Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Official Languages
Issue 6 - Evidence - October 30, 2006
OTTAWA, Monday, October 30, 2006
The Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages met this day at 4:00 p.m. to study and to report from time to time on the application of the Official Languages Act and the regulations and directives made under it, within those institutions subject to the act.
Senator Maria Chaput (Chairman) in the chair.
[Translation]
The Chairman: Good afternoon everybody. This is the tenth meeting of the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages. My name is Senator Maria Chaput, and I am chairman of this committee; I come from Manitoba.
Before recognizing the witnesses, I would like to take a moment to introduce the other members of the committee. To my right, Senator Gerald Comeau from Nova Scotia, Senator Lowell Murray from Ontario, Senator Claudette Tardif from Alberta, Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool from New Brunswick, and Senator Mobina Jaffer from British Columbia.
Today, we are continuing our study on the application of the Official Languages Act and, more specifically, we are focusing on how the official languages obligations will be met in staging the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
To discuss this issue, we have before us, in a roundtable format, representatives from three organizations. First, From Canadian Heritage, the Assistant Deputy Minister, International and Intergovernmental Affairs and Sport, Mr. Jacques Paquette. From the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games Federal Secretariat, we welcome Mr. David Robinson, Director General. And lastly, from Sport Canada, Mr. Tom Scrimger, Director General. Welcome, gentlemen.
It is my understanding that Mr. Paquette will make the presentation. You have about 15 minutes to do so. This will then be followed by questions from senators.
I would also like to introduce the committee's deputy chairman, Senator Andrée Champagne from Quebec and Senator Fernand Robichaud from New Brunswick.
The floor is yours, Mr. Paquette.
Jacques Paquette, Assistant Deputy Minister, International and Intergovernmental Affairs and Sport, Canadian Heritage: Thank, Madam Chairman. I would like to thank you for your invitation to appear before this committee and for the opportunity to discuss these issues. In light of your introductions, may I point out that we all represent one single organization: Sport Canada and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games Federal Secretariat are my responsibility, and come under the leadership of Canadian Heritage. We also provide support to two ministers — as you know things are never simple — the Minister of Sport, Mr. Michael Chong, and the Minister responsible for the Olympic Games, Mr. Emerson. However, from a bureaucratic standpoint, we all fall under the banner of Canadian Heritage.
The Chairman: Thank you for your clarification.
[English]
Mr. Paquette: I will start in English and then I will move to French for the second part of the presentation. You have received a copy of a deck that I will use for my presentation. We hope today to be able to make a contribution to the study you are conducting. I should add that it is very timely to conduct such a study related to 2010, because the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are certainly still in the process of planning many elements.
Looking at the mandate of this study, I will first address the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2010 and, second, the sport policy as listed here under ``other related issues.''
Related to slide 3, I will say a few words about the secretariat. The secretariat was established to support the federal activity in the context of the planning and hosting of the games. Its mandate is related to supporting a government- wide approach to these games, which means ensuring the delivery of high-quality games, as well as ensuring that we will draw benefits from this important investment.
In terms of the role of the secretariat, it is to coordinate the work of all departments in the federal family and support not only interdepartmental, but also intergovernmental coordination and collaboration with other levels of government. In achieving this the secretariat liaises with all groups involved, including government departments, non- governmental organizations and outside groups that might be involved one way or another in the hosting of the games.
Slide 4 outlines the specific role of the secretariat related to official languages. We have a framework to coordinate the federal efforts toward the games, and we have set up a specific interdepartmental group that deals with official languages. We bring together different departments to coordinate our work, and that is used to coordinate our efforts toward the francophone communities to ensure their involvement.
One of the main objectives is to seek and anchor the broadest participation of all federal departments to assist the Vancouver Organizing Committee, VANOC, in achieving their objectives in that regard. We are working closely with VANOC at all times to ensure that these objectives are met.
On slide 5, we have outlined some of the main priorities regarding official languages in regard to the activity of the secretariat. There is no question that the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that our two official languages are fully incorporated into the planning, organizing and hosting of the 2010 Winter Games. We are encouraging the participation of francophone communities in these important events so that they can seize as well the opportunities offered to them by these games.
Looking at slide 6, VANOC is a non-profit corporation that is supported by the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia. VANOC has several obligations. They must comply with the Olympic Charter, the host city contract — which includes Vancouver and Whistler — and the games planning process, a requirement set out by the International Olympic Committee executive board. VANOC is overseen by a 20-member board of directors.
I turn to slide 7. Official languages formed part of the commitment of the Vancouver bid for the 2010 Winter Games at the beginning. During the bid phase, we negotiated what is called the multi-party agreement with all the partners. I believe you received a copy of this agreement earlier. It outlines the role and the responsibility of each partner. When I say ``partner,'' I mean the Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the resort and municipality of Whistler, VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, in consultation with the four host nations.
Why is this multi-party agreement important? It not only sets the roles of all the partners, but also the commitments. The multi-party agreement includes annex A, which is a full page that describes VANOC's obligation vis-à-vis Canada's official languages requirements in the planning and delivery of the 2010 Winter Games. I can return to this topic if you require more detail. This agreement was signed when the bid was being put forward.
Slide 8 outlines some of the accomplishments of the secretariat. We have a senior adviser who is dedicated full time to official languages. The adviser also has the responsibility of coordinating the Government of Canada's role toward official languages.
As I said earlier, we have also created the interdepartmental committee, part of what we call the cluster groups, to encourage the broadest possible participation in that matter. We are in the process of planning some mechanism to do the same with our provincial and territorial colleagues, and that is in the works.
Finally, we have worked very closely with the spokespersons of the francophone communities — and I will come back to this, giving you more information. As a result of that, we are also a member of the coordination committee that VANOC has created to take advantage of the games to mobilize the francophone communities.
These are the elements where we are directly involved.
Slide 9 highlights some of the work that has been done by VANOC. I understand that you will be in Vancouver, so you will probably hear directly from them as well. They have already taken positive measures to address this challenge and also deliver some of their commitments.
We are quite confident of the commitment that VANOC has shown so far. Their board of directors has approved a strategic plan for official languages, which includes a linguistic policy that will soon be implemented. The policy will guide VANOC's employees through official languages requirements.
VANOC also signed a partnership agreement with the Government of Quebec. This bilateral agreement includes several elements, but I would draw your attention to some of the cooperative issues such as the promotion of the French language linguistic services. For example, they will use the Office québécois de la langue française to help VANOC with terminology when they have to translate some elements. There is a real effort to be able to cover all the angles.
Finally, on slide 10, the 2010 federal secretariat has been very proactive. Along with VANOC, it has helped to organize two sessions with the francophone communities in 2005; and that culminated in an agreement being signed by VANOC in June 2006. This agreement confirms the shared commitment between the Fondation canadienne pour le dialogue des culture, which is responsible for the entire country, as well as the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique to work specifically with the francophone communities in British Columbia to ensure that the games reflect linguistic dualities.
The community looks at this very positively in the sense that this is a key tool for them to be able to take advantage of, contribute directly to and benefit from the hosting of the games.
[Translation]
Now let's turn to another subject identified in your study. I am at slide 11 on official languages and sport. Sport Canada's mandate is to promote excellence in sport and the development of the sport system to strengthen the unique contribution that sport makes when it comes to both physical fitness, and more broadly, to Canadian identity, culture and society.
National sport organizations play a leading role in official language promotion in Canada. There are independent, not-for-profit, and as such, not subject to the Official Languages Act. Our role with respect to these organizations comes as the result of contribution agreements entered into with them.
I am now on slide 12. Obviously, it is our commitment at Sport Canada to ensure that the Canadian sport system reflects the country's linguistic duality. We take measures to ensure that organizations under its patronage provide better services through athletes, coaches and others, and that we continue to work closely with the entire sporting community in order to meet these common objectives.
There are a number of things I would like to draw to your attention on slide 13. In 2002, the Canadian Sport Policy was adopted and approved by all governments, in other words, the federal government, the ten provinces and the three territories. It is the policy framework used in the management of sport in Canada. Under this framework, there is a very clear reference to official languages issues. The objective is to ensure accessibility to all the services identified under the policy framework, in both English and French. The statement on linguistic duality is very clear. Linguistic duality is a crucial part of the Canadian sport system.
We also work very closely with the Commissioner of Official Languages. A report was published in 2000, followed by a progress report in 2003 and we implemented all the recommendations made at that time.
We ensured that Sport Canada's language capacity was as it should be. Currently, 96 per cent of our staff have a functional knowledge of both official languages. We also created two positions in the area of policy analysis, and the management and coordination of official languages. There are two people, therefore, working full time on this issue. We also set up a funding framework for sports organizations which include a number of criteria. This enables us to determine where the needs are and where we need to invest as far as implementation of the sports policy is concerned. Some of these criteria are specifically related to official languages thereby giving us the ability to influence these organizations.
Turning to slide 14. One of the conditions of funding is respect of the official languages. Our budget for overall support of organizations and for sport development totals a little over $50 million. Under the contribution agreements, there are a number of conditions specifically related to respect of official languages and the development of services. To this end, we spend about $1 million annually on one-time and targeted initiatives when problems arise with respect to official languages. So we have this additional tool at our disposal.
I remarked a little earlier that we work closely with the Commissioner for Official Languages. We were quite glad to have him acknowledge all the work we are doing, and especially the progress we are making, because it demonstrates that we are on the right track. It has encouraged us to continue in this vein. We consult with the commissioner on many files to ensure we are taking the right approach.
Moving on to the last slide, slide 15. Last week you received a copy of an independent study on linguistic barriers to access to high performance sport. We commissioned this study following discussions with the official languages commissioner. The study rightly refers to how complex an issue this is. For example, in its findings, it points out that the main barriers high performance athletes face — and they are the federal government's responsibility — are primarily financial and geographical rather than linguistic. This is a very complicated issue because there are a lot of factors which come into play. This is why we are taking a careful approach to this study to ensure we draw the right conclusions.
A number of recommendations have come out of this study. As a result, we set up a working group to develop an action plan to apply these recommendations. We have noticed that not all sporting organizations have the same capacities. The study also showed how many volunteers work for these organizations. The study clearly points to the complexity of the issue.
We will continue our work to improve the linguistic capacity of our sports structure. We know that there are organizations which function very well, while some have had greater problems. When we look at the figures for the last few years, we see that progress has been made, and that we are going in the right direction. We intend to continue in that direction and make progress in order to achieve results that are in line with our expectations.
That concludes my presentation. We would be very happy to take your questions. As you know, Mr. Scrimger of Sport Canada and Mr. Robinson of the Olympic Games Federal Secretariat will be here to help me in that.
The Chairman: Thank you, Mr. Paquette. We will now go to questions.
[English]
Senator Jaffer: I found your presentation very interesting. Since these games will happen in my province, I am keen that our heritage is looked after.
One of the issues you did not touch upon was that the closing ceremonies in Turin were not reflective of our heritage. How will you encourage VANOC to use artists from various backgrounds in the opening and closing ceremonies and other events relating to the promotion of the games?
Mr. Paquette: There were several reactions around the country regarding the closing ceremonies in Turin, especially as far as the Canadian portion was concerned.
VANOC is in the process of planning this; no decisions have been made yet concerning either the closing or the opening ceremonies. We are talking about the Olympics as well as the Paralympics, which, overall, will amount to four ceremonies.
We have raised this issue with VANOC, and it is our intention to continue work with them. For us, there is no question that these ceremonies must reflect the diversity of the country. It is not only a question of quality, but a question of representation.
We are examining ways to ensure the objectives we have in our minds will be reflected through these ceremonies and that Canadians from all backgrounds will be proud of what they see on television.
There will be a few billion people watching these ceremonies. The winter Olympics are very popular for many reasons. Since it is happening during the winter, people are at home watching. Thus, it is even more important that the opening and closing ceremonies convey the right message. We will be working with VANOC to ensure that it will happen.
Senator Jaffer: I am sure that in the formal part of the ceremonies both official languages will be very much front and centre. I have difficulty seeing that happen on the operational side. In our country we have no excuse to not have both official languages front and centre.
I have not heard much about how VANOC is promoting official languages, for instance, in terms of the signage around Whistler, Vancouver and the airports. I know it is still early, but how will this happen operationally? Are you setting any kind of base line as to the percentage of people who must be bilingual?
Mr. Paquette: As I said a bit earlier, one of the key elements for us was the annex to the multi-party agreement. It lists all the commitments that VANOC must respect. Some of the issues that you have raised are listed in that annex. We are talking about the recruitment of volunteers, for example, from official languages communities. There must be a sufficient capacity within the organization. We are talking about the promotion of all the public documents that will be published. The signage is there related to the games. All the commitments are listed. If everything is being delivered as it should be, we will be fine.
It is early stages still. We know that VANOC is working on developing a specific plan to address this. The recently signed agreement with the francophone community will help them achieve this. That will give them a better access to a pool of volunteers who have the francophone capacity, for example. Quebec will also help.
We have seen, so far, all the right signs showing that VANOC is prepared to deliver the games in both official languages.
[Translation]
Senator Comeau: On page 10 of your presentation, you refer to the Fondation canadienne pour le dialogue des cultures, which represents francophone and Acadian communities from all parts of Canada on VANOC. I must confess that I do not know the foundation. But given that the foundation is becoming my representative when it comes to the Olympic Games, can you tell me something about it?
Mr. Paquette: When we carried out the consultations, we brought some members of the francophone community together into groups. I believe that the foundation's executive director is based in Edmonton. One consideration was to ensure that British Columbia's francophone community could be genuinely involved, while another was to ensure coordination with all other groups. Following the consultations, VANOC was there, as we ourselves were, and the francophone community identified the foundation as the best tool to provide the link with other groups and to ensure that the Fédération francophone de la Colombie-Britannique also had a role to play.
Senator Comeau: As an Acadian, I should probably know the group. I will certainly try to find out more about it. Do you know who appointed the group? How long has it been in existence?
Senator Murray: Was the group established just for this event?
Mr. Paquette: No, not just for this event.
Senator Comeau: How was it designated as the spokesperson or representative for those francophone communities? I know that when this comes up at the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes du Canada, I have a vote to say who my representative is when I am at the meeting. The same goes for the Société nationale des Acadiens, which speaks for me as well. But I have never heard of this group.
Mr. Paquette: I suggest that I provide all committee members with basic information on the group, including their particulars and the reasons for which they were selected as representatives.
Senator Comeau: Are you somewhat familiar with the group? You must have agreed to their role at some point?
Mr. Paquette: This was done at Canadian Heritage. Our Official Languages Branch — Mr. Hubert Lussier, among others — was asked to work on this issue in particular. Mr. Lussier established and worked on those links with community groups to ensure that the agreement could move forward.
Senator Comeau: My spokesperson has a great deal of significance.
Mr. Paquette: Of course.
Senator Comeau: If the foundation speaks for me, then I would like to have some input on the appointment of its leaders.
Mr. Paquette: If I understand correctly, the Foundation's primary role is to establish links with various associations and groups across Canada. I would not say that they are the spokespersons, or representatives, for those groups. They do not speak on behalf of the entire community. Their role is to define and develop ties with the francophone and Acadian community as a whole.
Senator Comeau: That is not what the text says. It states that the foundation is the francophone and Acadian communities' designated representative on VANOC. That includes my community and Nova Scotia. So the foundation speaks for me.
Mr. Paquette: On VANOC, yes.
Senator Comeau: So that issue must be examined closely. It is very important.
My second question is this: On page 9 of your brief, you state that you signed a framework cooperation agreement with the government of Quebec. May I ask why?
Mr. Paquette: The framework agreement was signed by VANOC. The organising committee's purpose in signing the agreement included a number of objectives. One of those was access to technical tools making it possible to provide services in both official languages. That is why they signed the agreement.
Senator Comeau: I wonder whether the group considered approaching New Brunswick, which is Canada's only officially bilingual province and which has done a great deal to promote cooperation between the two language groups. I will not say that Quebec has not contributed, but the province which has contributed most is certainly New Brunswick.
Mr. Paquette: We did ask the question when the agreement was signed. We were told that it was their intention to work at developing agreements with other provinces. Ideally, I think that John Furlong would like an agreement with each of the provinces.
If you meet the committee, that would be a very good question to put to them. They could tell you at what stage they are with the remaining talks.
Senator Tardif: I read the report entitled Linguistic Barriers to Access to High Performance Sports with great interest. You are quite right. The Official Languages Commissioner indicated that Sport Canada has made progress. On page 25, the report states the views of some of the people interviewed, including representatives of the Commissioner of Official Languages:
Specifically, Sport Canada has, according to some of those we interviewed, made significant progress with respect to bilingualism at the games and competitions. However, some have noted that Sport Canada has not done much with respect to consequences for organisations that do not meet the bilingualism requirements set out in the accountability agreements. Therefore the incentives to comply are limited to the good will or willingness of organizations to comply.
If I understand correctly, Canada's sport organization is fairly complex. However, national sports organizations play an important role. Some critics of the report said that the obstacles did not necessarily arise only with high- performance sport, but also at lower-level competitions. Frequently, national sports organizations have to interact with athletes at those levels.
How would you encourage a culture that respects linguistic duality in national sport organizations? Do you require compliance with official languages criteria when you grant funding?
Mr. Paquette: The federal government focuses on high-level athletes on national teams. Efforts focus on provincial organizations, which to some extent become responsible for athletes before they reach a level sufficiently high to become part of national teams.
The following example clearly illustrates how complex a situation can be. Every province and its sports organizations take responsibility for that province's athletes. When the athletes reach a sufficiently high-level to join national teams, we become responsible for them. That is where our responsibility begins.
What the study underscores is that, once the athletes reach our level, linguistic barriers may no longer really be the issue they were in the past. That is one of the challenges we have to deal with.
Sport policy is also based on positive cooperation among various levels of government. That is something we are continuing to work on. However, our ability to intervene is somewhat limited, because we deal more with athletes that have reached a certain level of performance.
We are, however, subject to a number of conditions under our contribution agreements. We are always trying to find ways of advancing issues very positively. We know that, in some organizations, progress could take several years. In some cases, that is due to lack of capacity. In other cases, we are at the mercy of the number of volunteers available.
At times we have had to suspend our funding because official languages problems had not been resolved. If we see that insufficient effort is being made, then we can do that as a last recourse. Unfortunately, when funding to an organization is cut, it is the athlete who ends up being penalized. That is why we make every effort possible to do that only as a last recourse. We encourage dialogue with these organizations to ensure that the quality of the services improves.
There are some one-time initiatives. For example, the $1 million sum that was set aside gives us more flexibility for resolving specific problems when necessary.
Let us not kid ourselves, however, there is still a lot of work to do. We try to be positive by focusing on the fact that we have progressed and that we are going in the right direction. Nevertheless, we are far from having reached our targets. In some cases, it has been very difficult to develop the necessary tools; in other cases, the organizations have had limited resources. There are many factors that can explain why progress has been slower than hoped for.
Senator Tardif: Is there a deadline? Do you have any goals? Are the associations supposed to be preparing an action plan?
[English]
Tom Scrimger, Director General, Sport Canada: As part of the national standards that we are putting into place — the renewed ones developed in conjunction with advice from the Commissioner of Official Languages — we identified a series of standards, many of which include the official language standards, to be in full compliance across 56 organizations over the next year or year and a half. Then another series of standards will be put in place over the remaining four or five years; standards that deal with the broader aspect of the Canadian sport system, broader behavioural change or change in areas that is more difficult to make. We have established a longer time frame to work individually with each organization.
We must remember that the Canadian sports system is mostly run by volunteers — the largest volunteer sector in Canada. Many of our national sport organizations have a small staff, but sport in communities is largely run by volunteers. We are making most progress through that good will and support.
We tend to think of sports in the large organizations, such as Hockey Canada, which is a well-resourced organization that is professionally staffed and run. There are many other smaller national sports organizations with limited capacity and limited volunteer bases; we have to make progress where we can and focus on those elements that are most important.
We want to see progress occur immediately in areas that deal with the provision of service to the organization's members in both official languages, in addition to focusing on the athlete. The athlete must be Sport Canada's central focus; therefore, the coaching services, technical documents, team documents and communication that support the athlete are the areas we focus our initial efforts.
[Translation]
As Mr. Paquette mentioned, we have made considerable progress but there is still a lot of work to do. We are trying to change a system, however, that always takes a long time.
The new standards that have been set with each sport association will set the bar even higher for official languages within Canada's sport system.
Senator Tardif: Do the same standards apply to Canadian sport centres?
Mr. Scrimger: These standards are very similar, however, as the report pointed out, we face an additional challenge with the national sport centres. I intend to raise this issue with the presidents at our Thursday morning meeting. Work still needs to be done with the national sport centres to ensure that each athlete receives necessary services in the language of his or her choice. In some centres the matter is simple, in others, it can be problematic.
Senator Losier-Cool: Thank you for your presentation, Mr. Paquette. I am pleased to see that Sport Canada has such good intentions and that you are on the right track.
My questions follow up on Madam Tardif's questions. First, I would like to discuss the budget. Given all your good intentions, I hope that Sport Canada has enough money to meet its goals. It says on page 14 of your presentation that there is $50 million for Sport Canada. Is that sufficient? Would you like to have more? Are you concerned that that may be cut?
Mr. Paquette: No, we have no current concerns, on the contrary. Sport Canada's global budget is spread over our three programs. The first program provides direct assistance to athletes, that is, a monthly allowance that athletes receive from the government to do their work.
The second program we referred to is the sport support program that supports high-performance sport development. That is the assistance provided to organizations and it covers many areas, including trainer development, team preparation for competitions, and others.
The third program is the hosting program; this is a support program for sporting events such as the Canada Games every two years, winter and summer, and major international events.
For example, the Olympic Games are covered through the hosting program. Increased effort over the past two years has led to an enhancement for the athlete assistance program and we feel that it is at the right level. In terms of sports, I think we have done a considerable amount of work and if you are asking me whether we could do more with more money, the answer would probably be yes, given that there are still deficiencies in the sport sector.
Senator Losier-Cool: You mentioned $1 million for initiatives related to official languages. Is that money for the athletes or for the sport, the activity?
Mr. Scrimger: It is for the association or the national sport organization. The funding is currently going towards the improvement of the associations' websites. It is also being used for the translation of key documents for the athletes and trainers within the associations. In some cases, funds are provided for language training for the leaders of national sport associations.
Those are more or less the areas we have targeted for now; if the needs change, then we could potentially put our funds into other areas, in order to strengthen official languages.
Senator Losier-Cool: I realize that Sport Canada is involved with professional sports. Are the Acadian Games, for example, connected to Sport Canada? Not at all? It is only for professionals?
Mr. Paquette: We do not cover professional athletes because a professional athlete receives a salary. We deal with high-performance athletes. We are responsible for athletes who are on national teams.
Senator Losier-Cool: Thank you for the clarification. I would like to come back to the Canadian policy. Ms. Tardif raised the possibility of requiring compliance. The policy must provide for follow-up, and I do not mean by that sanctions, but rather some way of determining whether or not those official languages policies have been applied. You answered Ms. Tardif's question in part, but could you tell us whether there truly is any monitoring?
Mr. Scrimger: Every year, our organization works with the sport organizations in order to determine what progress has been made on national standards. Five of those 20 standards involve official languages. This year we get a snapshot of how each national sport association is operating.
We would like to use our current funding to assign two full-time people to follow up for national sport organizations in order to further improve and have organizations verify their own compliance.
The study indicates that we have made progress, but I think we need tools in order to ensure that this progress continues and that we are aware of how our investment is performing and whether or not it needs to be modified in order to meet new needs or new emergencies.
Senator Losier-Cool: You are responsible for athletes and therefore you are responsible for those who sometimes represent Canada abroad. Canada is an officially bilingual country so do you think it would be going too far to suggest that athletes should be fluent to a certain extent in both official languages of the country? I say to a certain extent, to a limited extent; because my position, with respect to all students graduating from Canadian universities, is that they should be fluent to a certain extent in both official languages. That is my opinion as a former educator, what about athletes?
Mr. Paquette: That is not an easy question to answer. We were very successful in Turino, with 24 medals. Everyone was surprised to see how many athletes were bilingual, when those Canadian athletes were interviewed. We were very pleased to see that except that, obviously, it was more or less a coincidence.
What you have to understand is that athletes competing at this level are under a great deal of pressure. At their level, sport has gone high tech — physical training is no longer enough, preparing an athlete nowadays involves science, equipment, and other aspects. Sport is at the cutting edge of technology. That is the way of the world these days.
That is why we argue that success in sport enhances Canada's image as a high-tech, high-performance country. The only way for an athlete to reach the top is through performance and ability. To become the best, or indeed second or third best, athletes have to be able to focus on improving their performance and have to have the support of their coaches. We appreciate that being bilingual boosts the image of the sport, but in reality, given all of the sacrifices that they make, and all of the pressure that they are under, it would be difficult to include language classes in their training programs.
Senator Losier-Cool: I fully understand that for an athlete, it is performance that counts.
Senator Champagne: I would ask that you indulge a few remarks from our committee's only Quebecer — and somebody who was around to see the 1976 Games. We all know that when it comes to the Olympic Games, money talks. The games are very expensive. As a Quebec francophone, I feel that the decision to grant broadcasting rights for the games to CTV raises many important questions. When Radio-Canada held the rights, it broadcast certain disciplines and signed agreements with RDS, for example, to allow it to broadcast others. I am putting myself in the position of those who only speak French and who struggle with English. What are they going to do?
Radio-Canada adopted a similar strategy with Formula One racing whereby different networks broadcast the event at different times of the day. But what about the games? CTV does not have a French-language channel, and even if it enters a partnership agreement with RDS, the broadcast would only be available to those who have cable. Some people living in rural Quebec still do not have cable; they still rely on an aerial on the roof or rabbit ears, and do not get RDS. As a country, and as a government, will we be able to guarantee that the Vancouver Games will be broadcast in French at no cost to the viewing public?
Mr. Paquette: That is an excellent question. When the CTV-Rogers consortium won the rights, everybody took it for granted that national coverage would be available in both official languages. As things stand, however, it appears there will be limits to the coverage available. If you look at the list of channels associated with CTV, you will see names such as TQS, TSN, and RDS, among others. The concern, therefore, is not so much about coverage in Quebec, but around the country as a whole.
CTV/Rogers is fully aware of these challenges and limitations. They are trying to find ways to make coverage of the Games more accessible. As you said, it is a matter of accessibility. In some instances, RDS is available, but only on cable. I am sure that a commercial solution can be found. In fact, this matter was recently raised with the president of the CBC. There are very clear expectations regarding coverage and accessibility for Canadians. At the moment, we are letting people get on with their work and are awaiting their solutions with interest. They know that they have to find solutions.
Senator Champagne: Nevertheless, there are only a fraction over three years left until the Games. I am sure you have read the report written by Ms. Lise Bissonnette, the ``Grand Témoin,'' the official monitor for the International Organization of the Francophonie à the Turin Games. She highlighted shortcomings with the French-language services provided on sight, criticizing the fact that everything was announced in English and Italian while French was relegated to the sidelines. Another of these ``Grands Témoins'' or official monitors, will be sent to Vancouver. I can only imagine the uproar if French speakers in Canada and around the world were unable to watch the Olympic Games in French because they could not afford to pay for cable. It would leave an indelible stain on Canada's reputation as a bilingual country. I am glad to hear that the matter is being reviewed, and I hope that the Government of Canada will ensure that all Canadians, young and old alike, will be able to enjoy the Olympic Games in the language of their choice. My own father is 94 and he still enjoys watching the Olympic Games. We have arranged cable for him.
I think there may be a problem in terms of broadcasting results in both languages. Does it require two transponders? We have been told that would cost a lot more. Where results are expressed as a time, in minutes and seconds, they can be understood universally; however, abbreviations for units of time and countries are not the same in French and English, yet everybody will be seeing the same results tables. If the Games are on CTV, the results tables will be in English and French speakers will have to make do. That bothers me a little. CBC had adopted a different approach.
Mr. Paquette: It is true that the CTV/Rogers consortium has certain commitments to respect. All images and information have to be provided in both languages as they have to supply their own networks with material in both languages.
Senator Champagne: I hope so for everybody's sake. Keep an eye on them.
Senator Robichaud: Section 13.1 of the Multiparty Agreement for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Para Olympic Games states as follows:
The parties will make reasonable efforts to ensure that domestic radio and television broadcasts of the Games by the Canadian broadcast rights holders for the Games are in French and English.
It only states that they will make reasonable efforts. I do not want the words ``make reasonable efforts,'' to constitute an escape clause, allowing the broadcasters to say that it was not possible. A failure to provide coverage in both languages will not be acceptable for Canadians. If we cannot manage it here in Canada, how can anybody else be expected to manage? What is Canadian Heritage going to do to make sure that coverage is provided in both languages?
Mr. Paquette: Firstly, it is the International Olympic Committee that grants broadcast rights. We raised the matter with them and a number of people also brought it up when the rights were awarded to CTV/Rogers. Furthermore, upon being awarded the rights, CTV/Rogers underscored their determination to provide the signal in both languages, as Canadians expect. As I said a little earlier, we know that they are aware of their limitations and that they are looking for solutions. Given that they are looking for solutions, I can only assume that they do intend to live up to Canadians' expectations on this matter.
Senator Robichaud: When will you know which parties will be chosen? Am I right in thinking that Canada will be one of the parties? When will you know whether it will happen?
Mr. Paquette: The Games are still three years away, and CTV/Rogers are looking for solutions. That is a positive step. It is not as if the Games were only six months away. We still have time to find solutions.
We know that CTV/Rogers is holding discussions in an effort to find solutions. As long as a genuine effort is being made, we are happy to let them work it out for themselves first.
Senator Robichaud: I understand that you want to let them find their own solutions, but if, six months before the Games, they have still not managed to work out an agreement with the other networks, it will probably be too late. At that point they will have so many other problems on their plate that they will simply say that section 13(1) finds them to make reasonable efforts and that they have done so, but it has not worked. Do you understand the point I am trying to make?
Mr. Paquette: I understand full well. However, we are not yet very concerned about this because we know that the parties are making a genuine effort to find solutions.
Senator Losier-Cool: I can assure you that the committee will be making recommendations on this matter. There is no two ways about it.
Senator Champagne: Obviously, you cannot be expected to do the impossible. We are just asking that you keep an eye on them.
The Chairman: As the chairman, I am going to allow myself the last question. It will be brief, Mr. Paquette. In your presentation on page 5, you speak of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Federal Secretariat and its responsibility to ensure that both official languages are fully incorporated into the planning of the Games.
On page 6, you speak about VANOC, the organizing committee for the Games. The VANOC team chose to work with Workopolis, an on-line recruitment service, on the basis of its ability to reach all Canadians in both official languages. So far so good.
If you go to the Workopolis website, you will see that it refers to 1,200 permanent positions, 3,500 temporary positions, and 25,000 volunteer positions. Nowhere, however, does it specify that candidates should speak both official languages.
Workopolis was contracted by VANOC, and the Games Federal Secretariat is responsible for ensuring that both official languages are fully incorporated into the Games. But who is tasked with ensuring that both official languages are respected in all aspects of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?
Mr. Paquette: Our expectations of VANOC are fairly set out in annex A of the multipartite agreement. VANOC is required to draw up plans and work out its staffing requirements for the different language groups.
Thus far, we have implemented tools and strategies to meet these objectives. I referred earlier to the work done with the francophone community, the Quebec government, and possibly with other governments as well. This was done in order to have direct access to certain communities. This is particularly important for recruiting volunteers as the committee wants access to a substantial pool of candidates. There is no doubt that recruiting volunteers who are bilingual, or who have a reasonable knowledge of both official languages will make their life considerably easier.
As I said earlier, your study has come along just at the right time. When you next meet with VANOC, perhaps you could ask them how their planning is coming along and whether their recruitment will allow them to provide services in both official languages during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The Chairman: Thank you very much, gentlemen. Honourable senators, that brings us to the end of today's meeting.
The committee adjourned.