According to a press release from the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC Canada), 75% of accredited freelance interpreters in Parliament have refused to sign an extension to the procurement arrangement after it expired on June 30, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interpreters are opposed to the Translation Bureau (TB) extending the contract for a second year with significant changes. The extension option was originally included with the understanding that contract conditions would remain unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press release states that the new amendment would “substantially change the conditions” under which freelancers provide their services. TB also warned that even without their signatures, the amendment would apply to all contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contract change includes a new rule that would pause the remunerated working clock for interpreters every time a parliamentary proceeding pauses in the House or Senate for votes or for any other reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new rule that would pause the remunerated working clock for interpreters every time a parliamentary proceeding pauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicole Gagnon, spokesperson for AIIC, said in the press release that \u201cmany freelancers regard the TB\u2019s actions as a breach of contract and an unacceptable change to the way interpreters work, especially in parliament. \u2018Stop-and-go\u2019 interpreting simply does not exist anywhere in our profession. Yet the TB is trying to keep freelancers waiting in the booth during pauses in parliamentary proceedings without counting their time. It\u2019s like refusing to pay the taxi driver when his vehicle is stopped at a red light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Contentious History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman announced on July 11, 2024, that it is reviewing complaints from freelance interpreters regarding the Translation Bureau (TB) and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, TB has made changes to translators’ and interpreters’ working conditions, often facing criticism from official entities and protests from linguists and unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press release highlighted the ongoing shortage of qualified interpreters. AIIC notes that the recent changes will likely reduce the number of accredited interpreters in Parliament, a problem worsened by the impending retirement of nearly half of the current interpreters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gagnon commented on this, stating that the interpreter shortage has been a long-standing issue, and TB\u2019s actions will only further deter freelancers from working in Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current disagreement is part of ongoing clashes between interpreters and TB. In June 2024, over 90% of parliamentary staff interpreters, represented by CAPE, signed a petition against uncompensated additional work assigned by TB since February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TB justified the extra work by claiming interpreters had extra time during hybrid shifts, overlooking the preparation time required, according to CAPE representatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a press release from the International Ass […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[391],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-391"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaresources.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}