Ottawa, May 5, 2003
Notes for a presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages
Dr. Dyane Adam - Commissioner of Official Languages
Check against delivery
Honourable Committee Members,
First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
In this presentation, I will describe the focal points of the work of my office for the coming fiscal year and provide an overview of the key issues we are currently working on.
You have probably already read our Report on Plans and Priorities. It presents our three targeted strategic outcomes: (1) strengthening institutional bilingualism; (2) the promotion and social acceptance of linguistic duality as a fundamental value; and (3) the vitality of official language communities. I will not discuss each of these topics today since they form the basis for our everyday work. Instead, I will look ahead to some of our priorities for the future
Support from the former Joint Committee: new funding
Before I begin my presentation, I would like to acknowledge the support of the former Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, which last year adopted a motion asking the government to add $4 million to our annual budget. With your support, I began the formal process of seeking government approval of this request. I am pleased to report that Treasury Board has agreed to provide an additional $3.4 million in funding, increasing our annual budget to nearly $18.3 million for the 2003-2004 fiscal year. In 2004-2005, the additional funding will increase from $3.4 million to $4 million. I would like to thank all members of the former Joint Committee for your appeal on our behalf. This funding was especially necessary since our activities and areas of intervention have increased tremendously since I took office. So what will we do with these new resources over the coming year?
Investing the funding: enhancing liaison, consolidating the audit role and expanding research
First of all, we will reach out to the Canadian public, to public servants and to parliamentarians. We have already hired regional liaison officers who are now working in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. We have in addition hired a liaison officer for the Quebec region, and there will soon be an officer for Atlantic Canada. We will also create a liaison officer position in Ontario. This will bring us closer to the regions and communities and give us greater insight into public opinion. We also intend to consolidate our audit role in the federal administration in order to check systemic problems before they become too great. Moreover, the additional resources devoted to parliamentary liaison will not only keep us in touch with legislative work, but will also allow us to support you. This seems rather fitting considering all the actions that you undertake on major official language issues. I'm thinking especially of your vigilance and commitment when you insisted that the Act to Promote Physical Activity and Sport reflect linguistic duality.
In addition, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) intends to expand its activities on solid foundations. We will continue our research work and even increase our research capability. Last year we published studies on single window networks, the language requirements of positions in the senior public service, immigration and community development, the use of the minority press by federal departments and agencies and the use of our official languages on the Internet sites of diplomatic missions.
Over the coming year, our research will focus, among other things, on the language of work in the federal public service, monitoring the use of the official languages in Canada's sport system, and linguistic duality in Canada's international activities. We have begun examining the issue of leases for buildings administered by the National Capital Commission and Public Works and Government Services Canada in the National Capital Region and will produce a report in this regard. As you know, we maintain our commitment to fostering bilingualism in the capital.
Now let us consider a few priorities for the coming year.
Action Plan for Official Languages: Congratulations
In the coming months, I will be closely monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages, in which the government gave a practical dimension to and renewed its commitment to official languages. I wish to congratulate the Prime Minister and Ministers Dion, Robillard, Copps and their fellow Cabinet members for their leadership in developing this plan. It is a fine example of coordination and teamwork.
The members of your Committee also urged the government to act, and I congratulate you for that. The investment of just over $750 million over 5 years will help renew the official languages program. In the months ahead, we will closely examine the various measures set out in the plan. The next annual report will provide my overall assessment of the plan. For the time being, however, I certainly welcome this plan with its clear objectives corresponding to the needs expressed by the communities. It includes an accountability framework that sets out the responsibilities of each institution and establishes horizontal coordination mechanisms. Although the real impact of the plan can only be measured based on concrete results, I am convinced that it signals a major change that will restore linguistic duality to a key government priority. Rest assured that I will be closely observing the implementation of the plan, especially the inclusion of the three fundamental objectives of the Official Languages Act in the decision-making process for government policies and programs, and also as regards the accountability and coordination framework. Clearly, this plan is just a starting point. We must not regard it as a panacea, since it does not address all official languages issues. Many other matters will also require the government's attention.
Action Plan for Official Languages: three areas for improvement
I do have some reservations about the plan. Conspicuous by their absence, the three following features would improve the plan.
First of all, there is no accountability mechanism. The accountability framework simply defines institutions' role, which is a first step. It fails however to set out a suitable performance measurement and accountability system to ensure that the plan, and the official languages program overall, are implemented by federal institutions. The government must develop criteria and specific indicators for this purpose.
Second, the plan's success will to a great extent depend on the essential participation of the provinces and territories. Yet the government has not included a framework for cooperation with the provinces and territories that are called upon to contribute significantly to achieving the plan's objectives, especially in sectors such as health.
Third, after travelling across Canada for over three years, I have recognized how important it is that the promotion of linguistic duality in Canadian society be a collective and ongoing effort. I have identified this as one of my priorities for action. You will recall that the former Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages passed a motion a year ago on the need for an awareness and promotional campaign. I agree that it is essential that Canadians understand, subscribe to and fully participate in our linguistic duality. The latest census data remind us that Canada is undergoing dramatic change and that it has become increasingly diverse in all respects. This diversity is yet another essential feature of our Canadian identity, which continues to be based on linguistic duality. Canada's diversity must be fully expressed in both official languages.
Developing an awareness and marketing strategy
The implementation and success of the Action Plan for Official Languages will require a concerted effort from a number of players: governments, teachers, community stakeholders, school administrators, public servants, students and their parents. Official language minority communities are already playing a role in this regard. In my opinion, the government should nevertheless develop an awareness and marketing strategy directed to communities in order to mobilize decision-makers and key players in Canada's English-speaking majority if we truly wish to achieve the action plan's objectives. I am thinking in particular about the objective of doubling the number of bilingual young people within ten years. I am certainly prepared to support the government in this regard.
Modernization of the public service and language of work
Let us now turn to another key issue. The modernization of human resources management and language of work in the federal public service are certainly topics of great interest at the moment and I even identified them as a priority at the outset of my mandate. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the progress the government has made this year and to congratulate Minister Robillard for her leadership in holding firm on the deadline for senior managers to reach the CBC level of language proficiency. Senior management responded very well to this challenge, since over 90% of them in bilingual positions now meet the linguistic requirements of their positions.
Much remains to be done however as regards language of work. The government must announce as quickly as possible the measures it intends to take to make the public service a workplace that truly fosters the use of both official languages.
About a month ago, I appeared before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to propose 3 amendments to the Public Service Modernization Act. I would be happy to discuss this issue further should you have any questions.
Restructuring Air Canada: protecting established rights or increasing obligations
In spite of all the uncertainty surrounding Air Canada, I can assure you that we will remain vigilant. We will ensure that the language rights of the travelling public are not left by the wayside in a potential restructuring of the airline sector. I have written to Minister Collenette in this regard. I ask you to follow this matter and act decisively when the time comes. Should the changes at Air Canada compromise established language rights, we will have to act quickly and conclusively. This potential crisis may require us to review the linguistic obligations of the other airline carriers and propose comprehensive solutions.
Access to Justice: agreement with Ontario and proposed regulations
I will now address the issue of access to justice in both official languages and, in particular, the implementation of the decision by Justice Blais regarding the Contraventions Act. As you know, the Department of Justice has finally concluded an agreement with the Government of Ontario. This agreement will allow citizens challenging a contravention of a federal regulation to have their proceedings conducted in French throughout Ontario, and to receive judicial services in French where there is a significant demand.
I am pleased to see that the agreement signed with the Province of Ontario is consistent with the court decision and that the Government of Canada has made the required investment to truly give offenders access to judicial services in both official languages.
Justice Canada has also undertaken a review of its Application of Provincial Laws Regulations, and I wrote to Minister Cauchon recently in this regard. In my opinion, the draft regulations are not completely consistent with the Blais decision, since they do not require a justice of the peace or provincial court judge to inform all offenders of their language rights, as stipulated in the Criminal Code. This is a significant weakness given the impact that the active offer of service has on the exercise of language rights. The studies conducted by my Office and the recent Justice Canada study (Environmental Scan: Access to Justice in Both Official Languages) all confirm that citizens appearing in court are reluctant to exercise their language rights if no active offer is made. I have also proposed that the Minister amend the regulations to include the following: 4 (1.1) “The justice of the peace or provincial court judge before whom a defendant first appears shall, if the defendant is not represented by counsel, advise the defendant of his right to request that the trial be conducted in one or the other of the two official languages.” I believe that changes should be made to the draft regulations, and I will follow this matter closely in the weeks ahead.
Health: clarifying language rights
Finally, the health sector has been of particular concern to me over the past year. I noted that the first ministers' accord on health care renewal of February 5, 2003 does not in any way reflect linguistic duality, in spite of the recommendations made in the Romanow Commission (November 2002) and Kirby Committee (December 2002) reports. It is nevertheless heartening to see that, under the Action Plan for Official Languages, Health Canada will invest $119 million over five years for networking, training, recruitment and workforce retention. This is a good start. I am now waiting to see how the federal, provincial and territorial governments will react in terms of specific measures to ensure that official language minority communities have access to public health services in their language. The federal-provincial agreements to be renegotiated over the coming year should, in my opinion, include specific provisions regarding minority language health services. Each agreement will have to be adapted to the specific needs of each province or territory.
Conclusion
In closing, I wish to reiterate my commitment to making OCOL an agent striving toward the equal status of English and French in Canadian society, starting with the issues I have presented here today. This is a challenging mission. It requires us to demonstrate leadership, to show courage in being proactive on hot issues, to emphasize coordination on horizontal issues, and to encourage concrete action to stimulate change. All the work I wish to undertake must carried out in a spirit of mutual respect and support of your parliamentary work. I know that I can count on the support of parliamentarians and your committee to promote and defend our two official languages.
Thank you.
