Commissioner of Official Languages to investigate NDP complaint

OTTAWA — The New Democrats learned yesterday that, on November 14, the Commissioner of Official Languages sent notice of a formal inquiry to the Clerk of the House of Commons, Audrey O’Brien, to inform her that the House of Commons was under investigation by the Commissioner following a complaint by the NDP about documents tabled on Afghan detainees.

On October 4, the four New Democrat MPs of the Official Languages Committee, Robert Aubin, Yvon Godin, Dan Harris and Élaine Michaud asked the Commissioner of Official Languages to investigate the tabling of non-translated documents in the House of Commons, dealing with Canada’s transfer of Afghan detainees, as well as a report by the panel of arbiters.

“The NDP is pleased that the Commissioner judged our complaint admissible and recognizes that the House of Commons, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs, has a role to play in this matter. Because the provisions of the Official Languages Act weren’t respected, we hope we can count on the full collaboration of the House to put in place mechanisms to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said the four MPs.

The NDP is committed to protecting the linguistic rights of all Canadians and says these documents must be made available in both official languages so that all MPs can do their job and citizens know what’s going on in Parliament.

It should be noted that the NDP filed other complaints to the Commissioner of Official Languages in the past few weeks, in particular with regards to the appointment of the Auditor General and the closure of the Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre for the Quebec Coast Guard.