OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) is concerned that the Translation Bureau has taken yet another step that undermines the integrity of Canada’s official languages. The union has been made aware of a recent decision to overhaul the freelance parliamentary interpreters’ accreditation committee that will weaken a process that ensures the quality of interpretation in federal institutions, which members of Parliament and millions of Canadians rely on. This decision only deepens widespread alarm that this government is failing to protect and preserve official languages in Canada, and especially French.
The Translation Bureau has decided to include an external consultant, who hasn’t been accredited for parliamentary work, in the accreditation process which ensures that new freelance parliamentary interpreters meet the high standards needed for this kind of work. The Translation Bureau is effectively surrendering a significant part of the decision-making to someone who does not meet the profession’s own standards. The appointee will sit on the accreditation committee with the standard roster of qualified and seasoned staff interpreters but will have an astounding 50 per cent decision weight on the fate of future freelance interpreters. A Translation Bureau executive holds the tie-breaking vote.
“This is an alarming and irresponsible decision, but sadly, consistent with the pattern we have seen,” said Antoine Hersberger, CAPE vice-president for the TR group, which includes staff interpreters. “By giving decisive authority to someone who is not accredited for parliamentary work, the Translation Bureau is disregarding its own internal expertise, lowering the bar, and weakening the very standards that protect official languages in this country, and that will disproportionately impact French-speaking Canadians.”
Accreditation is required for interpreters to work on Parliament Hill. The Translation Bureau represents it as the guarantee of quality for the interpretation services it provides, and it is recognized globally as one of the highest standards in interpretation work. However, over the last few years, the Translation Bureau has undermined its own reputation and this decision risks deteriorating it further. As most translation and interpretation services are relied upon by French-speaking Canadians, and especially French-speaking members of Parliament, to understand and be understood, any erosion of quality has severe consequences for them.
CAPE is calling on the Translation Bureau to immediately reinstate the previous committee composition and process, which placed accreditation decisions squarely in the hands of in-house, qualified professionals, and to restart the current accreditation process on this basis. The union also urges all leaders and organizations defending official language rights, as well as federal parties and provincial governments, to pay close attention to the growing erosion of official languages caused by the government’s neglect of and underinvestment in the Translation Bureau and to recognize this decision as a serious and pressing threat to linguistic equality in Canada. What is happening at the Translation Bureau is a clear warning of what could follow elsewhere in the federal system if vigilance is not restored.
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