Interpreters helping their compatriots pass tests?

A serious allegation has been raised about the professionalism of interpreters in British Columbia. Mind you, it doesn’t strike me as particularly surprising, because these things do happen in Canada – including at Immigration Canada, where naturalized “Canadians” rubberstamp immigration applications from fellow compatriots from the “old country” even though those applicants do not even come close to meeting the requirements under Canada’s immigration laws.

The ICBC, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, is apparently investigating discrepancies in the pass rates for knowledge tests taken by immigrants who wish to obtain a driver’s licence.

In 2008, 350 knowledge tests were conducted with a STIBC translator with a pass rate of 67%, compared to the pass rate of 48% without a translator.

It has also been noted that in some languages, the pass rate has gone up to well over 90%.

Of course, these things have been going on. I, and I am a certified interpreter myself, know for a fact that these things have been going on, which is why I refuse to interpret, or translate, for immigrants. Immigrants who don’t speak enough English and/or French to pass an exam, either for a driver’s licence or in their specialist field, shouldn’t be in Canada in the first place.

It is high time Canada adopted the Australian system. In Australia, you cannot immigrate unless you can prove that you have mastered English before entering the country.

Comments

[Anonymous]

What about John Cabot and Jacques Cartier? I bet they didn't speak enough aboriginal languages to pass an exam.

[Werner Patels, M.A.]

That was the past, and now is now. Besides, we won, they lost. What matters now is today's law, and that says that we have two official languages, and anyone who wants to live and/or work here must be able to communicate in at least one of these two languages.

Besides, "interpreters" helping others to cheat is criminal. Also think of the risk to the general public if, say, heavy-machinery operators are licensed based on a lie.