CHAPTER IV - PART 4: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGE MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND THE PROMOTION OF LINGUISTIC DUALITY
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Taking measures to advance English and French in Canadian society is important to ensure a sound and sustainable future for linguistic duality in this country. Part VII of the Official Languages Act states the federal government’s commitment in this regard. All federal institutions have the duty to take positive measures to
- enhance the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities across Canada and
- foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.
Respecting this provision implies that institutions have to understand the needs and realities of official language communities and put plans in place to address those needs in the context of their mandate. It also means that they must actively seek to fulfill this duty when carrying out their various activities.
This part of the Act reflects the fact that official languages involve much more than service to the public or a bilingual federal public service. Indeed, official languages have an impact on our society as a whole and involve a wide variety of actors, from associations that promote second language education to the vibrant institutions, large and small, that official language communities build and support across Canada.
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, even though provisions for the advancement of English and French have existed since 1988, Parliament decided to strengthen them in 2005 by adding the notion of “positive measures” and allowing this part of the Act to be subject to court remedy. Because of these changes, federal institutions now more than ever must see official languages in a new light and do their part to ensure the advancement of English and French, in their own organizations and in Canadian society as a whole.
Admissible complaints related to the advancement of English and French in 2007–2008
Last year, there was a significant jump in the number of complaints related to the advancement of English and French, due to the 118 complaints received in response to the federal government’s 2006 expenditure review. This year, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages received 36 admissible complaints related to this part of the Act. This represents 6% of all admissible complaints filed in 2007–2008.
A full 97% of these complaints came from Francophones, a much higher proportion than in the other complaint categories. Regionally speaking, the highest number of complaints came from Manitoba (12), followed by the NCR (10), Ontario (5), and Quebec (4).
Upon further examination, the Commissioner notes that almost the same number of complaints filed this year in this category were related to the development of official language communities as to the promotion of linguistic duality. To improve performance in this area, federal institutions must better understand their obligations regarding the advancement of Canada’s linguistic minority communities. As a starting point, institutions should incorporate the three principles laid out by the Commissioner in last year’s annual report.18 They can also consult the Guide for Federal Institutions on the implementation of this part. As mentioned, the Guide sets forth a number of questions that institutions should ask themselves to ensure compliance with the Act, particularly in light of the amendments made in 2005.19 Because there are no regulations governing this part of the Act, federal institutions have a unique opportunity to be as innovative and proactive as possible in developing positive measures in collaboration with OLMCs and other key stakeholders that seek to advance English and French in Canada.
| TABLE 11 TRENDS IN ADMISSIBLE COMPLAINTS RELATED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH | ||
| INDICATOR | TREND | OVERVIEW |
| Total number of admissible complaints related to Part VII | Increase | Since 2005–2006, the number of admissible complaints related to Part VII has more than quadrupled. This increase can be attributed to a heightened awareness among Canadians about the amendments made to Part VII in 2005, and the fact that institutions now have greater responsibilities under this part. |
| Region where the alleged infraction occurred—Part VII | Some change | In the last three years, the vast majority of complaints related to Part VII involve alleged infractions that occurred in the National Capital Region. This unusually high number (75%) can be explained by the fact that most of the complaints related to the 2006 expenditure review were filed against the federal government as a whole, which means the alleged infractions were considered to have occurred in Ottawa. |
Report card results for the advancement of English and French in 2007–2008
The report card factor that looks at the performance of federal institutions in terms of the advancement of English and French in Canadian society is worth 25% of the overall rating. As part of this factor, the Commissioner evaluates whether institutions take into account the development of official language communities and the promotion of linguistic duality in their strategic planning and in the development of policies and programs. Institutions must show, for example, that they have implemented permanent mechanisms to ensure that this is the case, that they have taken steps to raise awareness and engage staff in fulfilling the requirements set out in this part and that they have mechanisms in place that allow them to understand the needs of official language communities. This year, non-designated institutions are also evaluated on whether they have an action plan in place to promote linguistic duality and enhance the development of official language communities (designated institutions are already required by Canadian Heritage to develop and implement an action plan for this part of the Act).
This year, the report card results show that there has been some progress in fulfilling these obligations, with institutions receiving generally high marks for this factor. Out of 36 institutions,.20 no less than 16 received an “exemplary” rating, 14 received a “good” rating, four received a “fair” rating and two received a “poor” rating.
In terms of the criteria used to assess this factor, institutions overall received slightly higher ratings for working to enhance the development of official language communities than for promoting linguistic duality in Canadian society. As in previous years, the measures taken for the promotion of linguistic duality are still lacking in some respects, and in certain cases institutions do not even take them into account. More leadership on this front will be needed if the spirit of this part of the Act is to be fully respected.
Designated institutions
The majority of designated institutions performed well for all of the criteria examined. However, these institutions are encouraged to review their existing policies and programs to determine whether they affect the development of official language communities or the promotion of linguistic duality, as this was the main gap identified in the report cards.
Non-designated institutions
The report cards this year reveal that non-designated institutions (i.e., those not required to submit action plans or report on their progress in implementing this part to Canadian Heritage) have improved their performance in the advancement of English and French since last year. The Commissioner notes that these institutions have mobilized to better understand and carry out their obligations following the amendments to the Act in 2005. Most of these institutions, for example, now have permanent mechanisms in place to take into account the development of official language communities and the promotion of linguistic duality, while others are in the process of creating them. Some non-designated institutions have even looked at how they can combine their efforts to implement this part of the Act. For example, as highlighted in Chapter I, Justice Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Correctional Service Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, Public Safety Canada and Canadian Heritage have formed a partnership to discuss the impact of their policies and programs on official language communities. The Commissioner applauds this kind of horizontal initiative, and looks forward to seeing the ensuing results.
Despite this progress, the Commissioner highlights the fact that there is still room for improvement, and encourages non-designated institutions to develop action plans to ensure the advancement of English and French, and to review existing policies and programs in light of their new obligations. In the coming year, the Commissioner will be looking for further action from these institutions regarding Part VII, and he expects even greater progress by next year’s annual report. It should be noted that the Commissioner, who has taken a generous approach to evaluating non-designated institutions during this transition period, is reviewing the two sets of criteria that have been used since last year.
| TABLE 12 TRENDS IN REPORT CARD RESULTS RELATED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH | ||
| INDICATOR | TREND | OVERVIEW |
| Report card ratings for the advancement of English and French | Increase | Report card ratings in this category have significantly improved since last year, when the criteria were first adjusted to take into account the amendments Parliament made to this part of the Act. This year, no less than 16 institutions received an “exemplary” rating, including five non-designated institutions (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). The Commissioner is encouraged by these results, although a more comprehensive analysis is needed to determine the real effect of this progress on official language communities across Canada. |
| Top/most improved institutions | Some change | Four institutions have received an “exemplary” rating two years in a row: Canada Post, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Health Canada and Statistics Canada. In addition to these four institutions, 12 others received an “exemplary” rating this year. |
Audits and follow-ups related to the advancement of English and French
This year, the Commissioner undertook two follow-ups related to the advancement of English and French. One looked at how the Canadian Tourism Commission has followed up on the recommendations made in a 2005 audit. The other was a follow-up to an audit of the Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) and Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs).
- Canadian Tourism Commission: The Commissioner found this institution has made satisfactory progress in the implementation of the eight recommendations issued in the audit published in April 2005. Owing to strong leadership from senior management, the Commission has made great strides in the fulfillment of its obligations under Part VII of the Act. In particular, the Commissioner noted a marked improvement in how the institution consults official language communities, promotes English and French in Canadian society and projects the bilingual character of Canada abroad. This progress was also noted in the report card: while three years ago the Commission received “poor” ratings under Part VII, this year it received “exemplary” ratings for the two criteria under this part.
- Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) and Community Business Development Corporations (CBDCs): This follow-up to the audit published in May 2005 examined issues related to both service to the public and the advancement of English and French. Although CFDCs and CBDCs are not subject to the Official Languages Act, four federal institutions have the duty to ensure that these organizations provide bilingual services and take into account the needs of official language communities in their day-to-day work. These four federal institutions are the following:
- Western Economic Diversification Canada: The Commissioner found this institution has responded well to two of the three recommendations in the audit report, but that it still needs to identify a specified timeframe to complete performance indicators for its Part VII action plan. It also needs to take steps to evaluate the measures taken and the results attained by the CFDCs and Francophone economic development organizations under its jurisdiction.
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: A total of 11 recommendations were made to this institution in the 2005 audit. While the Agency has made progress in implementing some recommendations, the Commissioner would have hoped to have seen better overall results. The follow-up reveals that there are a number of issues the Agency must address, including the need to integrate performance indicators into its Part VII action plan. The Commissioner calls on senior management to reiterate the importance of identifying ways to measure results, and sees the adoption of indicators for the development of official language communities as an appropriate step in the right direction.
- Canada Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec: Fourteen recommendations were made to this institution in the 2005 audit. The Commissioner is pleased to note that progress has been made on a number of fronts, but encourages the institution to do more to ensure the effective monitoring of bilingual services and to demonstrate that the CFDC and the Business Development Centres (equivalent to CBDCs in other provinces) under its jurisdiction are taking measures to foster the development of the Anglophone community in Quebec.
- Industry Canada/FedNor: In the 2005 audit, 11 recommendations were made to Industry Canada/FedNor. The Commissioner is, for the most part, satisfied with the progress the institution has made in implementing his recommendations. The Department needs to continue its efforts to ensure that all CFDCs examine and, if necessary, revamp their Web sites so that content is available in both official languages. Industry Canada must also incorporate performance indicators into its Part VII action plan to evaluate the work being carried out on behalf of the CFDCs to support the vitality and development of the Francophone community in northern Ontario.
| Focus on CBC/Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Société Radio-Canada (SRC) are, by their very nature, vitally important institutions for Canada’s official languages communities. As our national broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada has an important role to play in reflecting the realities of official language minority communities and promoting and sustaining Canadian culture. For many communities, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only station that gives them access to programs in the minority official language; therefore it is clearly an institution with a role to play in fostering official language minority community development. While CBC/Radio-Canada is the subject of only a few complaints each year, an issue has arisen in recent months that is cause for concern. The institution is contesting the Commissioner’s authority to investigate complaints and conduct audits on the grounds that many official languages issues are linked to programming. The Commissioner has serious concerns about this view, and is working with the institution to come to a solution that would allow it to keep its programming independence while respecting—and acknowledging—its obligations under the Official Languages Act. Recognizing the important responsibility CBC/Radio-Canada has to provide programming that reflects Canadians’ reality, the Commissioner looks forward to working with the new president to find a solution to this impasse, and to move forward for the benefit of official language minority communities across Canada and the promotion of linguistic duality. |
Examples of leadership in the advancement of English and French
The following are examples of leadership in the advancement of English and French that the Commissioner has noted over the past year.
- Public Works and Government Services Canada offers official language communities across the country free subscriptions to the Translation Bureau’s Termium Plus® tool, its online terminology and linguistic data bank in English, French and Spanish. This offer was also extended to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Organizing Committee (VANOC), another positive step in helping to ensure that the 2010 Winter Games are truly bilingual. The Translation Bureau, a special operating agency of the Department, also gave the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Chaudière-Appalaches permission to reproduce and integrate the bilingual Glossary of Health Services into its own glossary, which is used by health and social services professionals in the region.
- Canada Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec asked the Institut national de la recherche scientifique to create a socio-economic portrait of the Anglophone community in Quebec, to help it better understand the reality of this community’s population, geographic distribution, age structure, language knowledge and workforce situation. Industry Canada produced a similar research project in DVD format, which created a socio-economic portrait of official language communities to help the Department better target programs and services. This tool will also help the communities themselves more fully understand their socio-economic make-up and the various aspects of their community’s vitality. The Commissioner applauds these initiatives, and believes that these types of research projects are vital to providing federal institutions with knowledge of the challenges and changes that affect official language communities, and determining where best to concentrate their efforts to ensure sound community development.
- Western Economic Diversification Canada funds a number of projects specifically for official language community development, including the enhancement of the Corridor touristique francophone de l’Ouest, which aims to attract Francophone tourists to Western Canada. This institution also provides funding to the Agence nationale et internationale du Manitoba, a federal-provincial partnership that addresses business immigration from, and trade with, the countries of the international Francophonie.
This institution also has funded pilot projects for tele-education and tele-learning in four colleges and universities in Western Canada: the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface in Manitoba, the Collège Mathieu in Saskatchewan, Campus Saint-Jean in Alberta and Educacentre College in British Columbia. These pilot projects have led to the creation of online training programs that will allow students, wherever they are, to upgrade their education in French, obtain a degree or diploma, hone their technological skills and take advantage of interesting career opportunities. - The Commissioner would also like to highlight two examples of leadership aimed at promoting Canada’s linguistic duality. During the National Arts Centre Youth and Family Concerts series, its official languages champion asked for more French text in the orchestra conductor’s script while he is addressing the audience in order to illustrate the equality of both official languages during bilingual performances. Following this request, the French portion of the script was doubled. Another example of leadership can be found at Canada Post, which was asked to sponsor the CanSpell National Spelling Bee. Before accepting, the institution decided that it would also sponsor a similar event for Francophones, to show that it promotes linguistic duality in its activities whenever possible. Canada Post sponsored both the CanSpell spelling bee and a French-language dictation competition organized by the Fondation Paul-Gérin Lajoie. The Commissioner encourages Canada Post to demonstrate the same level of awareness in other situations, and to adopt the same reflex when implementing other parts of the Act, in particular its obligations regarding service to the public and language of work.
CONCLUSION: ADVANCEMENT OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH
Two and a half years after Parliament amended Part VII of the Act to include the obligation to take positive measures to enhance the vitality of linguistic minority communities and foster the full recognition and use of English and French in Canadian society, some changes have been made for the better. While there has been a significant increase in the number of complaints relating to this part of the Act, the Commissioner sees this as a sign of heightened awareness among Canadians of their rights under this part. Mobilization within non-designated federal institutions was also evident, with many putting permanent mechanisms in place to ensure that they take into account the development of official language communities and the promotion of linguistic duality. The Commissioner encourages non-designated institutions to pursue these efforts even further, with a view to enhancing their performance and respecting the language rights of Canadians.
Designated institutions perform well in most respects, but the Commissioner notes that they must do more to ensure reviews of their existing policies and programs include whether they have an impact on the institution’s obligations under Part VII.
For all institutions, the obligation to promote the use and recognition of English and French in Canadian society is still a major challenge. Year after year, this aspect of ensuring the advancement of English and French is often overlooked. Twenty years after this obligation was first added to the Act, and nearly three years after its reinforcement, the Commissioner still does not see the results that Canadians deserve, and he once again calls upon institutions to show leadership and consider the advancement of English and French as an issue for both official language communities and all of Canadian society. He expects improvements to be made in this area over the next year.
Notes
18 For the three principles for the implementation of Part VII, see Chapter I.
19 For the questions institutions should ask to ensure compliance to the Act, see section 1 of this chapter.
20 Two of the institutions that were evaluated, the Halifax International Airport Authority and the Ottawa International Airport Authority, are not subject to Part VII of the Act.
