Public Services and Procurement Canada is looking to revamp its contracting process for interpretation services for Parliament Hill and other “high-level events,” but the proposed changes, which include a shift to awarding work based on “lowest bid” rather than “best fit,” are being met with backlash from freelance interpreters.
International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) Canada spokesperson Nicole Gagnon said the “community is of one mind” that the proposed terms of the new Standing Offer that would replace the current open contract system are “non-starters,” and will “turn off a lot of people who may not bid” to continue offering their services, including more experienced interpreters whose corresponding higher rates will “automatically” make them outliers if assignments are attributed based on lowest bid.
“What they’re going to be doing is going to encourage a race to the bottom with the lowest bid,” Gagnon told The Hill Times.
First shared with media and industry representatives on June 27 via a news release and request for information (RFI) posted on the federal tendering site, CanadaBuys.ca, PSPC set an original deadline of July 25 for freelancers and industry associations to give their feedback on the “proposed procurement process” for interpretation services for “high-level events.” Last week, that deadline was extended to Aug. 1.
“The department is considering a Standing Offer, which would allow the Translation Bureau to award future contracts to pre-qualified suppliers as needed,” reads a statement from PSPC, which notes that input gathered from stakeholders “will play a key role in shaping and refining the procurement strategy moving forward.”
In light of this move, freelance interpreters, whose current contracts had been set to expire on June 30, have been offered six-month extensions through to the end of December.
More than half of interpreters covering Parliament Hill are freelancers rather than staff interpreters employed by the Translation Bureau. As of this past March, the bureau had 61 staff interpreters and 84 freelancers on the roster for Hill events.
Under the current open contract for all federal freelance interpreters, work is “attributed” based on “best fit criteria” ranked by availability, followed by an individual’s language profile, then security clearance, their location, and finally an individual’s “Quality Index” rating
As explained in the RFI on the new system, offers would instead “be ranked in descending order of lowest evaluated price.”
That shift from “best fit” to “lowest bid” in awarding work to freelance interpreters is the topmost concern being highlighted by Gagnon, but a list of other changes have raised red flags.
Among them is the proposed shift from daily to hourly rates, which the RFI states will “ensure the best value for Canada” and “are the best means of paying interpretation contractors for the actual effort that was made while reducing administrative burdens for all parties.”
Currently, interpreters are paid daily rates based on the length of their assignment, with some variation depending on whether interpreters are working in-person, in hybrid format, or at a distance.
Under the hourly rate system, interpreters would be guaranteed to be paid for a minimum number of hours depending on the projected length of events assigned in a given day, with actual time worked rounded up to the nearest half hour. The RFI’s question-and-answer section states that “[a]ll time spent at an assignment … is considered as time worked,” including time spent doing sound tests or “waiting during delays, pauses, and suspensions.”
But Gagnon said that doesn’t take into account all of the work interpreters do.
“They just want to count the time at the mic. They don’t take into account the time that’s spent preparing for it, or keeping up with current affairs or perfecting one’s language skills,” she said.
Gagnon said regardless of the length of an assignment, interpreters are required to be available from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., meaning if their original 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. committee meeting is cancelled, they can be reassigned to instead cover a 3:30-5:30 p.m. meeting. “Hence why we feel we work on a daily basis,” she said. “We’re a captive staff; we have to be there when they need us.”
Gagnon also argued that despite the shift to hourly rates being partly pitched as a way to reduce administrative work, it will actually increase the burden on freelancers who will be required to fill out timesheets and provide quarterly reports.
Moreover, Gagnon noted the new terms set out in the RFI don’t specify the number of interpreters to be assigned per shift based on whether it’s in person, hybrid, or at a distance, though she said PSPC has given verbal assurances that it will still abide by the stipulations introduced during the pandemic as part of measures aimed at better protecting the health and safety of interpreters amid the surge in remote participation prompted by COVID-19.
As early as May 2020, alarms were being raised over the increased rate of injuries being experienced by interpreters during remote proceedings, threatening an already dwindling workforce. In response to evidence of the increased health risks and cognitive workload experienced by interpreters covering remote participants, among other measures, the Translation Bureau reduced shift hours and increased the number of interpreters assigned per shift for events involving more remote participation to allow for more breaks.
In 2023, the House of Commons permanently changed its rules to continue operating in a hybrid format.
Herself a freelance interpreter, Gagnon has not offered her services on the Hill in three years due to the ongoing sound issues facing interpreters. More recent sound issues have centred on the Larsen effect—feedback caused by ear pieces or other electronic equipment (namely cellphones) getting too close to live mics.
Among other things, the new terms also remove mention of the current colour-coded “Quality Index” system used to assess interpreters’ competence. Gagnon said PSPC wasn’t able to answer questions regarding how interpreters’ performance would be assessed at a recent industry day on the proposed changes.
Gagnon additionally noted that the new system would create “two classes” of interpreters as the proposed Standing Offer is specifically for “parliamentary and high-level conference interpretation services in official languages,” whereas current contracts apply to both parliamentary and conference interpreters covering other, lower-level federal government events in Canada’s official languages. She said no details have been offered for how interpretation services for other events for government departments and agencies will be handled. “We have been told there’s going to be another procurement tool … but we have no details,” she said, raising concern over the possibility such events could be opened to the use of non-accredited interpreters, or even artificial intelligence.
She said she thinks the changes are ultimately about cutting costs and giving PSPC more flexibility to change employment terms. While one-year open contracts can be renewed, their terms carry over, whereas Standing Offers, which can offer multiple option years, can be amended between years.
“They want to cut costs as best they can, but this is not somewhere you would want to cut costs, I would think,” she said.
Gagnon said her association wants to see the changes put “on ice until we have an opportunity to talk and sort this out.”
She noted previous attempts by PSPC to shift to a lowest-bid approach have been met by similar backlash.
According to Gagnon, this past February, the department “started applying lowest bid procurement” in “clear violation of the existing open contract,” leading to a complaint being filed with the Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO). In an April letter to AIIC-Canada, PSPC recognized the “discrepancy,” she said.
“[With] the open contract, terms are set. They cannot change them willy-nilly. This is what the Standing Offer will allow them to do,” said Gagnon.
In an email to The Hill Times, the OPO confirmed it received a complaint regarding “the administration of a contract issued … for the provision of interpretation services,” into which it launched a review on July 7.
Back in 2016, PSPC had sought to introduce a Standing Offer for hiring freelance interpreters that would have used an automated system to award contracts to freelance interpreters, employing an algorithm that would have favoured lowest bids. In response to backlash and concerns, that plan was cancelled by then-PSPC minister Judy Foote in early 2017.
PSPC did not respond by filing deadline to questions from The Hill Times regarding these changes, including its reasons for pursuing them now.
The Hill Times