Ottawa, December 4, 2007
Notes for an address given during Linguistic Duality Week
at Public Works and Government Services Canada
Graham Fraser – Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am very pleased to be here today for Linguistic Duality Week, and also to see that Minister Fortier is with us as well. His leadership and personal involvement have made a real difference, especially in the translation of the jobs.gc.ca
Web site. I appreciate Minister Fortier’s commitment, and his direct and sincere style; it has been a pleasure working with him. I also see the work that began under former deputy minister David Marshall in regard to the Official Languages Program has continued under François Guimond. Please be assured that your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
One of the things I enjoy about my work as Commissioner is discovering all the success stories that don’t make the front page. I also enjoy meeting with people who celebrate their second official language in their own way—a bit like you today.
Many people have not yet mastered their second language. The joy of discovery is almost always accompanied by shyness and the fear or making mistakes. I personally understand that learning a second or third language is a life-long experience. I started learning French at a later age than most people, but I was determined, and I think I can say today that I succeeded. But, since speaking is a physical act by nature, you always have to practise.
For Canadians, French is also a bridge to other languages. A few years ago, I was covering a Canadian trade mission to China. For the occasion, the Canadian embassy used Canadians living in China to act as guides and interpreters for politicians, business people and journalists. I was struck by the fact that those Chinese-speaking Canadians were also perfectly at ease in both English and French. For them, becoming bilingual was about building bridges with the rest of the country and a doorway to the world.
In the public service, the relationship that exists with the other official language is also a question of respect: respect for the public, for our colleagues and for parliamentarians. We must think of linguistic duality as a tool that allows all Canadians to participate in the government of their country.
During the last four decades, the public service has become a gathering place for our country's two main language communities, which allows for collaboration and exchanges between Anglophones and Francophones. Many Canadians have learned about the other language community through their colleagues: the newspapers they read, the television shows they watch, the movies they go see, the plays they attend. And eventually, they come to understand their jokes as well.
Linguistic duality is also a question of leadership. To be a leader in the public service, you must know how to influence, persuade, engage, energize and empower your employees—in English and in French.
Bilingual leadership embodies a vision of your workplace—and a vision of our country. It is an expression of our faith in Canada and its linguistic duality.
Basic management and good leadership are therefore not the same. Basic management grudgingly follows the rules. Good leadership has the vision to translate values into opportunities.
Ladies and gentlemen, linguistic duality offers a great opportunity to show what good leadership can do. Public Works and Government Services Canada has such leadership, and the organization of this linguistic duality week is proof. I congratulate you and I urge you to become a model other federal institutions will follow. You are doing excellent work, and as Commissioner I am happy to be by your side and at your service.
Thank you!
