4.2 National Sport Organizations
Page 7 of 14
4.2.1 Official Languages Policies
STUDY
- The ability of NSOs to deliver their programs in both official languages varied, depending on each sport’s membership base, budget and history.
- A solid official languages program should begin with a policy declaration, clearly stating that the NSO recognizes both English and French as its languages of communication and services.
| Recommendation 8 |
FOLLOW-UP
We saw no hard evidence of NSOs having developed policy statements reflecting all aspects of their services. Sport Canada recognizes that some policy statements are either incomplete or unsatisfactory. To correct this situation, Sport Canada is asking targeted NSOs to adopt appropriate policy statements in their annual action plans.
Sport Canada did commission a consulting firm to undertake an evaluation report on the 1996-2001 accountability cycle. The report suggested that the key factors affecting the degree to which an NSO will introduce policies and practices that go beyond the letter of accountability and embrace the responsibilities of providing bilingual capacity, are leadership and commitment of both volunteers and staff. While resources are the most frequently cited reason for not developing further capacity, it is not only larger associations who allocate resources for official languages. The report cites some examples of smaller organizations where bilingual service is integrated in their daily practice. Other factors mentioned were the strength of Francophone membership and the cost of translation.
Status of recommendation 8: partly implemented.
New deadline: December 31, 2003
4.2.2 Official Languages Programs
STUDY
- NSOs were not always able to provide services in French to coaches and athletes.
- Athletes often could not communicate with coaches in their preferred language.
| Recommendation 9 |
FOLLOW-UP
Sport Canada says that it lacks the authority to become involved in internal NSO administration and only acts through persuasion. It says that it has started by emphasizing the linguistic abilities of High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) staff.
In the summary of its survey, Sport Canada says that it has difficulty clearly determining NSO language capabilities, since incumbent staff member titles and duties vary from one organization to the next. It concluded that in 2001 both athletes and the public were able to easily obtain written or verbal services in either official language, which were usually offered simultaneously. It is difficult for us to draw conclusions from this assessment which is based on averages. Sport Canada recognizes that the survey highlights the following issues: few meetings or the documents associated with them are bilingual, services provided to national team members during competitions held abroad are inadequate and spoken language services provided by NSOs are often limited.
We have observed an improvement in the availability of literature in both official languages and in its simultaneous distribution, although texts are not always of equal quality. One athlete stated that his contractual agreement with the NSO would have taken a week to obtain in French. He opted for the English version. In another case, a national federation asked a Francophone athlete to sign the English version of his contract as well (he had chosen French), because the English version was the official one. The quantity and quality of information appearing in French and English on organization Web sites varies, but we have observed improvements in this area in the case of for many NSOs. For example, the national taekwando, table tennis and snowboarding sites are entirely bilingual and provide links for accessing the other language.
We have also observed progress in NSO first-line services. Knowledge of French is, however, limited in some cases, particularly among technical directors. Employees of various NSOs are taking. second-language training. The Canadian Soccer Association, for example, refunds the costs of language classes taken by any staff members who have has succeeded.
Many NSO general meetings are held almost exclusively in English, although both French and English participants are present at these events. Moreover, meeting documents and minutes are often available solely in English. Certain larger and wealthier associations with more funds do what is necessary to ensure the distribution of bilingual materials and the participation of both official language groups. For example, Alpine Canada, with its head office in Calgary. conducts all of its major activities in both languages and ensures that its written materials provide equal roles for are bilingual.
Furthermore, Sport Canada’s program officers have examined survey results for each organization that they oversee. A letter is sent to each NSO receiving contributions at the start of the fiscal year. The officers take advantage of this opportunity to congratulate those organizations that have engaged in worthwhile initiatives over the course of the year and make note of areas in which there is room for improvement. The NSOs must include a plan of action in their response to improve services in both official languages. Follow-ups by Sport Canada officers provide additional information on NSO language capabilities.
An analysis of various NSO action plans dating from 2002 shows no uniformity in their presentation or content. They include minutes of meetings, progress reports, operational plans and multi-annual plans covering different time periods. Sport Canada should provide a reporting framework to the NSOs, specifying what the action plan should contain with respect to the official languages. Sport Canada has accordingly taken various measures to determine NSO personnel language profiles and their ability to provide bilingual services. The resulting picture is, however, unclear, and the services provided continue to be inadequate in many respects, despite some improvements.
Status of recommendation 9: partly implemented.
Progress report: December 31, 2003
STUDY
- In view of federal government expectations, NSOs national sport organizations felt that they did not receive sufficient funding to cover translation and interpretation costs.
| Recommendation 10 |
FOLLOW-UP
Sport Canada says that information from its NSO survey allows it to assess trends with respect to official language expenditures. Sport Canada maintains that comparisons of official language-related expenditures by different NSOs could help them produce more realistic budgets. Sport Canada adds, however, that it is not responsible for producing individual NSO budgets and that it has limited means to intervene. At the same time, Sport Canada expressed no reservations about implementing this recommendation when we produced the final version of our study. We conclude that there has not been a joint review of NSO expenditures by Sport Canada, as was recommended.
Sport Canada must therefore meet with the NSOs to assess their translation needs and review these expenditures with them. This would allow them to establish what realistic budgets for translation would entail.
Status of recommendation 10: not implemented.
New deadline: June 30, 2004
