WHAT LANGUAGE DOES SPORT SPEAK?

   On June 14, Dyane Adam published a special two-volume study entitled Official Languages in the Canadian Sports System. It is a broad-based analysis of the high-performance sport system and focuses on the opportunities for Canadian athletes to reach the top levels of their sport in their preferred official language.

   As INFOACTION stated in the last issue, the study, which was conducted between September 1999 and April 2000, is based on information gathered from the following:

1. more than a hundred interviews with representatives of Sport Canada, national sport organizations, multi-sport organizations and national sport centres (Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal), members of the academic community, coaches and athletes;
2. a survey of English-speaking and French-speaking athletes receiving financial assistance from the federal government, conducted to probe their attitudes, values and experiences in terms of both sport in general and official languages in sport. The Office of the Commissioner received responses from 107 English-speaking and 118 French-speaking athletes.

   The study indicates that the sport system has made progress on a number of linguistic issues in recent years, but that a great deal remains to be done. As the Commissioner stated repeatedly, “the sport system still has some way to go before it fully reflects Canada’s linguistic duality.”

   As the study shows, the most obvious symptom of the inequality of the official languages within the sport system is the fact that, although one out of every four Canadians (25%) is French-speaking, fewer than one high-performance athlete in five (18%) is French-speaking, and their presence is concentrated in a few sports. “Language alone cannot explain the situation,” Dr. Adam stated, “but by removing the linguistic barriers to sport, we would be taking a significant first step toward ensuring that French-speaking and English-speaking athletes are on an equal footing when it comes to participating on Canada’s high-performance sports teams.”

   French-speaking athletes encounter many problems, but two are of particular note. One arises from the difficult transition from elite provincial athlete to national team member. The other is the fact that many national sports organizations cannot provide adequate services in French. A number of athletes informed the Commissioner that, for them, sport takes precedence over language issues. Some of them spoke of feelings of bewilderment and frustration when faced with having to learn to function in an English-only sports environment for the first time.

   On a positive note, athletes show an impressive depth of respect for and understanding toward the other official language group — a finding that underlines the contribution that sports can make to national unity.

   The study’s 16 recommendations are addressed to Sport Canada because, within the sport system, it alone is subject to the Official Languages Act. “Canadian athletes should not have to adapt to the linguistic shortcomings of the sport system, In order to ensure that all athletes can compete on an equal basis, Sport Canada and its partners must work to develop a sport system which fully reflects the Canadian linguistic duality,” Dr. Adam concluded.

A YOUNG PUBLIC SERVANT… ON THE ROAD

   Meet a young employee of the federal public service who is as comfortable talking with a group of students as he is working on files in his office.

   Stéphane Obadia was raised in Montreal, and for the last two years he has been working in the Commissioner’s regional office in that city. Just after he started, Eva Ludvig, the Commissioner’s representative in Quebec, made him an interesting proposal. That was all it took for Stéphane to embark on a wonderful adventure. His assignment was to develop the framework for an education project to encourage secondary-school students to learn English as a second official language.

   Once he had consulted teachers, guidance counsellors and professional associations, Stéphane was ready to carry out his project, which he called Two Languages: A World of Opportunities. Its objectives were to (1) convey to students the benefits of knowing a second language, (2) motivate them to learn and speak English and French, and (3) tell them about the history of the official languages in Canada.

   Targeting these objectives, and with the psychology of secondary-school students in mind, Stéphane envisioned the project not as a traditional course but as an interactive workshop. And that is exactly what he developed.

   First, he shows the students a film featuring a number of Canadian celebrities with whom they easily identify — a player with the Alouettes, artists well known to young people, hosts with Musique Plus and Much Music, cyber-technology experts, a hockey star, a person involved in the international space station project, etc. The celebrities explain what speaking two languages has meant to them in their personal and professional lives. The film serves to “break the ice,” so to speak; it prompts the students to engage in conversation with Stéphane, the workshop leader. The ensuing discussion focuses on the benefits of proficiency in Canada’s two official languages.

   The history of the official languages is an important part of the workshop, and Stéphane came up with a clever idea for it. The students team up and take part in a quiz that familiarizes them with the historical development of the two official languages and the official language communities in Canada. Stéphane gives the answers to the quiz on the spot, generating an exchange of ideas and opinions on each question. The event ends with a very spirited evaluation. Stéphane invites the students to take part in a contest in which they put their thoughts about the workshop in writing. The contest has elicited a great deal of interest.

   Stéphane presented the workshop content and program to teachers at an educational conference, and requests were soon flowing into the regional office. As a result, this eight-week project has given 4,000 secondary and intermediate students an opportunity to attend one of the 144 workshops that Stéphane has run in 15 schools in 14 towns and villages of Quebec — specifically, in the Bois- Francs, Mauricie, Quebec and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions. Stéphane has unfortunately had to decline many invitations, a fact that shows that the workshop is meeting a real need.

   INFOACTION asked Stéphane Obadia what he himself got out of the experience and learned from it. First of all, he expressed great satisfaction with having achieved his objectives. He realized that, as well as imparting knowledge to the students and making them think, he had piqued their curiosity and, above all, helped them build their dreams. He noted that the students were keen to learn about their country and the world and had a burning desire to travel. Through the workshop they found out that a knowledge of Canada’s two official languages is a passport to the whole world and all that it contains.

   Stéphane was particularly impressed with the open-mindedness of these youngsters and their enthusiasm for learning their second official language. They also wanted to find out more about young French-speaking Canadians outside Quebec. During the 144 workshops, he did not meet a single student who was against learning English as a second language.

   Stéphane Obadia is a public servant who believes in what he is doing and loves communicating the love of knowledge in a refreshing, inventive way that allows students to play an active part in the learning process. So it is not surprising that his fine project has been so successful.

   Requests continue to flow into the regional office, and now English-language schools in Quebec have invited Stéphane to share with their students his dream of a country blessed with two official languages.

   Like her predecessors, Dr. Adam has insisted in no uncertain terms that Air Canada fulfil its obligations regarding application of the Act. This, in essence, is what Canadians have been asking for, as shown by the more than one thousand complaints about Air Canada (including 400 about its regional carriers) that the Office has received in the last few years.

   In the last issue of INFOACTION (Spring 2000, p. 8), we gave you an overview of the Commissioner’s actions and discussions with the main government bodies concerned with this matter.

   On June 7, Dr. Adam appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications. In her statement, she said that she was pleased to learn of the federal government’s decision to reaffirm Air Canada’s linguistic obligations and to clarify those that apply to its regional carriers. She also explained that Air Canada’s linguistic obligations are based on the Official Languages Act and section 16, subsection 3, of the Constitution Act, 1982 (advancement toward the equality of English and French). The Commissioner added: “It is also against this background that we must now approach the very real and legitimate concerns that have been publicly expressed, notably by the Association des gens de l’air du Québec, and the new suggestions being made to further improve the language provisions of the bill by including provisions on the use of English and French as languages of work and on the equitable participation of English-speaking Canadians and French-speaking Canadians.”

   Dr. Adam strongly encouraged Air Canada to improve its poor record regarding application of the Official Languages Act. This is how she described the situation: “Air Canada has often held first place for the number of complaints over the past 30 years. We continue to investigate numerous issues of service to the public, as well as complaints relating to language of work and participation. With regard to its regional carriers and present subsidiaries, we currently have very little information on the linguistic situation of their employees. To manage effectively, it is indispensable to have complete and reliable data, and this is not the case at present.”

   In short, she would like Air Canada to change its attitude and meet its linguistic obligations in a proactive manner. At the same time, she expressed great pleasure, during her appearance, with the fact that the members of the standing committee were taking the time to examine Bill C-26 in depth.

   The hundreds of public complaints are tangible proof that Air Canada was not fulfilling its linguistic obligations. Parliament heard loud and clear what Canadians were saying, and it has imposed on the country’s largest airline obligations that must also be fulfilled by its regional carriers, Air Nova, Air Alliance and Air Ontario.

   During this period of transition, Canadians will have to be vigilant and insist more than ever that their language rights be respected. The Commissioner invites all those who use Air Canada and its regional carriers to contact her if they feel that their language rights have not been respected.

On June 30, 2000, the Commissioner attended an international meeting of several hundred French-speaking jurists in Montpellier, France. She gave a speech entitled “Language Rights and Human Rights in Canada: Converging Values.”

Dr. Adam showed how the Canadian language planning model combines the advantages of the various solutions devised in Europe while gradually taking on a specifically Canadian complexion. She explained that the basis of the model’s originality was the connection Canadians are increasingly making between the concepts of “language rights” and “human rights.” To illustrate this, she referred to the equal status that the two official languages enjoy under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She described the significant progress that has been made over the last 30 years regarding official and practical recognition of language rights. In her view, Canadians remain convinced that the best prospects for language rights in their country lie in the further improvement of the existing legislative and legal system.

The Commissioner told the participants in this international conference that Canadians feel that the symbiosis of two official languages and many cultures enriches Canada and that its bilingual identity gives it a status in the family of  ations that it would not otherwise enjoy.

Dr. Adam concluded by saying that the Canadian language planning model is no more exportable than the Belgian, Swiss, Spanish or Finnish models. It is up to each country to create the most effective model for ensuring respect for its citizens’ language rights.

AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL

   Canada is by no means sheltered from the major global trends that are causing public and private organizations to go through massive transformations resulting in changes to the relationships between government and the general public.

   In recent years, the federal government has taken a number of measures to modernize and streamline the delivery of services to Canadians. These measures have had a significant impact on the services provided to official language minority communities.

   INFOACTION has already reported several times on arrangements that have given rise to new forms of co-operation between the federal government and the official language communities.

   On June 16, the Commissioner of Official Languages released a study entitled Co-operation between the Government and the Communities: New Models for Service Delivery.

   Why is this study so important? Because it sets down the guiding principles upon which partnerships for the delivery of specific government services by official language minority groups must be based. It is also important because it is based on three models of co-operation:

• the model implemented by the Association canadienne-française de l’Ontario, London- Sarnia chapter, which signed an agreement with Human Resources Development Canada for the delivery of employability services to the local French-speaking community;
  
  
• the Éducacentre model in British Columbia, under which a variety of job training programs are offered in French; and
  
  
• the National Committee for Canadian Francophonie Human Resources Development model, under which the committee offers services at the national level and works closely with the Regroupements de développement économique et d’employabilité (RDÉE) in the provinces.

   Dr. Adam noted that these three models seem to represent arrangements that allow the delivery to a linguistic minority of services that are equal to those provided to the majority. The study lists a number of principles that must be respected in order to ensure that such arrangements truly contribute to the vitality of official language minority communities.

   The study also contains recommendations to help community groups and federal institutions manage the new forms of co-operation effectively.

   One of the most relevant recommendations concerns proper planning and how to maintain service when a method of co-operation is not renewed. The Commissioner plans to monitor very closely the implementation of this vital recommendation, which reads as follows:

When any model of co-operation is introduced by which a community group, directly or by subcontracting, ensures the delivery of a government service, each federal institution concerned must ensure that the delivery is planned on a multi-year basis. Such a model of cooperation must be part of a coherent framework and a well-considered departmental strategy to promote the vitality of the communities. The federal institution must provide for a reasonable transition period in the event of the non-renewal of a model of co-operation. In this case, the federal institution must also establish appropriate mechanisms for reabsorbing the service in a way which promotes the advancement toward equality of English and French.

   Dr. Adam hopes that the communities will be made aware of this recommendation to guide them in their co-operative projects with federal institutions.

   In releasing the study, the Commissioner stated: “I hope that this document will become an indispensable tool for ensuring that these new methods for the delivery of government services respect the Official Languages Act and truly support the vitality of the communities.”

   Thanks to trainees from Laval University and the inventiveness of the teaching staff, students in kindergarten and grades one, two and three enjoyed two weeks of intensive English classes. The children learned English while playing with colours, shapes, movements, numbers and animals. At noon they could, if they wished, attend a “happy lunch” workshop put on by the extracurricular activities program.

   Students in grades four, five and six got five periods of English instead of the normal three. Why? Because the parents and teachers wanted the project and, as a result, the school commission paid the additional salary required for the English teacher. The students’ classes were certainly not traditional. They took the form of projects: building robots, writing recipe books, playing with the Internet, and organizing fashion shows, with everything being done in English.

   Because they enjoyed being creative, the students of Clair-Soleil school acquired a taste for learning another language — in this case one of Canada’s two official languages.

   As the students of Clair-Soleil school say, “learning English is a BLAST!”

   Well done, Clair-Soleil!

FULL MARKS TO THE SOLICITOR GENERAL OF CANADA!

THE FACTS:
The staff of the Honourable Lawrence MacAuley, Solicitor General of Canada and Member of Parliament for the riding of Cardigan, Prince Edward Island, were publishing English-only announcements in the majority official language press. However, the announcements were not published in French in the province’s only French-language newspaper, La Voix Acadienne.

   The Commissioner was informed of the situation and of the disappointment felt by the French-speaking community on the Island.

   Dr. Adam raised the matter with Mr. MacAuley. While noting that, in carrying out his duties as a Member of Parliament, he was not bound by the requirements of the Official Languages Act, she took the opportunity to stress the benefits of using La Voix Acadienne, a uniquely effective means of communication because it goes to a high percentage of Francophone households in the province.

OUTCOME:
A short time later, it became apparent that the Commissioner’s efforts had paid off handsomely. Mr. MacCauley’s announcements were published in La Voix Acadienne, to the great satisfaction of the Island’s French-speaking community.

A THREE DIMENSIONAL ADVENTURE

— SINGLE-WINDOW SERVICE DELIVERY —

This adventure was one of kind. It grew out of an initiative launched by the government of Manitoba and soon attracted the interest of the federal and some municipal governments. The driving force that made the project a reality was the determination of all three levels of government to deliver services to the Franco- Manitoban community in its preferred language.

   Over the next few years, six centres providing a variety of government services in both official languages will be established in Manitoba. These single-window service centres are based on a recommendation in the Chartier report, Above All, Common Sense, which describes the findings of a study conducted by the Official Languages Subcommittee of the Federal Council of Manitoba. Note that it was the provincial government that played the leading role in implementing the recommendation that led to the start of the single-window project in 1998.

   Without going into detail about how the project got off the ground, it is fair to say that it is a perfect example of partnership at work. The French Language Services Secretariat in Manitoba is playing a major role in setting up the service centres. Five federal participants — Canadian Heritage, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Human Resources Development Canada, Western Economic Diversification, and the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages — are all taking an active part in implementing the project.

   Two representatives of the Franco-Manitoban community are acting as resource persons on the implementation committee, which is also relying on the participation of the elected representatives of the municipalities where the centres will be established.

   The three levels of government are showing a great spirit of co-operation in pooling their resources so that the Franco-Manitoban community can enjoy access to French-language services that meet its essential needs. The single-window centres ensure that services are shared in accordance with the wishes of the communities concerned.

   By the end of the year 2000, two bilingual government service centres will open their doors in St-Boniface and Notre-Dame de Lourdes. The other centres will be located in St-Pierre-Jolys, Ste-Anne, St-Laurent and St-Vital and are scheduled to open officially in 2001.

   The six centres will not all provide the same services. They will be geared to the specific needs of their clients in urban or rural areas.

   The Franco-Manitoban community is very pleased with this tripartite collaborative venture, because it will be able to obtain services in its own language in response to its specific needs.

LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF CANADIAN HERITAGE

As Commissioner of Official Languages, Dyane Adam is very concerned about the announced budget cuts and downsizing at the CBC. Last May, she expressed her concerns in a letter to Sheila Copps, the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

   The Commissioner is particularly worried about the adverse effects some budget cuts would have on the official language communities — both the English-speaking community in Quebec and the French-speaking minority communities elsewhere in Canada. She fears that staff reductions in regional stations will have a negative impact on the production of French-language programs outside Quebec. She points out in her letter to Minister Copps that, under both the Broadcasting Act and the Official Languages Act, adequate public broadcasting services reflecting the official language communities must be provided in all regions of the country.

   The Commissioner stresses the fundamental importance of the CBC as a public television service in ensuring the preservation and vitality of the official language communities and advancing the status and use of English and French in Canadian society. She adds: “It is essential that we, as a society, match our resources to our intentions and provide the CBC with adequate public funding to achieve the objectives of the Broadcasting Act and the Official Languages Act.”

   Since these are serious issues of public interest, the Commissioner decided to send copies of her letter to CBC President Robert Rabinovitch and to the press.

A MESSAGE TO MUNICIPALITIES

The annual meeting of the Association française des municipalités de l’Ontario was held at the end of July in French River, a picturesque spot in the province’s “Near North”.

   On July 28, the Commissioner spoke to nearly 200 elected municipal representatives about Ontario’s existing language legislation as it pertains to municipalities, about its shortcomings, and about government transformations and the devolution of federal and provincial programs to municipalities. The Commissioner decried the fact that, despite the importance of municipal services in French, they are not adequately guaranteed in existing municipal legislation. She therefore strongly encouraged municipal counsellors to take inspiration from the Official Languages Act in their interventions with the provincial government to ensure the protection of language rights during this era of municipal amalgamations. She reminded them that “at the federal level, paragraph 43(1)(d) of the Official Languages Act refers to municipal services and requires that the federal government assist the provinces and municipalities in offering their services in both English and in French. As Commissioner of Official Languages, I therefore have the duty to ensure that the federal government takes the measures required.” (Our translation)

   The Commissioner said that she was very concerned about amalgamation, especially about how it would affect Ottawa and Sudbury because of the large numbers of Francophones living in those areas. She had made representations to the Ontario government in an effort to obtain equal status for French with English. Unfortunately, the provincial government did not accept her recommendation. In December 1999, after Bill 25 on municipal amalgamations was passed without inclusion of any language clauses, Dr. Adam addressed the Ottawa and Sudbury transition teams, which had adopted a few measures regarding the delivery of municipal services in French, stating that their measures were “quite limited overall and not at all satisfactory. French should have been recognized as a language of work and considered a basic requirement for hiring senior managers in the amalgamated cities.”

   In her concluding remarks, the Commissioner underlined the fact that Canada and Ontario must fully recognize the principle that delivery of municipal services in both official languages is essential and that it is the responsibility of the federal and Ontario governments to help municipalities provide services in both languages. Dr. Adam said: “In my view, this principle should be recognized and applied in municipal government operations. Even though it may want to reduce expenditures and achieve savings, the provincial government should recognize and come to the assistance of all municipalities with official language minority communities. Specific arrangements must be made to ensure recognition of the linguistic and cultural characteristics of districts with official language minority communities in large cities, as was done by the Manitoba government in Part 3 of the Act creating greater Winnipeg.”

   Finally, the Commissioner invited those in attendance to work on building more partnerships with other Francophone organizations in order to ensure protection of the French language and the economic and social development of the Frenchs-peaking community.

A NETSURFING GRANDMOTHER WRITES TO US

I have an 11-year-old grandson who attends a French-immersion school. He often has problems with his homework and thinks that his grandmother can solve them all because she is French-speaking. A few days ago, he really put me to the test when he asked me for the French equivalents of words related to computers and the Internet. Poor me! I had to confess my ignorance of the field. I promised my grandson that I would write to INFOACTION. I am sure that you can help me because you always stress the importance of French on the Internet.

   I don’t know the French for the following: internetter; P.C.; inkjet printer; chat; toner cartridge; surf; newsgroup; search engine; online advertising.

   I would really appreciate any help you can give. INFOACTION should have a column on French terms in every issue, because we don’t always know the right word.

A netsurfing grandmother
from southwestern Ontario.

ANSWER

Dear Netsurfing Grandmother!

Thank you for contacting us. Here are the translations of the problem terms. We got the answers from Termium Plus, a terminology data bank run by the Department of Public Works and Government Services.

Write to us again. The answers to your questions may be of help to many other people.

SOME FINAL WORDS

1. AN “IN” BOUTIQUE

Make no mistake! This is not a boutique with the latest creations by the big names in “haute couture.” No, its focus is “haute culture”!

   A virtual boutique with French-language cultural products is now open to anyone who is interested. Books, CDs, tapes, videos…in fact, a wide variety of high-quality French-language products can be accessed on the Internet.