The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) calls on the government to hold off on rushing to make hybrid sittings of the House of Commons permanent before delivering concrete solutions that ensure the health and safety of parliamentary interpreters can be properly and consistently implemented.
Before the House adjourns for the summer, members of Parliament are expected to vote on making the current format permanent. But without the proper infrastructure in place, and users’ lack of compliance with existing policies and guidelines, this plan will also make permanent the health and safety risks that parliamentary interpreters have been facing since 2020.
CAPE recognizes that in-person meetings are the best way to control and reduce the risks associated with interpreters’ health and safety. Unless serious measures are taken to address the issue, CAPE is not supportive of a decision that would put interpreters in jeopardy, with no end in sight.
For the past three years, interpreters have put themselves at risk to ensure that our democratic institutions could function properly. If members of parliament want the benefits of a permanent hybrid system that allows them to work from anywhere, that system cannot be delivered at the cost of interpreters’ wellbeing. Every employee has the right to a safe and respectful workplace – and until parliamentary interpreters are protected during virtual sessions the government’s plan for permanent hybrid sessions fails to deliver on that responsibility.
CAPE will continue to engage with the Translation Bureau, government and elected officials to expedite the adoption of all the required measures.
BACKGROUND: PARLIAMENTARY INTERPRETERS’ HEALTH AND SAFETY
Virtual Parliament jeopardizes interpreters’ health and safety
When Parliament moved to virtual sittings during the COVID-19 pandemic, interpreters experienced a dramatic increase in workplace injuries. Poor internet connections and improper or inadequate equipment led to interpreters straining to hear to perform their job – or produced such poor-quality sound and feedback that caused potentially permanent and career-ending damage.
As a result, some interpreters have chosen to abandon their profession, rather than risk further injury. When they are out on sick leave, work reduced hours, are reassigned to other duties, or leave the profession, it causes a shortage of qualified interpreters that directly jeopardizes the functioning of Parliament and the national promise that everyone is entitled to hear and be heard in the official language of their choice.
The expertise and specialization will be nearly impossible to replace without the promise that their wellbeing will be protected.
Protections for interpreters essential for effective hybrid Parliament
The recent drop in workplace injuries for interpreters can be attributed solely to more in-person meetings. Before hybrid Parliament sessions become permanent, meaningful consultations with key stakeholders must be conducted so the concerns of interpreters are both fully understood and adequately addressed.
In February, the Labour Program ordered the Translation Bureau to take immediate action to protect interpreters, after finding it to be in contravention of the labour code – yet these solutions have still not been fully implemented and the guidelines in place to prevent injuries are not consistently followed.
More background is available on the Issues page for Virtual Parliament and Interpreters.
