Cost-Bleeding Bilingualism
The problem of escalating municipal costs being faced by most cities in Canada and the need to re-adjust budgets and priorities are being visited everywhere. In the capital of Canada's one officially bilingual province, the taxpayers are facing, like taxpayers everywhere, the options of having their taxes raised and/or looking hard again at some services to determine their cost-effectiveness and necessity.
Fredericton is like the federal government in respect of its official status on bilingualism. Committed to providing information in the language of choice to its residents. Equal representation. Respect of each of the two founding languages and cultures. And the cost burden of ensuring that the letter of the law is continued weighted against the benefit seems rather askew and even absurd.
New Brunswick's Official Languages Act requires municipalities to produce all official business in both languages; by-laws, agendas, minutes of meetings must be translated. Fredericton City Council meets every two weeks and for those meetings, regardless of how long they take, two translators must be present in case someone in the audience requests an oral translation.
$1,214.75 is the price-tag for each of those meetings for the two-translator services who sit through the meetings whether or not anyone requests meeting translations. "They have been there since 2003 and I only recall using the headset once. Once in eight years", mused a councillor. The entire translation effort costs Fredericton $281,000 annually.
Francophones represent roughly 7% of the population in the Fredericton area.
"It's not an attack on the French-language people in our city. It is a cost-cutting idea and times are tough all over. This seems like an easy fix and is common sense", said the councillor who is recommending a change in routine. That anyone desirous of having translation done at a meeting inform the city in advance, filling out a form. Which would enable the city to bring in a translator for that particular event.
Effectively precluding the need to have two translators on hand every other day at meetings just in case someone might wish to have the meeting translated. "From my experience on council, that's seven-plus years, I really haven't seen the translation devices used very often, perhaps ever", explained yet another councillor.
Typically, as soon as the discussion aired in public, there were complaints. And the councillor who put forward the idea for intelligently reasonable change and the resulting saving to the taxpayer through cost-cutting has now been informed that she may now expect more francophone residents will be requesting the use of the translation service.
That brilliant cost-saving measure will doubtless be abandoned. In fear-bondage to manipulated offence.
Fredericton is like the federal government in respect of its official status on bilingualism. Committed to providing information in the language of choice to its residents. Equal representation. Respect of each of the two founding languages and cultures. And the cost burden of ensuring that the letter of the law is continued weighted against the benefit seems rather askew and even absurd.
New Brunswick's Official Languages Act requires municipalities to produce all official business in both languages; by-laws, agendas, minutes of meetings must be translated. Fredericton City Council meets every two weeks and for those meetings, regardless of how long they take, two translators must be present in case someone in the audience requests an oral translation.
$1,214.75 is the price-tag for each of those meetings for the two-translator services who sit through the meetings whether or not anyone requests meeting translations. "They have been there since 2003 and I only recall using the headset once. Once in eight years", mused a councillor. The entire translation effort costs Fredericton $281,000 annually.
Francophones represent roughly 7% of the population in the Fredericton area.
"It's not an attack on the French-language people in our city. It is a cost-cutting idea and times are tough all over. This seems like an easy fix and is common sense", said the councillor who is recommending a change in routine. That anyone desirous of having translation done at a meeting inform the city in advance, filling out a form. Which would enable the city to bring in a translator for that particular event.
Effectively precluding the need to have two translators on hand every other day at meetings just in case someone might wish to have the meeting translated. "From my experience on council, that's seven-plus years, I really haven't seen the translation devices used very often, perhaps ever", explained yet another councillor.
Typically, as soon as the discussion aired in public, there were complaints. And the councillor who put forward the idea for intelligently reasonable change and the resulting saving to the taxpayer through cost-cutting has now been informed that she may now expect more francophone residents will be requesting the use of the translation service.
That brilliant cost-saving measure will doubtless be abandoned. In fear-bondage to manipulated offence.
Labels: Bilingualism, Canada, Crisis Politics, Culture
posted by Pieface | 7:31 PM
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