LANG Committee News Release

PRESS RELEASE

        OTTAWA,May 2, 2001 – The Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages tabled today in Parliament a report entitled The Broadcasting and Availability of the Debates and Proceedings of Parliament in Both Official Languages. The report makes seven (7) recommendations.

        The Committee, which is co-chaired by the honourable Shirley Maheu, Senator, and Mauril Bélanger, MP, comprises nine (9) senators and sixteen (16) MPs.

        The Committee’s report is in response to complaints filed with the Commissioner of Official Languages between October 1998 and September 2000 concerning the unavailability of House of Commons debates in one or the other official language. The testimonies heard during four public hearings convinced Committee members that the problem lay with the distribution of the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) by the cable companies. These companies, which are not in any way bound by the agreement between the House of Commons and the CPAC, may choose to broadcast only one of the three audio signals--the floor signal, the French signal and the English signal--retransmitted via satellite by the CPAC. It is important to note that the cable companies are not required to broadcast the CPAC.

        Before setting out its recommendations, the Committee makes a few observations, and recommends that the CRTC require cable companies to broadcast the debates and proceedings of the House of Commons in both official languages. Some of the recommendations concern ongoing negotiations to renew the agreement between the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons and the CPAC. In particular, the Committee asks that the CPAC’s commitment to the installation of the infrastructure permitting cable companies to adopt second audio program (SAP) technology be made as an integral part of the next agreement. The Committee also recommends that Parliament take the necessary steps to produce subtitling in French for Question Period in the House of Commons without delay.

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