VI. Conclusion
Page 9 of 10
"Single Windows" and its CBSC and SC-AP networks have undeniable advantages for Canadians as a way of getting access to information on government programs and services. These advantages are even more apparent for the official language minority communities: "one-stop shopping," as already mentioned, allows them to have easier access to information in their own language. Single Windows also allows federal organizations to concentrate their efforts in a smaller number of service access points and thus to maximize the use of their bilingual resources.
Our study has shown that official languages requirements have been taken into account in the development of both the CBSC and SC-AP networks. This is evidenced by clauses in the partnership and funding agreements and the Manager’s Guide and official languages information kit. However, official languages clauses in these agreements ought to be reinforced to include the requirement to respect the guidelines and procedures, and these must be distributed to all partnership and funded single window centres.
The lack of a good communications strategy has left many Canadians, who in fact need information on the programs and services offered by their federal government, "out in the cold" and not knowing how to get "connected." The level of service has been better developed for the official language minorities where they form a more significant part of the population (New Brunswick, Montreal, Northern Ontario, Manitoba), but has not yet always been of the same quality where the minority is smaller. (Cases in point are the difficult situation for the ACF in Saskatchewan and the C/OBSC regional access partner in North Bay.) The Web sites of Business Service Centre partners are not fully bilingual and not all keyboards in Service Canada Access Centres may yet display French accent signs.
Federal departments must consult with official language minority associations in order to ensure that the single windows networks put in place meet the requirements of the Official Languages Act. They must strive to meet the particular needs of official language minority communities and, in so doing, they ought to consider alternate solutions in the case of small official language minorities, such as those in Saskatchewan, where the needs of the community warrant special consideration.
The Single Windows managing partners must monitor the capacity of the business centres and access points to effectively meet the requirements of the Official Languages Act and take appropriate corrective action as required.
Finally, since our study clearly revealed the importance of the single window initiatives in terms of providing official language minority communities with easier access to information in their own language, we encourage the government to take this in consideration in its decision to continue or not its initiatives.
