Three-quarters of freelance Parliamentary interpreters let contracts lapse

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A group of freelance interpreters working for the federal government are choosing not to renew their contracts after the Translation Bureau, under Public Services and Procurement Canada, introduced what the workers are calling an “egregious” amendment.

Nicole Gagnon, spokesperson for the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) in Canada, which mostly represents freelance interpreters, says there are 104 open contracts for official language-accredited freelancers working for Parliament and government departments and agencies.

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Service agreements, signed between each interpreter and the government, expired in June. Originally, there was an option for workers to extend their current contracts by one year, though interpreters have since been told they would be subject to an amendment.

The new rule the government is trying to impose, Gagnon said, would impact interpreters’ work days.

“We work by the day, we don’t work by the hour or by the minute, but the Government of Canada would like to do ‘stop and go’ interpreting,” said Gagnon, who has worked as an interpreter for 40 years. “They want to be able to time the time we are at the mic.

“This has never been done. This is unheard of in our profession.”

Typically, she said, interpreters do “gavel to gavel” work, meaning they work through any stops during a parliamentary committee session, for example, whether it’s an interruption for a technical issue or the chair has to consult the clerk.

“All of that time is working time for us,” Gagnon said. “It’s not as if the interpreters in their booths can take off and have a coffee somewhere. They have to stay in the booth and wait for the committee to start up again.

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“The amendment would want to stop the watch on that so that every time there’s an interruption that would no longer be taken into account.”

While the amendment would not impact workers’ pay, Gagnon said it would extend their work days.

She said interpreters working on Parliament Hill must be available for 10-hour windows and don’t always know when they’ll be working during that time.

Around 70 or 80 official language-accredited freelancers work for Parliamentary services at meetings like committees, caucuses and technical briefings, with three-quarters of those choosing not to sign off on the extension of their agreements. While “spot contracts” have been offered, they also include the new clause.

Gagnon says she is “at a loss” about why the decision is being made, especially given that there is a “critical shortage” of accredited interpreters.

“This is only going to make that shortage even greater when fall rolls around and the House resumes,” Gagnon said, adding that Senate and House of Commons chambers won’t be impacted as the Translation Bureau typically only assigns staff interpreters to work there. “I don’t know who will decide whose meeting is more important than the next.”

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Gagnon noted that the association had not heard back from the government about freelancers’ unwillingness to re-sign contracts.

This newspaper contacted Public Services and Procurement Canada for more information.

Translation Bureau has faced a shortage of interpreters for several years.

“You have people retiring. We’re aging out as a profession,” Gagnon said. “Some of us have been injured because of hybrid Parliament, so the Translation Bureau cannot replace its staff interpreters as quickly as they lose them.”

The federal government recently adjusted its set-up in the House of Commons and committee rooms after a hearing injury to a language interpreter. The need to better ensure interpreters’ health and safety, especially in protecting them from dangerous audio feedback, has been an important issue for the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, which represents unionized staff interpreters.

Gagnon said she had reduced her working days because of concerns about hearing injuries and would not return to work with the government if the new clause remained in the contract, instead opting to work in the private sector.

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The 2024 federal budget highlighted that labour shortages and resource constraints “have strained translation services, putting Canadians’ ability to engage in democracy at risk.” It announced $31.9 million over five years, beginning in 2024-25, and $3 million per year ongoing to the Translation Bureau to “expand translation and interpretation capacity in Parliament and uphold Official Languages Act requirements.”

It also announced that PSPC would establish a scholarship program “to train the next generation of official language interpreters.”

According to an AIIC Canada news release, the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman is reviewing dozens of complaints from freelance interpreters about “the peculiar behaviour” of the Translation Bureau and PSPC.

Given the shrinking number of interpreters, it said the Translation Bureau would contract freelancers who had failed their accreditation exams.

“Even though the (Translation Bureau) promises to restrict the new group of unqualified freelancers to non-parliamentary assignments, it is only a matter of time before they will be deployed in Parliament,” the release said.

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Looking ahead to the next Parliamentary session, Gagnon says freelancers assume about 60 per cent of the workload on Parliament Hill. She says there’s very little demand in government departments as resources are being channeled to the Hill.

“If you have 75 per cent of those who are saying, ‘We will not sign off on this,’ one wonders who’s going to be working in the fall,” Gagnon said, noting that the increased shortage would particularly impact French members of Parliament as most of interpreters’ work was from English to French. “This is going to be a crisis.”

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