French language closed captioning to be provided for question period

News Release

For immediate release
OTTAWA, Ontario – November 19, 2007 – The Honourable Michael M Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), in partnership with the House of Commons, today announced the launch of a new service to provide French language closed captioning for Question Period. This puts the House of Commons among the world’s first legislatures to use state-of-the-art voice recognition technology to perform remote live closed captioning of its proceedings.
The addition of French closed captioning continues to make Question Period and the work of Parliamentarians more accessible to the deaf or hard-of-hearing community. Since 1991, the daily live broadcast of Question Period across the country on CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, has been provided with English closed captioning and French sign language (Langue des signes québécoise or LSQ).
“The launch of the new French language closed captioning service places the House of Commons among the leaders with regard to accessibility for those with special needs”, said Minister Fortier. “This new capability is the result of a successful joint venture and has had the active support and feedback from representatives of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.”
With the introduction of this new service, delivered by PWGSC’s Translation Bureau and the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM), the estimated three million deaf and hard-of-hearing Canadians will be able to follow Question Period live through the use of either English or French closed captioning. Broadcast times for House of Commons proceedings and information on how to access closed captioning are available on CPAC’s Web site.
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For further information, media may contact:
Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315

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French language closed captioning to be provided for question period

News Release

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