Translation before the Bureau

An Act Respecting the Bureau for Translations came into effect on August 1, 1934. Did this mark the birth of translation in the Government of Canada? Not at all. Translation existed in the Government of Canada well before 1934, well before 1867 and even before the Union. Let us take a look at the face of translation before the Bureau was established.

Before Confederation

Translators had been in parliamentary institutions since the establishment of the representative government in Lower Canada (Constitutional Act) in 1792. Given that the government was a modest institution, there were but a handful of parliamentary translators. The laws, which were referred to as "acts," were translated, as were the Journals of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. Translation was organized by languages: there were English and French "bureaus."

The situation did not change much during the Union (1841–1867). The departments were introduced, the first of which was Public Works in 1841. Only the parliamentary institutions had designated translators. The smaller departments relied on their internal resources or occasionally on outside translators in order to meet their needs.

Confederation

Nothing changed after Confederation, at least not during the first decades. The House of Commons and the Senate were equipped with translation services, into English and French. Every year, the acts and journals were published in both languages, as were the debates starting in 1876 (1896 for the Senate).

The number of departments grew from 13 in 1867 to 19 in 1910. There were no departmental translators before the 1900s. However, when the first proposal for a centralized translation service was considered in 1880, it was suggested that the departments, or at least the largest ones, have translators so that the parliamentary services would no longer have to translate lengthy specialized reports.

Before centralization

In the early 1930s, most of the departments had translators. A study conducted in 1933 revealed that there were 91 translators, and roughly 30 of them worked in parliamentary institutions. In the departments, the situation varied: a fair amount of work entailed correspondence, and the demand was not great, except in the largest departments. In fact, some departments, including the Department of Justice and the Department of the Secretary of State, had no translators. Others, such as the Department of Marine and the Department of Finance, had but one.

Some departments, for example, the Department of Trade and Commerce, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Mines, issued many publications and had a number of translators. The Post Office Department was about the only department with translators working into English. The Department of Agriculture always had two or three translators at its disposal, as did the Department of Trade and Commerce, which published the Canada Year Book. The Department of the Interior, the super-department at the time, had half a dozen translators, one of whom translated foreign languages. Lastly, the Department of National Defence had a team of four translators, three of whom were women.

During that time, even though no common translation directorate existed, collaboration between departments did, particularly with respect to foreign languages. Founded in 1920, the Association technologique de langue française d’Ottawa demonstrated leadership and worked to direct initiatives, specifically regarding the quality of language and the production of work tools.

A good decision

The decision to centralize translation services in 1934 was a good one. This provided a single direction for a service scattered across the government, streamlined procedures, ensured better service for all departments and agencies, and allowed for the establishment of a staffing, training and development centre for translation. The Bureau for Translations had a bright future ahead of it.