Events broadcast on Trudeau’s Facebook page must be bilingual: language commissioner

The Privy Council, which is the civil service department that supports the prime minister and his cabinet, provided logistical and communications services for the July 6 news conference. The office, Théberge said, failed to meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act.

Neither Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet nor the Governor General were faulted in the preliminary report because unlike the Privy Council, they are not “federal institutions” under the country’s language legislation.

Théberge recognized that no simultaneous translation or subtitle service in either official language is currently offered on the Facebook Live streaming platform. But the commissioner said it would have been possible to include links — in both official languages — to the CPAC news channel, which was streaming the event and offering simultaneous translation in English and French.

The commissioner recommended that within three months of receiving his final report, the Privy Council put in place rules so that all Canadians “receive communications that relate to government information in the two official languages” during events streamed live on the prime minister’s Facebook page.

The Privy Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The nomination of Simon as governor general led to hundreds of complaints to the language commissioner because she does not speak French. In response, Théberge’s office launched an investigation into the nomination process for the governor general.

Simon, an Inuk leader and former Canadian diplomat, is the first Indigenous woman to be appointed governor general.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2022.

Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Events broadcast on Trudeau’s Facebook page must be bilingual: language commissioner

What's Trending