New acoustic shocks in parliament

(Ottawa) Interpreters once again suffered acoustic shocks in parliament despite the addition of new protocols. The solutions put in place by the House of Commons and the Translation Bureau are not producing the expected results, according to the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC).

One of these performers is Élisabeth Seymour, who had already suffered a first acoustic shock in the fall of 2022, confirmed the AIIC. It was so violent that she had to be taken to hospital. She then developed severe tinnitus. M^me Seymour preferred not to grant an interview this time.

“They did checks, they adopted protocols to prevent accidents, but if all that is true, how come we continue to be injured? “, asks AIIC spokesperson Nicole Gagnon.

Five incidents have been caused by acoustic feedback since the end of October, three of which occurred last week at House of Commons committees and a press conference.

The most recent incidents, on Dec. 4 and 6, were caused by an earpiece placed too close to an open mic, a misconfiguration of the system and a phone that vibrated at the precise moment someone opened their mic.

The other two incidents occurred on October 30 in a Senate committee and on November 2 in the Senate chamber. CNA says 13 interpreters were affected in total. The Ministry of Public Services and Procurement, which includes the Translation Bureau, said four interpreters decided to take the day off after two of the five incidents.

Feedback to the municipalities

Performers “have unfortunately been exposed to feedback (feedback) judged from moderately strong to strong last night during a committee meeting in the Senate,” confirms the new director of parliamentary affairs and interpreter well-being, Martin Montreuil, in an internal email dated October 31 that The Press obtained.

“This can be explained by an unfortunate accident where a paper file of a person, who was in the room and in the application Zoom to manage the meeting, came into contact with the keyboard of his computer and reactivated the computer’s microphone, which created the return of sound,” he continues.

The intervention protocol in place since the summer “was immediately activated”, specified the Ministry in response to questions from The Press. “No medical care was required and the interpreters were removed from the work environment for 24 hours in accordance with the recommendations of the hearing specialists included in the protocol,” indicated the spokesperson for the Ministry, Alexandre Baillairgé-Charbonneau. . The meeting was canceled.

The acoustic incident of November 2 in the Senate chamber occurred “while the technicians were making the connections prior to the session”, but the Ministry maintains that there was “no impact on the interpreters “.

“While it is not possible to eliminate all risk of an acoustic problem, in both of these incidents the appropriate protocols were followed and necessary adjustments were also made to minimize the risk of this type of error human reproduces,” indicates the upper house’s communications advisor, Alison Korn.

“It’s always sad to lose interpreters because we share the same group with the Senate, so if we lose them by accident, that’s less to serve the MPs in their work,” said the Bloc Québécois whip. , Claude DeBellefeuille, who is unilingual and therefore needs interpretation.

“MPs, when they carry out their work, must always keep in mind that there is an interpreter on duty,” she adds.

The Translation Bureau defends itself

The President and CEO of the Translation Bureau, Dominic Laporte, affirmed that “a lot of measures had been taken over the last six months,” during a meeting of the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons on June 9. november.

“We still see a notable reduction in the number of incidents reported to us,” he said while recognizing that zero risk did not exist.

He noted that the directives issued under the Canada Labor Code were lifted in August after the Translation Bureau and the House of Commons administration complied with them. Interpretation is only available to virtual participants using an ISO-compliant microphone. Random tests were also carried out in April and May 2023, but did not reveal “any risk of damage to the hearing of interpreters, nor any observable difference between the sound of on-site participants and that of virtual participants” , according to the Translation Bureau.

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) is not convinced. “Despite nearly four years of fighting for improvements, health and safety incidents continue to occur,” lamented its outgoing president, Scott Crawford. Although progress has been made, CAPE is not satisfied with the current situation. »

“It must be said that every time there is an incident like this, it shakes the confidence of interpreters that they can go to work in complete safety without fearing for their hearing,” adds M.^me Gagnon, of AIIC. And the only recourse that interpreters have is to reduce their offer to parliament, to reduce the number of days they offer or to simply refuse to work on the hill. I haven’t been there for two years. »

The AIIC points out that the Translation Bureau does not count incidents involving freelance interpreters, unlike permanent ones, even though freelancers represent 60% of the total number of interpreters. The Bureau counters that they can report incidents voluntarily.