Well something happened at work,which I thought was abit questionable in terms of the ethics of ..translation/interpretation.

A bunch of construction workers ....originally from Panama approached the receptionist. Receptionist had to phone to get a staff person who did speak some Spanish to translate. From what I could see, it must have been a question(s) concerning the worker's pay or at least his benefits, because he had an opened business envelope in his hand. Spanish speaking staff person tried to troubleshoot and answer questions. becuase sesveral of the workers were all talking at him in Spanish. conversation ended. He walked away and workers left.

The receptionist (english-speaking only but she has a sharply balanced and sensitive heart/head), a secretary (native Indian who probably lost her tribal tongue already) and I were abit aghast. It just seemed at least the situation deserved, the Spanish speaker to fetch someone from Human REsources for the official personnel policy matters.... By the way, the Spanish speaker himself is a British ex-pat, direct from U.K., only here to work for a few years, so he wouldn't know much about Canadian govn't structures/assistance..compared to an experienced Canadian Human Resources Manager.

Maybe I'm reading this all wrong....