(Ottawa) The big bosses of CBC/Radio-Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were in turn summoned before a parliamentary committee on Wednesday to explain linguistic controversies.
The elected officials who sit on the standing committee on official languages cannot digest that the public broadcaster has entrusted the French adaptation of a podcast show to a French studio to avoid the Quebec accent and that high-ranking officers occupy bilingual positions while they are unable to communicate in French.
“This story is totally, but totally unacceptable,” sighed Conservative MP Bernard Généreux while presenting his motion at the beginning of the evening concerning “the CBC Podcasts saga” which was adopted unanimously.
According to him, the Quebec accent, like those elsewhere in the Canadian Francophonie, “does not have to justify its place” for its understanding.
“If we are not able to be proud of our language in Canada, we have a serious problem,” he said.
In the last few days, the president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, Catherine Tait, “sincerely” apologized and assured that measures are being taken “to correct the situation and, above all, to prevent this from happening again in the future “.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Catherine Tait, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada
“It was a mistake, period,” she wrote Friday in a letter to the president of the Union of Artists regarding the decision to entrust the dubbing of the podcast Alone: A Love Story to a Parisian company aiming for “international influence”.
She also announced that the French version had been withdrawn and that the dubbing would be entrusted to a Quebec company.
In addition to Mme Tait, the parliamentarians will send invitation cards to a manager of CBC Podcasts, to one of his marketing colleagues as well as to the Minister of Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault.
The Liberals, who are in the minority on the committee and in the House, have also tried, in vain, to have the minister also summoned.
The minister spends “zero” time on the CBC case because it is not his responsibility, argued Franco-Ontarian MP Francis Drouin, who noted in passing that he would have “a nasty problem” if the government made decisions for the broadcaster, an “apolitical” organization.
The Conservative spokesperson for official languages, Joël Godin, replied that it is the job of the oppositions to ask questions.
“And the people who represent the government are the ministers,” he said. I think it is important that the Minister of Official Languages, who is the officer who must enforce the law […] be questioned on this subject. »
When Marc Serré, Mr. Boissonnault’s parliamentary secretary, stressed that elected officials will have the “opportunity” to ask questions of the minister during an appearance next week, the New Democratic Party spokesperson for Languages official, Niki Ashton, replied that “yes, he comes to us, but on other things”.
Unilingual RCMP
The same committee adopted a few minutes earlier, and also unanimously, a motion from the Bloc Québécois summoning RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme no later than November 8 to “discuss the plan” of the organization “to comply with the Official Languages Act and respect French.”
Radio-Canada revealed at the beginning of October that officials working at the federal police headquarters in Ottawa occupy bilingual positions even though they do not master French and, what’s more, they are not taking any courses to correct the situation.
“This is a blatant violation of the Official Languages Act by the federal police. And it’s far from the first time. […] There is really a deterioration,” said the Bloc spokesperson for official languages, Mario Beaulieu, while presenting his motion.
The elected officials also decided to invite the Minister of Public Security, Dominic LeBlanc. And, again, this caused a stir.
“There seems to be some sort of pattern here. For each motion we have, we invite the minister. […] I think it’s not realistic,” sent liberal Marc Serré, who did not hide his annoyance.
Bloc member Mario Beaulieu replied that “if the minister has to answer for that, he will perhaps put pressure on things to change.”
In an email sent to The Canadian Press, the RCMP asserts that “the majority” of senior managers are “proficient” in French and English.
The organization writes that it “recognizes” that the Official Languages Act “must be respected” and that it “intends to make all necessary efforts in this regard.”
The police service adds that members of the senior staff are appointed to “meet operational needs” and that they have “skills […] highly specialized” that are essential to ensure public safety.