Cinquante ans d’interprétation parlementaire

Parliamentary interpretation was introduced in the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada on January 15, 1959, fifty years ago this year. The author describes the stages of establishing this new service and gives the names and background of the first seven interpreters. He also shows that, at the time, interpretation was perceived by the Members of Parliament and journalists as a constitutional necessity in a country officially bilingual. Thanks to the interpretation, the French unilingual MPs participated more actively in the political debates which took place mostly in English before. The interpretation has contributed to strengthen parliamentary democracy, institutional bilingualism and national unity.