To explain it, I have to tell you what happened in 1995. In 1994, the Translation Bureau had an appropriated budget. In 1995, when it was decided to charge for the bureau's services, the parliamentary appropriations that were allocated to the bureau were distributed among all the

Official Languages committee  I've just given you a hint.

Official Languages committee  Help should be given to the Translation Bureau in the way of funding so that it can set up a computer system that would include a schedule that would allow interpreters in Canada to view and register for work opportunities. The bureau does not have the financial means to create s

Official Languages committee  Yes, of course.

Official Languages committee  Very well.

Official Languages committee  For example, a new scholarship program could be created for interpretation students. That has solved all the shortages for years, so it would be a huge help. That's one of the solutions.