Ottawa, June 4, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Leading by example: A senior public service that reflects Canada's linguistic duality
A new study released today by the Commissioner of Official Languages, Dr. Dyane Adam, examines the linguistic characteristics that are essential for the federal government's senior management. "The members of the senior public service play a key role in implementing the Official Languages Program within the federal administration. Senior executives must show leadership not only by integrating linguistic duality into the organizational culture of federal institutions, but also by setting an example. This means having a functional level of bilingualism, as well as good knowledge of the Official Languages Act," declared Dr. Adam.
The study, entitled A Senior Public Service that Reflects Canada's Linguistic Duality, shows that there has been a re-balancing of Anglophone and Francophone participation within the senior public service compared with a few years ago:
- Today, 21 or 68% of Deputy Ministers are Anglophone and 10 or 32% are Francophone. In the year 2000, less than 16% of Deputy Ministers were Francophone.
- For Assistant Deputy Ministers, Anglophones and Francophones represent 75% and 25% of this group respectively.
The Commissioner congratulates the government for taking steps to correct this situation. "It is important that the senior public service continue to be representative of the two linguistic groups that make up this country," she stated.
Dr. Adam believes that measures must be taken to reinforce the language requirements for senior level positions. The study recommends that all Assistant Deputy Minister and equivalent positions be designated bilingual with a functional level of proficiency in both languages and that, as a general rule, candidates should meet the linguistic requirements of their positions upon assuming their responsibilities. Statistics show that roughly 20% of all Assistant Deputy Ministers do not currently meet the linguistic requirements of their positions. "This situation is worrisome and after thirty years of official bilingualism, this should not be the case. Measures must be taken to ensure that language training is integrated early on in the career and training plans of those who aspire to these positions. "The study reveals that unlike other executives in the public service, Deputy Ministers and Associate Deputy Ministers are not formally evaluated in their second language and there are no language requirements for their positions. While the federal government maintains that the majority of Deputy Ministers and Associate Deputy Ministers are functionally bilingual, no data is available to confirm this information. Since senior executives have a definite impact on the creation of a work environment conducive to the use of both official languages, the Commissioner is of the opinion that those who hold the highest positions in the federal public service must have good knowledge of English and French. The Commissioner also asks the government to create a formal language evaluation system for Deputy Ministers and Associate Deputy Ministers.
"It is clearly a contradiction in terms that the government requires a functional level of bilingualism for its senior managers, and yet excludes from this policy those that head up the federal administration. What message is being sent to the members of the public service?", asked Dr. Adam.
Finally, the Commissioner recommends that measures be implemented to better inform new senior executives about the Official Languages Act and the management of a bilingual workplace. Training senior public servants and heightening their awareness about official languages, as well as including official languages in their performance objectives are crucial to achieving satisfactory results in this respect.
"Senior executives play a key role in integrating official languages within federal institutions. The recommendations in this study will ensure that the senior public service truly reflects Canada's linguistic duality, a fundamental value of our country," concluded Dr. Adam.
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