Foreign interference inquiry clashes with official languages watchdog

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OTTAWA – The Official Languages Commissioner says the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference broke the law by sharing government documentary evidence in English only on its website and should translate it all before posting it.

But the head of the inquiry’s answer is non.

In a letter to Official Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge last week, Foreign Interference Commission (FIC) head Marie-Josée Hogue said it would be quite literally impossible for her team to fulfill its mandate if it had to translate “thousands of pages of documents.”

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“It would indeed take several months or even years to simply carry out these translations, which is not feasible given the tight deadlines within which the commission must complete its work,” Hogue wrote in French in the letter obtained by National Post.

“That being said, I reiterate that the FIC is deploying significant efforts so that other federal institutions with which it collaborates provide it with their evidence in both official languages,” she noted. She added that her team is making “all possible efforts” to publish its own documents in English and French simultaneously.

The back-and-forth between Commissioners Théberge and Hogue stems from a complaint by Senator Claude Carignan. In April, the senator alleged that the French version of the foreign interference inquiry’s website displayed multiple documents and exhibits that were only in English.

In an interview, Carignan said Hogue’s response was “completely inappropriate” and argued that the FIC isn’t obliged to publish untranslated exhibits on its website.

“I think Commissioner Hogue should retract that letter,” he said. “When she publishes on her website, it must be in both official languages to ensure that both Anglophones and Francophones receive the same information.”

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“It goes both ways. It wouldn’t be right either if she only published in French because Anglophones wouldn’t have access to the information,” he added.

After probing Carignan’s complaint, Théberge sent an investigation report to the FIC in September finding that it had breached two parts of the Official Languages Act when it failed to post certain documents on its website in both French and English.

In a statement, Théberge said he could not comment on Hogue’s response until the investigation is formally closed. His office noted that he intends to issue an amended investigation report in light of the FIC’s response.

“I would like to point out, however, that temporary commissions such as the Foreign Interference Commission are subject to the Act just like federal institutions,” Théberge’s statement read.

The Act requires all federal institutions to ensure the public can obtain services and or communicate with them in an “equivalent manner” in both official languages.

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But in his report, Théberge noted that some documents produced by the inquiry, such as summaries of interviews or news releases, were only available in one official language (generally English) on its website.

Théberge also criticized the FIC for posting some documents provided by other government institutions (which are also beholden to the Official Languages Act) on its website in only French or English.

For example, he cited a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) document titled “Foreign Interference and You” which can be found on the service’s website in both official languages, but only in English version on the inquiry’s.

“The investigation found that FIC did not meet its obligations” under the Act, Théberge wrote in the report.

Théberge’s report recommended that within three months of the closing of his review, the FIC review all documents on its website that are covered by the Act to ensure they are available in English and French and translate all those which are not.

In her response last week, Hogue conceded that the Foreign Interference Commission hadn’t always waited for the French translation to be ready before it posted some of its communications online.

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She said the inquiry sometimes has to make “difficult choices” between maximizing transparency and publishing documents in both languages simultaneously.

“I can assure you that the vast majority of documents that the FIC prepares and publishes on its website are done so, concurrently, in both official languages,” she wrote.

“The only exception to this rule is when the FIC is unable to obtain a translation of a document in a timely manner, but nevertheless considers it necessary to communicate it to the parties to enable them to participate fully in the public hearings.”

But Hogue disagreed with Théberge’s interpretation of the FIC’s official language obligations when it comes to posting government-provided evidence tabled during public hearings.

“That evidence… does not in any way constitute, in my opinion, an act of communication with the public by the FIC (or the tribunal), nor the provision of a service, within the meaning of section 22 of the Official Languages ​​Act,” she wrote.

Last year, Théberge also criticized the Emergencies Act inquiry for similarly failing to abide by all its official language obligations, but did not make any recommendations because the inquiry was already complete.

National Post
cnardi@postmedia.com

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