My question follows on Senator Tardif's question and has to do with the automated procurement system your government is about to implement to grant contracts to freelance interpreters. The process was supposed to be launched on September 7, 2016, but at your request it was postponed first to September 30 and then to October 31.

Can we take this as a sign that you are thinking about implementing the recommendations of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages to ensure that the bureau responsible for that service can improve its capacity to provide top-quality translation services, restore the expertise lost in recent years and provide the support that federal institutions need to meet their language obligations regarding communications with and services to the public?

Hon. Judy Foote, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Services and Procurement: Thank you. Honourable senators, we have, in fact, looked at all the recommendations of the standing committee, and we take them very seriously. Our priority, of course, is to ensure that the Translation Bureau continues to provide high-quality services to members of Parliament and to government departments.

So for us, we are committed to ensuring both official languages, but, in this case, French is the language that is given extra attention because we want to make sure that people who want to speak French are able to do so and that those who need translation services are able to get the highest quality that we can possibly deliver.