Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In her opening remarks to the committee in January 1994, the Speaker noted that there is some confusion and concern regarding the reporting relationship between the Languages Commissioner and the Legislative Assembly. Over the past year, clear reporting relationships have been established for the Official Languages Commissioner. This year, for the first time, the Languages Commissioner appeared before the committee to discuss the office's budget and explain planned expenditures. However, committee Members noted that the Languages Commissioner's presentation dealt less with the function and budget of the office than with more minor technical issues.
Given the relatively small size of the Languages Commissioner's budget, the committee is pleased to see that, rather than using the office's human resources for financial administration, an arrangement with the Legislative Assembly for the provision of financial services is in place. The committee encourages the office of the Languages Commissioner to continue to make the best use of the limited resources available and stay within the allocated funding.
Interpreter/Translator Services
During this review, the committee was informed of the final negotiated amount of federal languages funding which would be available to the government. Committee Members expressed a concern with the impact reduced federal languages funding will have on the ability of the government to provide the level of interpreter/translator services previously available. The Legislative Assembly is a major user of these services and, through them, provides official language coverage of the work of the Assembly and its committees.
The committee encourages the Legislative Assembly to be actively involved in government discussions regarding the provision of interpreter/translator services. At the next O and M review, the committee will be looking for an appropriate balance between the need to inform all residents of the workings of the Assembly and their representatives in the official languages, and the government-wide need to focus dwindling dollars on programs at the community level.